iraq

The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End
$15.00
This book has been well reviewed by others. I will only add that although I've long been highly critical of the decision to go to war in Iraq, I was still amazed at the level of ignorance among the neoconservative decision makers, and president Bush himself. That he needed to be explained the difference between sunni and shiite muslims a full year after the invasion speaks volumes.

Reading this book two and a half years after it was written was interesting. The Iraq issue was downplayed some in the last presidential election, probably mostly due to the financial crisis, but also because of the perception that the 'surge' strategy worked.

However, if the surge strategy worked to postpone the troubles that will restart once the American troops withdraws, I fear that some will blame the current administration for the ignorance and consequences of the Bush administration.

This book was updated in 2008 (Unintended Consequences: How War in Iraq Strengthened America's Enemies). I hope the author will have time for another update later, for instance in three years. The Iraq issue will probably be an important factor in the Western- Middle East relationship for a long time to come. Well formulated critical thinking, like that provided by Galbraith, will be helpful in understanding the relationship.

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
$27.95
I liked this book so much I just ordered the sequel. Since starting the book my knowledge of the Iraq war was pretty shallow, it was a lot of information to absorb. If anyone's contemplating reading this, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the structure of the military, Pentagon, State Department and so on. Depsite that, Ricks does provide enough information on the fly to bring even the criminally uninformed up to speed if they pay close attention. Best thing about this book was that after reading the book, you're left with some background to understand the current headlines about Iraq. The relationship between Kurds, Shia, and Sunnis is still difficult to understand, but reading this book was a move in the right direction.

Moment of Truth in Iraq: How a New 'Greatest Generation' of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope
$29.95
Saying the author writes from an extremely biased and subjective view of the war would be objective and kind.

Iraqis know that al-Qaeda is evil, but they also know that the Bush army brought direct distruction and misery themselves in addition to being the ones who imported al-Qaida to Iraq so they can fight them there far away from the "god blessed" usa. Iraqi civilian blood ( collateral damage? ) is apparently cheaper than potential american blood. Good material for an army recruiting flyer, not for anyone who has a brain or is in touch with reality.

Ambush Alley: The Most Extraordinary Battle of the Iraq War
$7.99
A very detailed account of what every officer in command wants to avoid : lost of awareness, lost of radio com and finally Blue on Blue Air strike called. They made it through and you wonder, how they managed to do it, without any more casualties.
I read it twice and found myself more into the story than the first time, following the platoons and companies on their objectives and being able to analyse and comprehend what went right or wrong at the time. A fantastic combat account about Marines.