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Type of bind: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 956.70443
EAN num: 9780739325162
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
ISBN number: 0739325167
Label: Random House Audio
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
Quantity: 1
Printing Date: March 14, 2006
Publishing house: Random House Audio
Release Date: March 14, 2006
Sale Popularity Level: 711432
Studio: Random House Audio
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Informed by unparalleled acess to still–secret documents, interviews with top field commanders, and a review of the military’s own internal after–action reports, Cobra II is the definitive chronicle of America’s invasion and occupation of Iraq—a conflict that could not be lost but one that the United States failed to win decisively. From the Pentagon to the White House to the American command centers in the field, the book reveals the inside story of how the war was actually planned and fought. Drawing on classified United States government intelligence, it also provides a unique account of how Saddam Hussein and his high command developed and prosecuted their war strategy.
Unimpeachably sourced, Cobra II describes how the American rush to Baghdad provided the opportunity for the virulent insurgency that followed. The brutal aftermath in Iraq was not inevitable and was a surprise to the generals on both sides; Cobra II provides the very first authoritative account as to why. It is a book of enduring importance and incisive analysis—a comprehensive account of the most reported yet least understood war in American history.
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Rated by buyers 
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The war in Iraq has dominated the news for the past several years, and recent months have seen several books emerge dealing with events leading to the American-led invasion and its aftermath. Among the best of these books is Cobra II, by New York Times chief military correspondent Michael R. Gordon, and retired Marine Corp Lt. General Bernard E. Trainor.
Cobra II deals largely with the run-up to war, and America's initial military successes on the field. Well-written and thoroughly researched, the book tracks events leading up to the March, 2003 invasion of Iraq and ends with the reelection of the Bush Administration in 2004, recounting all of the major battles and most of our early troubles with the occupation. Showing the miscalculations on both sides that may have made the conflict inevitable, the authors bring a wealth of experience and insight to the task of making the chaos of battle intelligible to the outsider. And among the revelations is that few of our leaders ever considered the possibility that Saddam's posturing might be directed toward local enemies in the region--a failure that, given the course of events in the years since, is tragically ironic.
Initial Sucess and Future Problems
Disturbingly, they also show that many of our early successes were not quite what they seemed. Much of the vaunted push to Baghdad came over lightly-guarded terrain, from which the enemy had largely withdrawn in the face of our superior forces. Still, the seeds of future problems were there for all to see, and many of the soldiers in the field saw them. Unfortunately, however, the civilians in the Pentagon, and the commanders on the scene simply refused to listen to their warnings. The book also describes the lengths to which Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld went to seize and exercise total control over our venture into Iraq. Astonishingly, these lengths included freezing the one official in the Bush Administration with experience planning and executing a war plan, Secretary of State Colin Powell, out of any substantial role in pre- or post-war planning. Rumsfeld's Defense Department even went so far as to punish a general who committed the sin of candor by publically acknowledging that the enemy our soldiers were facing was different than the one they had war-gamed against. His subsequent marginalization within the Pentagon sent a sharp and unmistakable message to the rest of the uniformed military, signaling that their job was to follow orders, not to tell Congress or the public about any possible problems that might be lurking around the subsequent dusty bend in the road.
Continuing Problems
First coming to press as our problems were becoming apparent even to most early supporters of the war, Cobra II also notes that the lack of available "boots on the ground" seemed to be largely responsible for the wide-scale looting and chaos that followed the invasion. Alarmingly, the book suggests that our misreading of the enemy and our inability to recognize and adapt to the changing developments on the ground reflect the dysfunctional nature of our military institutions under Rumsfeld. These problems include a prevailing assumption among many top military planners that invading Iraq in 2003 would be little more than a reprise of the successful Gulf War of 1991--problems that may not end with Rumsfeld's departure from the Pentagon.
Cobra II succeeds in translating many of our blunders into terms and concepts that the non-military layman can easily grasp. It gives us a candid, professional analysis of events before and since the invasion. And it provides the reader with a sobering assessment of what can go wrong when optimism and resolve come to equate doubt or skepticism with disloyalty.
Rated by buyers -
Although some may say this book is "too detailed" or "too boring to read", I would say that that is what you'd want from a hot topic that is at the top of the news every day.
