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Liked It “George Packer has written a truly enlightening and intriguing book about our descent into Iraq. Packer is a lucid and engaging writer who can clearly summarize the intellectual debate between the neoconservatives and the realists. It's also a sad book. Learning how policy is arrived out and then...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“George Packer has written a truly enlightening and intriguing book about our descent into Iraq. Packer is a lucid and engaging writer who can clearly summarize the intellectual debate between the neoconservatives and the realists. It's also a sad book. Learning how policy is arrived out and then justified and implemented can be very discouraging.
Eric w wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The neocons and Bush had decided to go after Iraq for a variety of reasons before 9/11. The concern then became how to sell that decision. Shortly after the fall of Baghdad Paul Wolfowitz fold an interviewer: "The truth is that for reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S, government bureaucracy, we settled on the one issue that everyone could agree on, which was weapons of mass destruction." The real rationale for the war was to realign American power in the Middle East, toward a democratic society and away from Saudi Arabia, home of the Wahhabi sect that virtually controlled Saudi society and government and had been the home to almost all of the 9/11 terrorists. (See Sandra MacKey's very excellent book on Saudi Arabia -- [book:The Saudis Inside the Desert Kingdom|511872] -- for a detailed view of what it's like to live in such a theocracy.)
The job then became to selectively use pieces of intelligence that supported their common justification. "Just a year earlier, Iraq had been viewed as an outlaw state that was beginning to slip free of international constraints and might present a threat to the region or, more remotely, the United States in five years or so. Now, suddenly, there wasn't a day to be lost. . . It didn't matter that there was no strong evidence to back up the doomsday prognosis."”
“This one took me a while to read. I found it challenging at times. At other times I found it very dry.
WrinkledPantsinRI wrote this review Saturday, November 29 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Overall, this presents an interesting view of the beginnings of the current war in Iraq. It is from a less-than-conservative side. However, if you're looking for a different take on the war, this may be the book for you!”
“see my review at http://relaxandhavefun.com/?p=38”
John Crippen wrote this review Sunday, August 17 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“If you want to understand Iraq, why the U.S. is there and how extremely difficult it is going to be to get out, read this book. George Packer does a fabulous job bringing in the persepective of all levels of government as well as the Iraqi people. It took me a while to get through it, because I would get so angry at how the Bush administration handled everything or didn't that I would have to put it down and walk away. Yet, when I finished it I felt much more educated about the situation.”
Stasha W wrote this review Wednesday, June 18 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Packer's reporting of the intellectual underpinnings of the Iraq invasion (as advanced by Washington neoconservatives and a handful of Iraqi exiles)lays the foundation for an acute analysis of what went wrong (and what was fated to go wrong) in the early years of the occupation. Unlike many other reporters covering thie period, Packer spent as much time reporting on Iraqis as on Americans in Iraq. Probably the best overall book on the how the U.S. was led into an unnecessary war, and why it was doomed to failure.”
John T wrote this review Saturday, March 15 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Excellent history, giving context for our involvement with Iraq. One of the best histories I've read of the area and issues involved.”
Steve wrote this review Thursday, January 3 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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