( CNN ) She predicted events that unfolded in the Middle East well before they happened . And her book on Iraq became required reading for many military leaders trying to understand the country . Veteran journalist and author Sandra Mackey died Sunday , her son , Colin Mackey , said . She was 77 . Her extensive career began in anonymity . She was an undercover reporter working for U.S. newspapers from Saudi Arabia as her husband , Dr. Dan Mackey , worked in a Riyadh hospital . For four years , she hid her writing from the authorities and smuggled her stories out of the country to get around Saudi Arabia 's prohibition on foreign journalists . Her work appeared under the pseudonym Michael Collins . As she chronicled what was happening around her , Mackey 's distinctive voice began to emerge . Over the years , a stream of books followed . `` The Saudis : Inside the Desert Kingdom '' offered `` a rare first-hand glimpse into the hidden realm of Saudi social and public life , '' The New York Times wrote . Her 1992 book `` Passion and Politics : The Turbulent World of the Arabs '' helped bridge gaps in understanding between Arabs and Americans , critics wrote . Mackey wrote for the people she knew , in a layman 's language that was rooted in her training as a high school history teacher . `` Scholars may be put off by Mackey 's occasionally florid , bombastic language , but her work is a sound analysis and a sympathetic yet balanced effort to explain Arab perspectives to Americans , '' Elizabeth R. Hayford wrote in Library Journal . After earning a history degree from the University of Central Oklahoma , Mackey attended the University of Virginia to study international relations . She graduated in the first class of women admitted to the graduate program . For her book on Iran , Mackey was three times able to win permission to travel through the country unaccompanied , allowing her to paint an intimate portrait of a country going through extraordinary change . Her 2002 book `` The Reckoning -- Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein '' portended some of the outcomes of the war in Iraq -- but also drew some sharp criticism . `` If war prevails , we shall beget a greater disorder in the Persian Gulf , '' Mackey wrote in the book . `` We will be sucked into the resentments of the Arab world , the hostilities of the Iraqis , and the challenge of nation building in what has become an intensely tribal society at the core of American vital interests in the oil-rich Persian Gulf . '' Fouad Ajami , the late Hoover Institute fellow who was also a frequent guest on CNN , took issue with the book . `` The crowds in Baghdad and Basra ( like the crowds in Kabul that greeted their liberators with kites and music ) may yet embarrass Mackey and the countless naive people who see things her way , '' Ajami wrote for The New York Times ' Sunday Book Review cover story in 2002 . Mackey had an Oklahoma twang , the slightly nasal kind that she was proud of , but that belied her worldly understanding . She would use it to full effect when she wanted to put people at ease . Mackey was a frequent commentator on CNN during the Gulf War in the 1990s . She also appeared on countless other outlets , including Bill Maher 's `` Politically Incorrect , '' to explain in layman 's terms what was happening in the region . Her book on Iraq was published one year before the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003 . The book forewarned of the consequences of such action . `` In a perfect world , Shia , Sunni , and Kurd , followed by a company of other minorities , would walk into the post-Hussein Iraq as a liberated people united by common suffering , '' Mackey wrote . `` But as all those who plot the way of nations are so acutely aware , the world is not perfect . '' She said those calling for an invasion of Iraq `` can not ignore the threats to American security that could come with Hussein 's demise . '' `` With American troops on the ground and no governing authority capable of taking charge , the United States faces the real possibility of a secular version of militant Islam , '' Mackey said . `` ... Thus , American military forces rotate in and out , U.S. taxpayer money finances the occupation , and Iraqi hostility to a Western presence increases . There is no exit strategy except retreat . '' In 2004 the U.S. military actually flew Mackey to Iraq to teach commanders from the Army 's 1st Infantry Division while the war was still raging . Her book on Iraq became required reading for many military officers . `` I am literally a little old lady in tennis shoes , '' she used to joke about her ability to gain the confidence of countless sources . `` What 's the harm in talking to me ? ''
Mackey predicted what would happen to Iraq if the U.S. invaded and deposed Saddam Hussein . She also wrote a book credited with helping bridge gap between Arabs and Americans .