Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

by Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor

Book Overview

Informed by unparalleled access to stillsecret documents, interviews with top field commanders, and a review of the military's own internal afteraction reports,Cobra IIis the definitive chronicle of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375422625
• ISBN13: 9780375422621
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Length: 603 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive, authoritative and stunning

"Cobra II", the recently-released book by Michael Gordon and General Bernard Trainor, tells the Iraq war story from a unique perspective. Concentrating almost entirely on the planning, invasion and occupation of Iraq, the authors relate a war strategy and deployment fraught with compound errors in judgment and administration. It is an amazingly well-told work. As in any story of conflict there are good guys and not so good ones. Gordon and Trainor are unsparingly critical of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and CENTCOM commander Tommy Franks. While Rumsfeld's views and applications have been roundly criticized before, Franks gets a harsh review in this book. The two made mistake after mistake, much of it due to their own unwillingness to hear views of others and their own self-assurance that their ways were the right ways. "Cobra II" does much to unravel their positions. If it seems early on that one easily gets bogged down by the book's heavy use of acronyms, (the military loves them and so do the authors) staying with this book is worth it. The narrative begins to unfold in a classic crescendo from the time the first U.S. troops entered Iraq and continues through a breathtaking couple of chapters describing "Thunder Run", led in part by the courageous, risk-taking Colonel Dave Perkins, with the solid overall support of Lieutenant General David McKiernan....two of the really good guys portrayed here. It's the best part of "Cobra II". What appears so new to me is that this story is a ground story (the events of the invasion, as most Americans remember them, came from reporting of air attacks). Gordon and Trainor don't just describe the plights of those who made it through... they tell also of the final moments of many soldiers who didn't come home safely. Making not much more than cameo appearances in "Cobra II" are President Bush and Vice-President Cheney, although their collective presence is channeled through Rumsfeld. The authors have, rightly I think, kept their focus on the men and women who actually were part of the invasion and occupation. The many maps (included in the front of the book) are a help in putting the invasion's movements into context. I highly recommend "Cobra II" for its sobering look at the war in Iraq. While the authors take strong positions they give a balanced account of the war, and ultimately, what went wrong with the aftermath.

Detailed Accounting of Heroism and Incompetence

"Cobra II" provides a detailed accounting of the planning and execution of the Iraq War. The heroism and bravery of American troops under fire was well-documented and moving; unfortunately, there was also much to report about many at the top - how their incompetence and arrogance bungled the handling of post-war Iraq, has thrown the entire outcome into chaos, and has cost innumerable lives. Bush II, prior to his election, signaled that he wanted to overhaul the U.S. military - Gulf I had taken too long to plan and execute. Bush also did not see the need for lengthy peacekeeping and nation-building, such as the U.S. had undertaken in the Balkans. These viewpoints were presumably major factors in selecting Donald Rumsfeld, who shared them, as Secretary of Defense. From the very beginning military leaders recommended close to 500,000 troops for Iraq, especially for the post-war phase. Rumsfeld, showing irritation at the first presentation of such a plan, was asked by Chief of Staff "How many did he thought might be needed?" Rumsfeld's reply was 125,000, "and even that was probably too many." The military's plan reflected long-standing military principles about force levels needed to defeat Iraq, control a population greater than 24 million, and secure a nation that size of California, with porous borders. Rumsfeld's numbers, in contrast, seemed to be pulled out of thin air. Many planning iterations and about 1.5 years later, the U.S. attacked Iraq with the number of troops Rumsfeld initially fixed on. The U.S., however, was not alone in making major miscalculations. Saddam's top priority was internal threats and Iran - the U.S. was a distant third. According to Saddam, the Republican Guard had stopped the U.S.-led forces at the Euphrates in Gulf I, and his plan was to do it again. Saddam also believed that it was the threat of chemical weapons that kept the U.S. from marching on Baghdad. Opponents dared not raise their hands. Shiite troops (the most disposable, to Saddam) were located on the front lines, far from Baghdad, where the risk of them revolting was minimal. Further, unit commanders were prohibited from talking to each other lest they plot a revolt. Leadership posts were assigned on the basis of loyalty - especially to relatives. Each village, town, and city would become a semi-independent citadel with Fedayeen units drawing on caches of light weapons guarded by Baathists. The stockpiling of weapons and ammunition was not detected by American spy satellites. General Tommy Franks, U.S. Commander, initially assumed that the State Department would handle post-war Iraq. Only just prior to hostilities was this clarified and given to DOD. Regardless, civilian leaders planned to emulate their successes in Afghanistan, despite Army leaders pointing out that Iraq was much more densely populated and therefore difficult to control. Other major (erroneous) assumptions were that many Iraqi units would surrender and switch sides -

