The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq | George Packer

The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq | George Packer | Best Book on the 03 Iraq Invasion and Its Intellectual Foundations

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The Assassins' Gat...

	The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq George Packer Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 123 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Named one of the Best Books of 2005 by The New York Times, The Washington Post Book World, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle Book Review, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, The New York Times Book Review, USA Today, Time, and New York magazine. The Assassins? Gate: America in Iraq recounts how the United States set about changing the history of the Middle East and became ensnared in a guerrilla war in Iraq. It brings to life the people and ideas that created the Bush administration?s war policy and led America to the Assassins? Gate?the main point of entry into the American zone in Baghdad. The Assassins? Gate also describes the place of the war in American life: the ideological battles in Washington that led to chaos in Iraq, the ordeal of a fallen soldier ?s family, and the political culture of a country too bitterly polarized to realize such a vast and morally complex undertaking. George Packer?s best-selling first-person narrative combines the scope of an epic history with the depth and intimacy of a novel, creating a masterful account of America?s most controversial foreign venture since Vietnam.

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Best Book on the 03 Iraq Invasion and Its Intellectual Foundations

The most illuminating account of the intellectual underpinnings of the Iraq war that I've seen. Eminently well written, nuanced, absorbing.

Be informed

"You are not entitled to your opinion; you are entitled to your informed opinion. If you are not informed on the subject, then your opinion counts for nothing."
~ Harlan Ellison

Everybody has an opinion on Iraq. We've all heard them. Well, after reading this book all I can say is - unless you have read this book your opinion counts for nothing.

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"Iraq was too important to be left to the partisans"

The Iraq war enters its 5th year. Most people in the world, and many in the US, are now categorical in their denunciation of it. WMDs have proven to be a false premise and al-Quaeda is probably quite happy about the Muslim polarization it has brought on.

Packard makes a much-needed case that one can be against the administration and against the horrible mess it has made, yet still find that going to war wasn't entirely a moral deadend from day one. Saddam was a butcher and a tyrant and removing him was a good thing in itself, even if done for the wrong reasons. Only time will tell if the gains outweigh the costs - it doesn't look good right now.

He reminds us that even the good intentions of many, and a population justifiably happy to be rid of Saddam, did not mean that it was going to be easy to effect a post-Saddam transition. Iraqis were too divided, too browbeaten and too materially poor for an easy outcome. The US administration was overconfident and too determined to keep any bad news and harsh reality from the electorate even as it wasn't pragmatic enough to learn from its mistakes. Also documented is the near-criminal lack of planning and carelessness with which responsibility for post-war planning was usurped from State by the Pentagon and then not carried out.

Packard presents many points of view, from idealistic troops to soldiers suspicious and resentful of Iraqis. Don't kid yourself - if you and your buddies got shot at every day by 'civilians', your reactions towards the population might not be warm and fuzzy, even as those reactions really really need restraint. Similarly, his Iraqi subjects run the gamut from pro-democrats to Shia hardliners to Sunnis convinced that they are a majority. He mostly leaves the reader to draw her own conclusions. Except for a chapter in which he outlines how a more pragmatic and honest administration might have operated.

This book is a cogent reminder that Iraq is a difficult and complex reality, without easy answers. Too many Democrats (a good friend of mine included) will reflexively deny any improvement, just because failure digs a deeper hole for the Republicans. Too many Republicans take any criticism of the administration as a solely partisan attack, despite the gross incompetence and clear miscalculations of the administration.

The reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is that Packard does not rise above the partisan fray himself. Cheney might be despicable, but I wouldn't call him a 'giant frog' in a book that preaches objectivity and coming together to fix things. Assassin's Gate is quite even-handed in its analysis, but quoting him out of context makes it easier for flat-earthers to dismiss this book as just another character assassination.

Best wishes to the troops themselves - take care, be safe, and remain honorable. And peace be upon Iraqis.

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Not for me.

A well written book. A little too liberal for my tastes, but interesting nonetheless. Good book to use for school papers.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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