Synopses & Reviews
Involved for over thirty years in the politics of Iraq, Ali A. Allawi was a long-time opposition leader against the Baathist regime. In the post-Saddam years he has held important government positions and participated in crucial national decisions and events. In this book, the former Minister of Defense and Finance draws on his unique personal experience, extensive relationships with members of the main political groups and parties in Iraq, and deep understanding of the history and society of his country to answer the baffling questions that persist about its current crises. What really led the United States to invade Iraq, and why have events failed to unfold as planned?
The Occupation of Iraq examines what the United States did and didn't know at the time of the invasion, the reasons for the confused and contradictory policies that were enacted, and the emergence of the Iraqi political class during the difficult transition process. The book tracks the growth of the insurgency and illuminates the complex relationships among Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds. Bringing the discussion forward to the reconfiguration of political forces in 2006, Allawi provides in these pages the clearest view to date of the modern history of Iraq and the invasion that changed its course in unpredicted ways.
Review
"Magisterial....Pure gold....Will certainly become the benchmark work against which all later books will have to be measured. It is authoritative, incisive, dispassionate, devastating in its important judgments, and wholly original. Allawi is one of a handful of men who can tell the whole story of policy, government and administration from the basis of close, personal experience." Roger Owen, Harvard University
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"Nobody was better situated than Allawi to provide readeres with unique insights to the events leading up to the invasion of Iraq and how the occupation and reconstruction efforts were handled." Frederick Smith, United States Department of Defence
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"While many books have been written about Iraq's tragedy, Ali Allawi's story offers a unique insider's perspective of the global forces, local passions and diverse personalities that converged to create a situation that will haunt us for decades. An indispensable source of ideas about what happened and what is likely to happen in Iraq." Moises Naim, editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine and author of Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy
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"A comprehensive survey of the occupation of Iraq that highlights the complacency and failings of the American project. This is a sobering account, written from the rare view of an Iraqi insider. Allawi reveals how often the Iraqis were ignored in the chaotic rebuilding of their country and explains the complex dynamics behind Iraq's descent into violent sectarainism." Rory McCarthy, Jerusalem correspondent for the Guardian and author of Nobody Told Us We Are Defeated: Stories from the New Iraq
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"Ali A. Allawi, until recently an Iraqi minister, is one of Iraq's most respected politicians of the post-Saddam era. His study of the crisis in Iraq is by far the most perceptive analysis of the extent of the disaster in his country, and how it might best be resolved. It is the first real attempt to suggest the Middle East might pull out of its death spiral." Patrick Cockburn, correspondent for the Independent and author of The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq
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"Ali Allawi . . . tells the war's story from an Iraqi perspective. But what makes The Occupation of Iraq perhaps the most compelling of all books written to date about the war is that he does so with Americans in mind."and#8212;World Magazine
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"The most comprehensive historical account to date of the disastrous aftermath of the American invasion."and#8212;Edward Wong, New York Times Book Review
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"Poignant. . . . Others have chronicled what went wrong [with the invasion of Iraq]. Few have witnessed events so close up, and with so intimate a knowledge of the gap between (Iraq) reality and (American) expectation."and#8212;Daniel Pudles, The Economist
Review
"Ali A. Allawi's magnificent book arrives not a moment too soon. Here, finally, is a man of Iraq who knows its history and its wounds....A new history is offering itself to the Iraqis, and in the tale of disappointment that Allawi brilliantly narrates, there is still the furtive shadow of hope, an echo of deliverance, an undisguised sense of fulfillment at the spectacle of men and women released from a terrible captivity." Fouad Ajami, The New Republic (read the entire New Republic review)
About the Author
Q: What have beenand#160;the main causes of the catastrophe of post-Saddam Iraq?
A: Iraq continues to be racked by violence and intractable political problems. The United States embarked on its invasion with little understanding of the country and with only cursory prewar planning. Iraqis were unrealistically expected to adapt quickly to the premises of Western liberal democracy. A dysfunctional occupation administration ran Iraq in an uneasy partnership with a divided Iraqi political class. Decades of dictatorship had covered up the fault lines in Iraqi society. A revolutionary redrawing of the political map ensued, which empowered the disadvantaged Shia and Kurdish communities. Arab Sunnis rejected the implications of this dramatic change and launched a broad resistance.
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Q: Is federalism the answer to the current quagmire?
A: The present framework of the Iraqi state is inherently unstable. Decision making is paralyzed by power-sharing formulas. The machinery of the government itself is too decrepit and corrupt to manage the country. The fiction that Iraq can be maintained in its present form without prolonged violence and instability must be abandoned. A regional solution may be the only possible answer. It must be fair, well planned, and executed with equitable revenue-distribution.
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Q: What is your view of the best path the U.S. and its allies can now take?
A: New regional governing authorities with wide powers and resources would be necessary. Federal institutions have to act as adjudicators between regions. Security must be decentralized until such time as confidence between the communities is reestablished. Federalism in Iraq has to be underwritten by an international treaty that would include regional powers. U.S. troops would then be replaced by an international force to stabilize the new federal system.