Thomas E. Ricks - The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008
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Thomas E. Ricks uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and extraordinary on-the-ground reportage to document the inside story of the Iraq War since late 2005 as only he can, examining the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began.
Since early 2007 a new military order has directed American strategy. Some top U.S. officials now in Iraq actually opposed the 2003 invasion, and almost all are severely critical of how the war was fought from then through 2006. At the core of the story is General David Petraeus, a military intellectual who has gathered around him an unprecedented number of officers with both combat experience and Ph.D.s. Underscoring his new and unorthodox approach, three of his key advisers are quirky foreignersan Australian infantryman-turned- anthropologist, an antimilitary British woman who is an expert in the Middle East, and a Mennonite-educated Palestinian pacifist.
The Gamble offers news-breaking account, revealing behind-the-scenes disagreements between top commanders. We learn that almost every single officer in the chain of command fought the surge. Many of Petraeuss closest advisers went to Iraq extremely pessimistic, doubting that the surge would have any effect, and his own boss was so skeptical that he dispatched an admiral to Baghdad in the summer of 2007 to come up with a strategy to replace Petraeuss. That same boss later flew to Iraq to try to talk Petraeus out of his planned congressional testimony. The Gamble examines the congressional hearings through the eyes of Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and their views of the questions posed by the 2008 presidential candidates.
For Petraeus, prevailing in Iraq means extending the war. Thomas E. Ricks concludes that the war is likely to last another five to ten yearsand that that outcome is a best case scenario. His stunning conclusion, stated in the last line of the book, is that the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered by us and by the world have not yet happened.
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Table of Contents
Praise for The Gamble
In his absorbing, impressively researched new book, The Gamble , Ricks examines how U.S. goals in Iraq changed in late 2006. Through his impressive access to military and political leaders, Ricks demonstrates that what fueled this change was the lack of any recognizable progress in Iraq.The Boston Globe
[A] grim forecast... [by] the nations best-known defense correspondent.
Mike Allen, Politico
It is Ricks look forward that gives this book its tremendous value, not the who-did-what-when chronicle of the surge.
Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg
Thomas E. Ricks eavesdrops on the high-ranking squabble over The Gamble (Penguin), General Petraeuss plan to launch the surge in Iraq.
Vanity Fair
[ The Gamble ] suggests there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, but if there is, its flickeringand a long way off.
Time
If you enjoyed Fiasco , thrilled to have your prejudices about the clueless Bush administration confirmed, its your responsibility to read The Gamble .
Salon.com
Rich in both vignettes and interviews.
The Economist
The principle value of Mr. Ricks book beyond being a historical chronicle is the light it may shed on the future course of events in Afghanistan.
The Washington Times
A journalistic achievement of high order.
The Second Pass.com
Commendable.
The Weekly Standard
The Gamble details the intriguing story of the U.S. military in Iraq from 2006 to 2008 from a fresh and credible perspective.... Ricks book is a wake-up call for any neoconservative who remains too optimistic about the wars progress.... This book is a must read for any member of the U.S. military or informed American who wants to know what really took place in Iraq in the last few years.
Baltimore Republican Examiner
The Gamble is the most remarkable book Ive read in ages.
Macleans
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thomas E. Ricks is a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, the only Washington think tank led by veterans of our current wars. He also writes the blog The Best Defense for Foreign Policy magazine. Previously he was a reporter for twenty-six years at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. A member of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams for national reporting, he has reported on U.S. military activities in Somalia, Haiti, Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Kuwait, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He is the author of Fiasco, Making the Corps, and A Soldiers Duty.
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in the United States of America by The Penguin Press,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2009
This edition with a new afterword published in Penguin Books 2010
Copyright Thomas E. Ricks, 2009, 2010
All rights reserved
eISBN : 978-1-101-19206-1
The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means
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FOR MY WIFE, WITH LOVE AND GRATITUDE.
CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ, On War
CAST OF CHARACTERS
2006
Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Army educational establishment, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Retired Gen. Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff, U.S. Army
Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defense
Gen. John Abizaid, chief, Central Command, U.S. military headquarters for Mideast
Army Gen. George Casey, U.S. commander in Iraq
Army Col. Sean MacFarland, commander, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, operating primarily in Ramadi, Iraq
Fred Kagan, policy analyst, American Enterprise Institute
Tom Donnelly, defense expert, American Enterprise Institute
Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister of Iraq
Moqtada al-Sadr, head of the Sadr Trend and its militia, the Jaysh al-Mahdi
2007
Petraeus, promoted to full four-star general, succeeds Casey as top U.S. commander in Iraq
Robert Gates, replaces Rumsfeld
Adm. Michael Mullen, replaces Pace
Adm. William Fox Fallon, replaces Abizaid at Central Command and becomes Petraeuss superior officer in the chain of command
Col. Bill Rapp, head of Commanders Initiatives Group, Petraeuss internal think tank
Lt. Col. Charles Miller, deputy director of Petraeuss think tank, drafter of Petraeuss memoranda to President Bush
Capt. Elizabeth McNally, writer and editor for Petraeus
Col. Pete Mansoor, executive officer to Petraeus
Sadi Othman, interpreter and cultural and political adviser to Petraeus David Kilcullen, counterinsurgency adviser to Petraeus
Maj. Gen. David Fastabend, director, strategic operations for Petraeus (in mid- 2007, succeeded by Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero)
Lt. Gen. James Dubik, chief of mission to train and advise Iraqi army and police
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander III Corps, oversees day-to-day operations
Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, chief of staff for Odierno
Emma Sky, political and cultural adviser to Odierno
Col. Martin Stanton, chief of reconciliation for Odierno
III Corps planners: Col. Martin Wilson, Lt. Col. Jeff McDougall, Maj. James Powell, Maj. Kent Strader
Brig. Gen. John Allen, deputy commander, Marine Corps in Iraq
Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq
2008
Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, succeeds Odierno
Col. Michael Bell, succeeds Rapp as head of Petraeuss internal think tank
September: Odierno succeeds Petraeus as top American commander in Iraq
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ACRarmored cavalry regiment
AOarea of operation
AORarea of responsibility
AQI or AQIZAl Qaeda in Iraq; also known as al Qaeda in Mesopotamia or al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers (IZ is U.S. military code for Iraq.)
CentcomCentral Command, the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East
BCTbrigade combat team, or a brigade with attached units
BUAbattle update assessment, a daily overview meeting for senior commanders and staff, sometimes also called a BUB, for battle update briefing
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