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Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq | 
 enlarge | Author: Linda Robinson
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $16.41
You Save: $11.54 (41%)
New (43) Used (9) from $16.41
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 6853
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6 x 1.5
ISBN: 1586485288
Dewey Decimal Number: 956.70443
EAN: 9781586485283
ASIN: 1586485288
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
From bestselling author of "Masters of Chaos" comes the first and only book on the 'surge' in Iraq, with sustained access to General David Petraeus and his senior commanders, and an analysis of how the war is likely to end.Featuring exclusive interviews with General David Petraeus and drawing upon her extensive experience as a reporter in Iraq, Linda Robinson describes the three distinct phases of the battle for Baghdad: the conventional assault on Baghdad, headed by General Tommy Franks, and the collapse of the government that resulted; the rise of insurgency, and General George Casey's failed attempts to suppress it; and the dramatic change in strategy brought in with Lt. General David Petraeus in 2006.Robinson uses key figures and incidents to build up a dramatic and incisive examination not only of the war in Iraq, but of the rapidly changing face of modern warfare. This critically important book will be relevant for anyone interested in military history, and the Iraq War, for years to come.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Portrait of a Difficult War December 23, 2008
This book is comprehensive while retaining the currency of a bi-weekly magazine. All of it is worth reading and the sacrifices of its heroes should be known to all. Especially, Chapters 8 and 9 come alive with the horror that soldiers met in turning the war around. The book, like the best of its players, strives to find the positive way forward in a dangerous world. It makes me want to do more in support of the American military, as well as the Iraqis who want a peaceful and just world.
 Great Character Analysis November 24, 2008
Great analysis of a great commander. Shows the human side of what it took behind the scenes to accomplish what GEN Petraeus and his people achieved. A book for anyone seriously interested in how to lead people as well as anyone interested in how Iraq has been transformed.
good reading for today's issues October 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Must reading if you want to understand what is and has been going on in Iraq. You have to like a story about a General if you are going to like this book.
A well-written informative history October 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
An overview of American and Iraqi political, military, social and religious histories plus a bio of General Petraeus told in episodic
pivotal moments of choices, impacts and combat. Like the situation, a complicated read. I learnt a ton more than anything aired on tv channel news.
A Plan and a Man October 2, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
In his acclaimed study of counterinsurgency, LEARNING TO EAT SOUP WITH A KNIFE, John Nagl includes this note from Vicount Montgomery of El Alamein, to the Colonial Secretary,
" Dear Lyttelton, Malaya
We must have a plan.
Secondly we must have a man.
When we have a plan and a man, we shall succeed: not otherwise.
Yours Sincerely,
Montgomery (F.M.)"
Linda Robinson, in her brilliantly conceived and executed, TELL ME HOW THIS ENDS: GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS AND THE SEARCH FOR A WAY OUT OF IRAQ. addresses the Iraq war in terms of both the plan - how it was developed, adapted, and executed - and the man: Petraeus. In so doing, she has written a classic analysis that ranges from U.S. national policy through the levels of strategy and operations down to the tactical and back again. In telling the story of General Petraeus and his plan she also tells the tales of the other actors, American and Iraqi, Ambassadors and Generals, Lt. Colonels, Captains, Sergeants, soldiers and Marines. And she shows how the smoke and sounds of battle (and the silences) flow from policies, plans, and military doctrine.
Robinson's story focuses on David Petraeus and takes the reader through a series of key mentorships and experiences. The most important mentor was General John R. Galvin who encouraged Petraeus to seek his doctorate and brought him into contact with counteinsurgency in 1986 when Galvin was the commander of the U.S. Southern Command in Panama. Robinson notes, in this context, that Petraeus co-authored Galvin's important article, "Uncomfortable Wars" dealing with counterinsurgency in Latin America published in the Army War College journal, PARAMETERS, and later in Max Manwaring's edited volume by the same title. From this background and later experiences in Iraq, Petraeus led the effort to redefine Army and Marine Corps counteinsurgency doctrine while commanding the Army's Combined Arms Center.
For this, Petraeus assembled a team under the leadership of his West Point classmate, Con Crane, and including LTC John Nagl. Robinson points out the debt the authors acknowledge to Manwaring's work on small wars issues. From the doctrine that his efforts produced, the newly promoted four star General Petraeus developed the strategy that came to be known as "the surge" (of which the troop surge was only a small, if important, part).
Robinson uses this story to show how an effective military commander works to achieve unity of effort up to the political level, laterally with the American ambassador in Iraq, and down to the troops under his command. In the process, she demosntrates the difficulties inherent in coalition counterinsurgent warfare.
The weakest section of the book is her last chapter (which is not very weak at all) where she suggests approaches for the future in Iraq. The only problem is that much of the future is now and some of her suggestions have been overtaken by events.
That said, the only appropriate words for the book are superlatives!
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