The Iraq Wars

From the foremost scholar of the subject, a groundbreaking history of American involvement in Iraq to the present day Since 1979, the United States has waged at least five wars with or against Iraq. Yet the history of American involvement there has not been told in full, and what has been told is often misconstrued. The Iraq Wars offers a comprehensive history of the United States and Iraq, explaining the events and factors that drove the political, diplomatic, and military choices the United States made with regard to the region. More than just a comprehensive history, The Iraq Wars also assesses alternative paths that we might reasonably have taken instead. What if the United States had not given Iraq a free hand in the 1980s to develop weapons of mass destruction? What if George H. W. Bush had extended Operation Desert Storm for another 48 hours—or marched on Baghdad—to bring down Saddam Husayn’s regime? Was the 2003 invasion of Iraq necessary? How should the United States have managed the aftermath? Even decades after the events took place, many aspects of the United States’ changing, vexing entanglement with Iraq remain controversial to the point of provoking partisan anger. This book offers indispensable guidance for citizens and leaders who wish to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Kenneth M. Pollack offers the first comprehensive history of the decades-long confrontation between the United States and Iraq, drawing on extensive interviews, declassified U.S. documents and captured Iraqi materials, and his long experience as a key advisor on U.S. policy in Iraq.