Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

‘The Unraveling’: Succeeding in Iraq — and then a few years later watching it fall apart

More from Emma Sky’s new book, which comes out this month.

1024px-Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_www.Army.mil_(4)
1024px-Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_www.Army.mil_(4)

More from Emma Sky’s new book, which comes out this month. Anyone interested in an inside account of the American war in Iraq should read it. Sky, who was a political advisor to top American generals, provides a good overview of political events. One sad comment of hers: “For so many Iraqis, democracy has become synonymous with chaos and violence.”

Screen Shot 2015-04-01 at 10.36.21 AM

Screen Shot 2015-04-01 at 10.36.21 AM
More from Emma Sky’s new book, which comes out this month. Anyone interested in an inside account of the American war in Iraq should read it. Sky, who was a political advisor to top American generals, provides a good overview of political events. One sad comment of hers: “For so many Iraqis, democracy has become synonymous with chaos and violence.”

She also offers up many tart observations and insights about people. Some of the fun ones:

—On Gen. David Petraeus: “It was this aspect of Petraeus that irked his peers the most: he always had to know more than anyone else.”

—When she met Tony Blair in Baghdad, he asked her why a British woman was advising the American military. She shrugged and said, “Stockholm syndrome.”

—On watching Donald Rumsfeld being briefed: “He turned the map of Kirkuk and northern Iraq and asked, ‘Where is Iran?’ I had hoped he knew that sort of thing.”

(Tom: Maybe he just wanted it marked on the map? I hope.)

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Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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