Thomas E. Ricks - The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq  

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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.

FOR MY WIFE, WITH LOVE AND GRATITUDE.

Surprise and initiative... are infinitely more important and effective in strategy than in tactics.

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

CFcoalition forces; often used by American officials to refer to U.S., Iraqi, and British forces

CGcommanding general

CLCConcerned Local Citizens, official U.S. term for local fighters, many of them former insurgents who changed sides and began to support the U.S. position, but not necessarily the Baghdad government; also known as ISVs, or Iraqi Security Volunteers; later euphemized as Sons of Iraq

COINcounterinsurgency

COPa U.S. military combat outpost

DoDDepartment of Defense

EFPexplosively formed penetrator, also sometimes called explosively formed projectile; a particularly lethal kind of roadside bomb, or IED

FOB -forward operating base, the biggest U.S. bases in Iraq; compare COP

HMMWVhigh mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle; the modern U.S. military equivalent of the jeep; acronym usually pronounced Humvee

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