08 April 2006

Cobra II

I'm reading Cobra II ^{(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll)}, the new book by Michael R. Gorden and General Bernard E. Trainor (USMC). Incredibly well-researched and in-depth, it gives an amazing look into the war in Iraq (From planning to execution to the recent past). I'm not even that far into it, but it continues to impress. Despite being very detailed about war planning and internal Bush Administration politics it remains compelling and interesting. I would recommend it as a (so far) non-political, detailed look at run up and execution of the current war.

I say non-political because the book delivers the discussions, motivations, actions and meetings that shaped the war. On the other hand, to me at least, there are some parts that I cannot help but see the political aspect of. For instance:

On August 5, [2002,] Powell ... told the president ... when the United States took out the Iraqi military it would striking a blow at the institution that held the country together. When the army cracked, the Iraqi government structure would crack and Bush would be the proud owner of 24 million people. It would take time to put a new Iraqi government in place and in the meantime the United States would be the government. It would be a multi-year commitment, which would tie up 40 percent of the U.S. Army for years. I would, Powell said, suck the oxygen out of everything else the administration wanted to do. Powell was later said to invoked the Pottery Barn rule: if you break it you own it. But the message was more blunt: it will break and you will own it.

Smart guy, that Powell.

posted by Interested Soldier @ 17:37