Why we lost : a general's inside account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars / Daniel Bolger
- Author:
- Bolger, Daniel P., 1957-
- Additional Titles:
- General's inside account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
- Published:
- Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.
- Physical Description:
- xlii, 502 pages, 16 pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 24 cm
- Contents:
- Apocalypse then -- Triumph : the Global War on Terrorism, September 2001 to April 2003. Harbingers ; 9/11 ; The Hindu Kush ; Anaconda ; A weapon of mass destruction ; Apocalypse then redux -- Hubris : the Iraq Campaign, April 2003 to December 2011. "Mission accomplished" ; What happened in Fallujah ; The color purple ; Implosion ; Malik Daoud ; Requiem on the Tigris -- Nemesis : the Afghan Campaign, April 2003 to December 2014. Undone ; The good war ; Taliban heartland ; Malik Daoud again ; Attrition ; Green on blue -- Infinite justice.
- Summary:
- Over a thirty-five year career, Daniel Bolger rose through the army infantry to become a three-star general, commanding in both theaters of the U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. He participated in meetings with top level military and civilian players, where strategy was made and managed. At the same time, he regularly carried a rifle alongside rank-and-file soldiers in combat actions, unusual for a general. Now, as a witness to all levels of military command, Bolger offers a unique assessment of these wars, from 9/11 to the final withdrawal from the region. Writing with hard-won experience and unflinching honesty, Bolger makes the firm case that in Iraq and in Afghanistan, we lost -- but we didn't have to. Intelligence was garbled. Key decision makers were blinded by spreadsheets or theories. And, at the root of our failure, we never really understood our enemy. Why We Lost is a timely, forceful, and compulsively readable account of these wars from a fresh and authoritative perspective.
- Subject(s):
- Iraq War, 2003-2011—Campaigns
- Afghan War, 2001-2021—Campaigns
- Iraq War, 2003-2011—Personal narratives, American
- Afghan War, 2001-2021—Personal narratives, American
- War on Terrorism, 2001-2009—Personal narratives, American
- Civil-military relations—United States—History—21st century
- Strategic culture—United States
- Leadership—United States
- ISBN:
- 9780544370487
0544370481 - Note:
- "An Eamon Dolan Book."
- Bibliography Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 438-485) and index.
- Source of Acquisition:
- Purchased with funds from the Jessica S. Conkling Memorial Libraries Endowment; 2014
- Endowment Note:
- Jessica S. Conkling Memorial Libraries Endowment
View MARC record | catkey: 13454037