Cobra II, Michael R. Gordon
Cobra II, Michael R. Gordon
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Cobra II
The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

Author: Michael R. Gordon, Bernard E. Trainor

Narrator: Craig Wasson

Abridged: 9 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/14/2006

Synopsis

Informed by unparalleled access 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 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.

About The Author

Michael R. Gordon is the chief military correspondent for The New York Times, where he has worked since 1985. He is the coauthor, with Lieutenant General Bernard E. Trainor, of The Generals’ War. He has covered the Iraq War, the American intervention in Afghanistan, the Kosovo conflict, the Russian war in Chechnya, the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and the American invasion of Panama. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area.Bernard E. Trainor, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general, was a military correspondent for The New York Times from 1986 to 1990. He was director of the National Security Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government from 1990 to 1996. Currently a military analyst for NBC, Trainor lives in Potomac Falls, Virginia.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Steve

First and last several chapters cover politics and planning -- the latter mostly lacking unless supplied by Don Rumsfeld. In between is an extended account of the conflict and US forces moved north to Baghdad and beyond. Pages 82-83 and 501: Had there been any WMD, Rumsfeld's plan to make war with a......more

Goodreads review by Brian

This is the very disturbing story of how a handful of politicos can lead a nation into a war in which the rationale for going to war was completely flawed. The same people who were so gung ho for going to war also gave almost no thought to what was going to happen after the goal of toppling Saddam H......more

Goodreads review by Robert

I was assigned to CFLCC while Michael Gordon was with us, observing and gathering information to write this book. I know he particularly studied LTG David McKiernan, CFLCC Commander, and unsurprisingly, the book does him and our HQs justice. I was also in Baghdad during the Garner and Bremer times,......more

Quotes

Praise for the Authors’ Previous Book
The Generals’ War: The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf

“Focuses on high-level decision making and offers the most comprehensive and probing examination thus far of the Gulf War’s strategy and operations. It is likely to remain for some time the best single volume on the Gulf War.”
—Eliot A. Cohen, Foreign Affairs

“A truly remarkable piece of research and reconstruction . . . extraordinary: a richly detailed human drama, impeccably documented, sure in judgment, and not likely to be matched, still less surpassed, for a long time.”
—John Barry, national security correspondent, Newsweek

“Provides a behind-the-scenes look at the highest levels of military decision making that determined the outcome of the first Gulf War.”
—U. S. Army Chief of Staff’s Professional Reading List

“A superb account and analysis of what went right and what went wrong in the Gulf War. All of the inside stories of the people and the policies, the triumphs and the blunders, are here.”
—Jim Lehrer, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

“This model of investigative military history punctures the self-aggrandizing manipulations of commanders and the self-serving hype of politicians . . . [It leaves] the battlefield strewn with burned-out myths.”
—Daniel Schorr, senior news analyst, National Public Radio

“A fascinating account of the war. I recommend it to my friends as something that gives them a different element of some of the key decisions that were made.”
—Dick Cheney, former Secretary of Defense

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