The Assassin’s Gate by George Packer is an excellent overview of the American War in Iraq and its subsequent occupation and trouble with insurgents and warring factions. Packer does an excellent job of reporting talking to those who responsible with their ideology, the major players, ground soldiers, Iraqis, and pundits. Thus he begins by looking at neo-conservatism and its role in moving ht US toward war with Iraq, from there he follows the invasion and the subsequent nation building and the series of stunning leaderships mistake that added to the postwar chaos: de-baathification, dismissing the army, and not stopping the looting that took place after the government was toppled. This put the country into chaos, which was then fanned by the perceived disrespect of an occupying force that didn’t treat the people with respect and humanity. On top of this you have religious, political, and personal conflicts adding to the violence as the insurgency spread and intensified. Violence is now a daily part of life in Iraq-roadside bombs, attacks, and suicide bomber strikes almost daily.
I think Packer sums up my opinions on this situation rather astutely when he says (on p. 390):
I came to believe that those in positions of highest responsibility for Iraq showed a carelessness about human life that amounted to criminal negligence. Swaddled in abstract ideas, convinced of their own righteousness, incapable of self-criticism, indifferent to accountability, they turned a difficult undertaking into a needlessly deadly one. When things went wrong, they found other people to blame. The Iraq War was always winnable; it still is. For this very reason, the recklessness of its author is all the harder to forgive.
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