Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

by Michael Gordon (Author), Bernard Trainor (Author), Michael Gordon (Author), Bernard Trainor (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $4.38

  There have been many reports about the Iraq war and the vicissitudes of the occupation, yet none has told the complete story. Michael Gordon had unparalleled, behind-the-scenes access to the decision-making processes that determined involvement in Iraq. In Cobra II - the secret codename given to the land invasion operation - he delivers the objectively rendered, definitive chronicle of the war.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.25

  In the inner circles of the United States government men of ambition seized on the opportunity suggested by 9/11 with alacrity. Far from fearing a 'global war on terror', they welcomed it, certain of their ability to bend war to their purposes. Although the ensuing conflict has not by any means run its course, we are now in a position to begin evaluating the results of their handiwork. To that effort, this very fine book makes an important contribution. A decade ago, Michael Gordon, a reporter with the New York Times, and Bernard Trainor, a retired US Marine Corps lieutenant general, collaborated on The Generals' War, still perhaps the best narrative history of the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91. Cobra II, a worthy successor, is packaged as an account of the planning and conduct of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It should be read as a study of the politics of war. Although Gordon and Trainor describe in stirring detail the celebrated 'march on Baghdad', their real contribution has been to identify the confluence of factors that inspired the march, shaped it, and produced consequences very different from those expected.