Dark Victory: America's Second War Against Iraq - Hardcover

Jeffrey Record

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591147115 ISBN 13: 9781591147114

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 2004

Synopsis

A prominent national security analyst provides a critical examination of the origins, objectives, conduct, and consequences of the U.S. war against Iraq in this major new study. Focusing on the intersection of world politics, U.S. foreign policy, and the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Jeffrey Record presents a full-scale policy analysis of the war and its aftermath. As he looks at the political and strategic legacies of the 1991 Gulf War, the impact of 9/11 and neo-conservative ideology on the George W. Bush White House, and the formulation of the Bush Doctrine on the use of force, he assesses rather than describes, judges rather than recites facts. He decries the Bush administration's threat conflation of Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, and calls U.S. plans inadequate to meet postwar challenges in Iraq. <br><br>With the support of convincing evidence, the author concludes that America's war against Iraq was both unnecessary and damaging to long-term U.S. security interests. He argues that there was no threatening Saddam-Osama connection and that even if Iraq had the weapons of mass destruction that the Bush administration believed necessitated war, it could have been readily deterred from using them, just as it had been in 1991. Record faults the administration for preventive, unilateralist policies that alienated friends and allies, weakened international institutions important to the United States, and saddled America with costly, open-ended occupation of an Arab heartland. He contends that far from being a major victory against terrorism, the war provided Islamic jihadists an expanded recruiting base and a new front of operations against Americans. Such a solid, thought-provoking study merits attention.

About this title

Review:

..".considerable food for thought, along with expert analysis of America's misadventure in Iraq." -- Indianapolis Star

"What makes Record's analysis significant is his exploration of the linkage between politics, strategy, and operations." -- Journal of Military History

About the Author:

<strong>Jeffrey Record</strong> is a former professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the author of six books, including <em>Making War, Thinking History: Munich, Vietnam, Presidential Uses of Force from Korea to Kosovo</em> and <em>The Wrong War: Why We Lost in Vietnam</em>. Show More

About this edition

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1591147115
• ISBN 13: 9781591147114
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 203