Thomas Ricks 'Fiasco' C-Span2 AfterWords 8 PM CDT

[Strelnikov_]

FIASCO: The American Military Adventure in Iraq

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/books/25kaku.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The title of this devastating new book about the American war in Iraq says it all: “Fiasco.” That is the judgment that Thomas E. Ricks, senior Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Post, passes on the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq and its management of the war and the occupation. And he serves up his portrait of that war as a misguided exercise in hubris, incompetence and folly with a wealth of detail and evidence that is both staggeringly vivid and persuasive.

. . .

Mr. Ricks argues that the invasion of Iraq “was based on perhaps the worst war plan in American history,” an incomplete plan that “confused removing Iraq’s regime with the far more difficult task of changing the entire country.” The result of going in with too few troops and no larger strategic plan, he says, was “that the U.S. effort resembled a banana republic coup d’état more than a full-scale war plan that reflected the ambition of a great power to alter the politics of a crucial region of the world.”

[Bozita]

1. That NYT review was really good. Looking forward to 9pm.

[jannyk]

2. I'm reading this now...

..and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Having a hard time putting the thing down and getting on with my day. Buy it!!

[Strelnikov_]

3. I Think I Will. Thanks For The Recommendation.

My view is that instead of debating on why we invaded, which can be argued endlessly to no conclusion, we need to concentrate on the gross incompetence demonstrated in the GOP's conduct of the war.

The complete failure of their policies cannot be debated, and I am hoping this book will help to bring this to light.

Then, we need to ask the undecided the following question, "do you want these people in charge when the next crisis strikes"?

Iran? Syria?

[jannyk]

5. Oooh. It does that alright...

I don't think you'll be disappointed!

<<The complete failure of their policies cannot be debated, and I am hoping this book will help to bring this to light.>>

[Strelnikov_]

4. “Pasting Feathers Together, Hoping For A Duck.”

Have to remember that one.

An after-action review from the Third Infantry Division underscores the Pentagon’s paucity of postwar planning, stating that “there was no guidance for restoring order in Baghdad, creating an interim government, hiring government and essential services employees, and ensuring that the judicial system was operational.” And an end-of-tour report by a colonel assigned to the Coalition Provisional Authority memorably summarized his office’s work as “pasting feathers together, hoping for a duck.”

On second thought, this pretty much describes the GOP approach to every crises. Do we have a new motto?

[TomClash]

6. Just bought it tonight

It looks quite well-written, unlike COBRA II, which was interesting but often ponderous.