Eye opnening

When it comes to writing a book about the inner workings of the war plan in Iraq and its execution, one can hardly think of a better suited team than Michael Gordon, the chief military correspondent for the NY Times and General Bernard Trainor, formerly of the Marines and now a noted academic. This teams first work, a history of the first Gulf War, is the definitive work on the subject. With unparalleled sources and careful analysis, these two men bring the readers a front seat view of the Iraq War. What they find, to put it bluntly, is not pretty. Far from a well coordinated strategy, their work paints a portrait of a war plan almost entirely driven by twin ideological beliefs, the first being that a military victory could be won by a small agile army of fewer than 100,000 men and the second that their would be no need for a long term American presence. The reason for the last belief, so tragically mistaken in retrospect, was the idea that the Iraqis would quickly and peacefully form a civil society and, to the degree it was needed the international community would pick up the slack. The holders of these two beliefs? Vice President Dick Cheney and Sec. Def. Rumsfeld, to whom President Bush gave full authority to run the war as they saw fit. As this work demonstrates with a shocking degree of detail, all those who opposed this world view found themselves sidelined in the lead up and the execution of the war. Gordon and Trainor offer examples such as the State Department and Sec. Powell who warned the President, the VP, and the Sec. Def of the near certainty of a break down of civil society following the conflict. They were ignored. Military officers with experience in Bosnia and Haiti made raised similar warnings. They too were ignored. Indeed, when military commanders on the ground in the race for Baghdad began to understand that the US faced a well planned and coordinated gorilla insurgency and requested the manpower and time to quell it, they were threatened with being pulled from command. Reading this work, one finds General Franks in well over his head, lacking the background to deal with the chaos that followed the war's end, nor willing to confront his bosses with problems on the ground. While these authors do an impressive job keeping their analysis free of ideology, the work allows the reader only one conclusion, that the current gorilla war in Iraq was perhaps avoidable and certainly could have been less violent if the civilian leadership had taken the right steps at the beginning. These were not cases of hindsight being 20/20, but events predictable by experienced professionals that the President, the VP and the Sec Def chose to ignore. All of this begs at least one important question, which is why Don Rumsfield still has a desk at the Pentagon.

Gordon and Trainer produce a superbly written and informative history of the 2003 Iraq War.

Michael Gordon and retired Marine Lt.Gen Bernard Trainer are famed as the authors of the definitive history of the 1991 Iraq War entitled the General's War. Their latest history, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, is by far the most factual, balanced, and comprehensive book written to date about the 2003 Iraq invasion. Gordon and Trainer draw from an incredibly diverse and wide range of sources: personal interviews, military planning documents, news reports, and experiences as embedded reporters during the ground campaign. The book smoothly details the process of the war from early planning to execution and to the occupation afterwords. Exceptional detail sheds light on the tension between CENTCOM, the Pentagon, and the White House, the tactical decisions and movements of the Army 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, and special operatros who operated in Western Iraq. The amount of detail and the straightforward writing style give an intimate glimpse into the decision making process, and help the reader form their own conlcusions based on the evidence at hand. Considering the controversial topic, it is most impressive that the authors remain non-partisan throughout. Criticism is leveled where appropriate. Secretary Rumsfeld's decision to push for lower troop levels and the lack of US post-war planning contributed directly to the post-war choas and ongoing insurgency. CENTCOM commander Franks is shown as an abrasive personality determined to win the war, without much regard to what would happen after. The authors also do an excellent job clearing up commonly held misconceptions about the war. For example, the President was not as eager to invade Iraq as commonly believed; Al-Qaida was the highest priority, and his decision for invasion came only after the Pentagon, Intel Community, and military all agreed that Iraq presented a long term threat to the United States. It is also revealed that senior leaders in the Iraqi government believed they possessed large chemical and biological stockpiles, and it was not until the eve of the war that Saddam told his shocked generals that they had no weapons. The fact that Saddam hid that information from all of his closest advisors makes the US government's incorrect WMD assessments more understandable in hindsight. Ultimately, it will take several decades and the release of millions of documents before a more comprehensive analysis and history can be written. At that point, the players involved can be judged for posterity. For now, Gordon and Trainer presents the facts as they are currently known, and let the reader judge the rest. Cobra II is by far the best book on the subject and will likely remain so for years to come. This book is highly recommended.

A sure fire bestseller

I must say that having almost completed Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq that I'm relieved by the fairness of the book. While it does point up an abundant list of mistakes in judgement by those at the highest levels of the command structure, it also makes clear that war is a foggy business at best. It is my opinion only that Cobra II avoids the pitfalls and traps by staying as impartial as possible. I found no axex being ground for either the right or the left. I am also impressed by the degree of access to materials that Gordon must have had access to. I know that the prepub releases mentioned that Gordon had unprecedented access to both reports and personnel in researching this book. That is even more apparent as you read through the content. Gordon, who is chief military correspondent for the New York Times does a masterful job of telling the story of the Iraq War. Retired General Trainor, a Marines Marine, lends his insight and expertise and I'm sure made sure that Gordon stayed on task. All together, Cobra II is a masterful book, written by two experienced individuals....experts in their respective fields. I think you will feel informed in a way that perhaps you haven't felt in the past after reading this book. You'll want to read this one.