Details
Synopsis
Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s damning in-depth report on life in Baghdad's Green Zone, the cordoned-off section that was the seat of the U.S. military command as well as of the Coalition Provisional Authority, reveals case after case of a stunningly mismanaged post-invasion occupation. Chandrasekaran looks at a large number of people--military and civilian both--and credits those who tried to help, but also reports stunningly outrageous behavior that is at times inept, at other times offensive. The Coalition Provisional Authority tended to be either intrusive or woefully absent (in restoring Iraq's infrastructure, for example), and was staffed, the author claims, with politically connected people with little interest in Iraqi culture who only made things worse, not better. Chandrasekaran describes a surreal city-within-a-city and an occupying force in a state of collective denial about the realities just outside its perimeter--none of which escaped the notice of the Iraqi population, and which, Chandrasekaran asserts, fueled the insurgency. Selected by the New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2007.
| Size | | Length: | 288 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 21.6 oz |
Industry Reviews
"The book is an eye-opening tour of ineptitude, misdirection and the perils of democracy-building....Other recent books have assailed the military prosecution of the Iraq war, traced its partisan origins and exposed the dismal planning. Chandrasekaran's detail-rich reporting and firsthand, candid narrative is what sets his contribution apart and bolsters his withering assessment."
(09/24/2006)
"Chandrasekaran's portrait of blinkered idealism is even-handed, chronicling the disillusionment of conservatives who were sent to a war zone without the resources to achieve lasting change."
(10/09/2006)
"Mr. Chandrasekaran...draws a vividly detailed portrait of the Green Zone and the Coalition Provisional Authority...that becomes a metaphor for the administration's larger failings in Iraq."
(10/13/2006)
"This is a clearly written, blessedly undidactic book. It should be read by anyone who wants to understand how things went so badly wrong in Iraq."
(12/17/2006)
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