Aside from enjoying the book because I was there in 2003 during the invasion, I enjoy how the authors paint a picture of what was happening at different levels. We read about the strategic planning done by the President and the Secretary of Defense, down to the operational level with the war planners at USCENTCOM, and down further to the tactical level with the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in the trenches. We get to be the "fly on the wall" as we learn what was discussed in the war room and feel the gutsy calls by the commanders in the field taking Baghdad, block by block.
I recommend this book for anyone involved in the conflict or those who wish to get an account of how the planning to invade Iraq went down. Whether you're for or against the war, this is a good read to expand your knowledge base of what's going on right now in the Middle East.
-GM
Gregory M. Kuzma
Author, On the field from Denver, Colorado...The Blue Knights!: One member's experience of the 1994 summer national tour (N)
Rated by buyers 
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The authors have done an exhaustive resource that provides the reader with most of the background for the preparation of the invasion of Iraq and its subsequent developments.
A very interesting book.
Rated by buyers -
"Having failed to prepare for post-combat burdens, undertaken the war with the minimal acceptable forces, and canceled the deployment of badly needed reinforcements, the Bush Administration compounded the problem by disbanding the Iraqi army, putting more than 300,000 armed men on the streets, and denying local elections that would have allowed the Iraqis a measure of control over their own affairs."
Not to mention the oversold and flat wrong reasons we went to war in the very first place.
The men who wrote these words are Lt. General Bernard E. Trainor (Marine Corps, ret.) and Michael R. Gordon, chief military correspondent for the New York Times. No knee-jerk Bush-bashers, the authors also wrote what is considered to be the definitive history of the very first Persian Gulf War, a book Dick Cheney recommends to his friends. I'm surprised to report that a definitive history of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, is here in our hands. Already. And the war is still going on.
Written with military precision but with little jargon, Cobra II swoops and dives between the blinding dust of desert warfare and faraway, high-level, secure conference rooms in Washington DC and coalition headquarters in Kuwait. It's the difference between flying at a strategic 50,000 feet and rolling with the grunts in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team that surprised everyone by showing up in downtown Baghdad before they were supposed to. Reading Cobra II, you've got to love the American soldier. These are the men and women who arrived in Nasiriyah, short on sleep, having been told to prepare for parades with the city fathers, but are instead confronted with the Fedayeen and their rocket propelled grenades and AK-47s, the "insurgents" of today. US soldiers and field commanders adapted and did their job. The top brass, primarily Donald Rumsfeld, General Tommy Franks and George W. Bush, did not.
Stronger at the 50,000 foot level, as when telling the tale of the immense and impressive planning effort that began in late 2001 or when describing the battles between field commanders and Franks, the authors present, in well documented and annotated detail the invasion's story and the increasingly evident five major strategic blunders on the part of the war's planners and managers. "Rumsfeld and his generals misread their foe by viewing the invasion of Iraq largely as a continuation of the Persian Gulf War....the CIA was not only wrong on WMD, but failed to identify the importance of the Fedayeen." Or "the troops' training and the leadership in the field and at the allied land command paid off. But the American war plan was never adjusted on high. Tommy Franks never acknowledged the enemy he faced, nor did he comprehend the nature of the war he was directing." It's evident, that despite Franks' later claim of credit for the winning war strategy, he got us to Baghdad but that's about it. Now what?
Marine Lieutenant Therral "Shane" Childers, veteran of the very first Gulf War, was leading a platoon in the early hours of the invasion in southern Iraq. Across the desert, a single, tan Toyota pickup truck sped towards them. The Marines held their fire since they were told to engage Iraqi armor, not civilians in pickups. The Iraqis raised their AK-47s and sprayed the Marines with bullets, one of which killed Childers. He was the very first American soldier killed in enemy action. Prophetically, he was killed by insurgents, not by Saddam's Republican Guard. Too bad we didn't pick up on that.
Read this book. It's your duty to be well-informed.
Rated by buyers -
Amazing book full of very detailed accounts of the planning of the Iraq war and actual battles during the invasion. Stories in this book that i have not heard anywhere else. Being an Iraq war vet myself, I really enjoyed this book.
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