Great question. It seems as

AmericanDreamer — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:59:45 +0000

In reply to Could there be a recommended

Great question.

It seems as though there've been more books written on AfPak over the past couple of years than on Iraq. I'm not aware of a good book assessment (I'm sure one could learn a lot if one knows, unlike me, which blogs to look at on the war) of the war, written to be accessible to an informed popular audience, that is anywhere near recent.

Galbraith himself wrote a later book called Unintended Consequences, about 15 months later, but that still only takes you up to 2007.

Dexter Filkins' The Forever War came out in mid-2009 (paperback edition) and has gotten strong reviews. My impression is that it is more of a look at what life on the ground is like for the troops than an analytical assessment of the war's results.

Tom Ricks' The Gamble (Feb. 2009) gets into the surge, but is still obviously dated.

Bing West's The Strongest Tribe, September 2009, gets you slightly closer to the present. Of it, Kirkus, which gave it a starred review, says: "Balanced, panoramic assessment of the Iraq War by former Marine and Reagan administration veteran West (No True Glory, 2005, etc.), who heralds American soldiers as its unsung heroes amid the "fog of Washington". . .A timely, eye-opening historical analysis that provides clarity around the difficult choices the next president faces."

Just so you know (this would be a deal-killer for some at dag) John McCain has a positive blurb on it.

To give you some sense of where West, a former Marine combat vet and Reagan Assistant Defense Secretary, is coming from these days, he wrote a book published earlier this year about AfPak called The Wrong War which has gotten critical praise. He describes its main message: "What is the book’s basic message? Our troops are trying to protect and provide projects to Pashtun tribes that are hurtling headlong into the 10th Century. Our strategy is kind and liberal, but it will take another ten years and one trillion dollars to nudge Afghanistan into a progressive, democratic, economically viable state.

We don’t have that time. Our vital interest is to prevent a takeover of Kabul by the Taliban radicals. We can prevent this by reducing our troop levels and placing the Afghan soldiers in the lead, with American advisers. That is why my book brings the readers into combat with both British and American adviser teams. We must change what we are doing."

I wish I had a better answer for you.

Could there be a recommended

lev murray — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:18:51 +0000

In reply to The End of Iraq, by Peter Galbraith

Could there be a recommended sequel to cover the years from 2006 to the present.

I am more than have way through this book just pass the Kurdistan chapter, and possibly

when I finish I'll find that this book doesn't need a sequel. In that case I'd still like to have

recomended another book that does as good a job bringing incite to the past five yr's. i.e.

2007 to the present (mid-2011). Thank you

to life lev

dagblog - Comments for "The End of Iraq, by Peter Galbraith"

Great question. It seems as

Could there be a recommended