Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
Surge is an insider’s view of the most decisive phase of the Iraq War. After exploring the dynamics of the war during its first three years, the book takes the reader on a journey to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where the controversial new U.S. Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency doctrine was developed; to Washington, D.C., and the halls of the Pentagon, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff struggled to understand the conflict; to the streets of Baghdad, where soldiers worked to implement the surge and reenergize the flagging war effort before the Iraqi state splintered; and to the halls of Congress, where Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus testified in some of the most contentious hearings in recent memory.
Using newly declassified documents, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, author notes, and published sources, Surge explains how President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, and other U.S. and Iraqi political and military leaders shaped the surge from the center of the maelstrom in Baghdad and Washington.
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Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
Surge is an insider’s view of the most decisive phase of the Iraq War. After exploring the dynamics of the war during its first three years, the book takes the reader on a journey to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where the controversial new U.S. Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency doctrine was developed; to Washington, D.C., and the halls of the Pentagon, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff struggled to understand the conflict; to the streets of Baghdad, where soldiers worked to implement the surge and reenergize the flagging war effort before the Iraqi state splintered; and to the halls of Congress, where Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus testified in some of the most contentious hearings in recent memory.
Using newly declassified documents, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, author notes, and published sources, Surge explains how President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, and other U.S. and Iraqi political and military leaders shaped the surge from the center of the maelstrom in Baghdad and Washington.
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Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
Surge is an insider’s view of the most decisive phase of the Iraq War. After exploring the dynamics of the war during its first three years, the book takes the reader on a journey to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where the controversial new U.S. Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency doctrine was developed; to Washington, D.C., and the halls of the Pentagon, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff struggled to understand the conflict; to the streets of Baghdad, where soldiers worked to implement the surge and reenergize the flagging war effort before the Iraqi state splintered; and to the halls of Congress, where Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus testified in some of the most contentious hearings in recent memory.
Using newly declassified documents, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, author notes, and published sources, Surge explains how President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, and other U.S. and Iraqi political and military leaders shaped the surge from the center of the maelstrom in Baghdad and Washington.
Peter R. Mansoor is the General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair of Military History at the Ohio State University and a retired U.S. Army colonel. He lives in Dublin, OH.
Table of Contents
Foreword David Petraeus ix
Preface xxv
Acknowledgments xxix
List of Abbreviations xxxi
Maps xxxiii
Prologue: Baghdad, February 11, 2007 1
1 A War Almost Lost 5
2 Designing the Surge 34
3 Fardh al-Qanoon 65
4 Tower 57 91
5 The Awakening 120
6 Turning the Tide 148
7 Testimony 177
8 Power Politics 209
9 Charge of the Knights 233
10 The Surge in Retrospect 260
Appendix 1 Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq 277
Appendix 3 Anaconda Strategy versus al-Qaeda in Iraq 291
Appendix 4 Security Incidents in Iraq 292
Notes 293
Index 325
Interviews
Praise for Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
“Surge is an extraordinary account of a decisive campaign in the Iraq War by one who is uniquely qualified to write it. Colonel (Ret.) Pete Mansoor not only is a history professor, he also was a brigade commander in Iraq during our first year there and then was my executive officer for the first fifteen months of the surge. I am confident that his firsthand account of that chapter of our involvement in Iraq will contribute enormously to the understanding of what our military men and women—and their coalition, Iraqi, and civilian partners—accomplished in 2007 and 2008. It is gratifying to see their exceptional work recounted by one who was there and who has the academic expertise and military understanding to provide context to their achievements and depth of understanding to their sacrifices. This superb account of a critical period will inform scholarship on the Iraq War for years to come.”—General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus
Praise for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq
"Unflinching. . . . [Mansoor] tells the story of that fateful first year in Iraq from the point of view of one who saw decisions being made at the highest echelons, yet led soldiers in executing those orders day by day."—Bill Murphy, Washington Post
"Colonel Mansoor displays the knowledge of a soldier alongside the narrative gifts of a true historian, weaving dramatic events together, capturing the thoughts and emotions of street-level fighters, and describing Iraqi society as it tries to emerge from the maelstrom of war."—Mark Moyar, Wall Street Journal
“Destined to be studied in war colleges for generations. . . . A far better guide to counterinsurgency warfare than the official manual published by the Army and Marines."—Ralph Peters, New York Post
