Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

“The Fourth Star”: How our generals got to be that way

CNAS is gonna hold a huge party for the publication of The Fourth Star, a book about four important contemporary Army generals: Petraeus, Casey, Chiarelli, and Abizaid. You can attend the event on the evening of Oct. 13 and even get a free glass of wine, but you have to RSVP here. I’ve read  the ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
580055_091002_4starb2.jpg
580055_091002_4starb2.jpg

CNAS is gonna hold a huge party for the publication of The Fourth Star, a book about four important contemporary Army generals: Petraeus, Casey, Chiarelli, and Abizaid.

CNAS is gonna hold a huge party for the publication of The Fourth Star, a book about four important contemporary Army generals: Petraeus, Casey, Chiarelli, and Abizaid.

You can attend the event on the evening of Oct. 13 and even get a free glass of wine, but you have to RSVP here.

I’ve read  the book and highly recommend it. One anecdote alone, about then-Col. John Abrams suborning then-Lt. Col Peter Chiarelli to get his soldiers to cheat in a NATO tank gunnery competition, is worth the price of the book.

(I e-mailed Gen. Abrams yesterday to ask him about this episode, but haven’t heard back.)  

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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