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A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars
Simon & Schuster
May 2009
On Sale: May 5, 2009
352 pages
ISBN: 1416549021
EAN: 9781416549024
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
It is arguably the most important foreign policy question
facing any president, and Richard Haass -- a member of the
National Security Council staff for the first President Bush
and the director of policy planning in the State Department
for Bush II -- is in a unique position to address it. Haass
is one of just a handful of individuals -- along with Colin
Powell, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and Bob Gates --
involved at a senior level of U.S. government decision
making during both Iraq conflicts. He is the first to take
us behind closed doors and the first to provide a personal
account. The result is a book that is authoritative,
revealing, and surprising. Haass explains not only what
happened but why. At first blush, the two Iraq wars appear similar. Both
involved a President George Bush and the United States in
conflicts with Saddam Hussein and Iraq. There, however, the
resemblance ends. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped
the conduct of the two wars and makes a crucial distinction
between the 1991 and 2003 conflicts. The first Iraq war,
following Saddam Hussein's invasion of neighboring Kuwait,
was a war of necessity. It was limited in ambition, well
executed, and carried out with unprecedented international
support. By contrast, the second Iraq war was one of choice, the most
significant discretionary war undertaken by the United
States since Vietnam. Haass argues that it was unwarranted,
as the United States had other viable policy options. Making
matters worse was the fact that this ambitious undertaking
was poorly implemented and fought with considerably more
international opposition than backing. These are the principal conclusions of this compelling,
honest, and challenging book by one of this country's most
respected voices on foreign policy. Haass's assessments are
critical yet fair -- and carry tremendous weight. He offers
a thoughtful examination of the means and ends of U.S.
foreign policy: how it should be made, what it should seek
to accomplish, and how it should be pursued. War of Necessity, War of Choice -- part history, part memoir
-- provides invaluable insight into some of the most
important recent events in the world. It also provides a
much-needed compass for how the United States can apply the
lessons learned from the two Iraq wars so that it is better
positioned to put into practice what worked and to avoid
repeating what so clearly did not.
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