First published 2020
Robert Draper investigates the decision to invade Iraq, examining how American leaders arrived at one of the most consequential foreign policy choices in recent history. The author of Dead Certain conducted extensive interviews with key decision makers, many speaking openly for the first time about their roles in the process. Draper reveals how post-9/11 fears, wishful thinking, and flawed group dynamics shaped the administration's approach. His reporting uncovers new details about the intelligence failures and political pressures that drove the march to war. The book shows how actors with fixed ideas manipulated the decision-making process while comprehensive intelligence breakdowns went unaddressed. Draper presents a fair but damning portrait of leaders who believed dubious evidence and ignored contradictory facts. His account traces how imagination replaced rigorous analysis, leading to a war that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and unleashed lasting chaos across the Middle East.
Genres: history, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Iraq, Middle East
Period: Post-9/11
496 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press
Content warnings: violence, war