Description
Book SynopsisThis is the real story of how George W. Bush came to double-down on Iraq in the highest stakes gamble of his entire presidency. Drawing on extensive interviews with nearly thirty senior officials, including President Bush himself, The Last Card offers an unprecedented look into the process by which Bush overruled much of the military leadership and many of his trusted advisors, and authorized the deployment of roughly 30,000 additional troops to the warzone in a bid to save Iraq from collapse in 2007.
The adoption of a new counterinsurgency strategy and surge of new troops into Iraq altered the American posture in the Middle East for a decade to come. In The Last Card we have access to the deliberations among the decision-makers on Bush''s national security team as they embarked on that course. In their own words, President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, White House Chief
Trade Review
This is a fascinating contribution to the history of the war.
* Foreign Affairs *
An expertly researched and written oral and narrative history, The Last Card examines the excruciatingly complex process of American decision making in the run-up to the 2007 surge against al Qaeda in Iraq... This precious narrative history shows the complexities of war planning and is a most welcome addition to modern American war studies, though it is best intended for advanced readers.
* Choice *
It is essential to learn the right lessons from the Iraq War, and The Last Card is an important first step in what one hopes will be a much longer journey of discovery.
* Survival *
The Last Card is an excellent resource for scholars. It provides important and authoritative insights into one of the seminal events in American history.
* The US Army War College Quarterly *
The Last Card makes an invaluable contribution to the emerging literature on the subsequent course of the war, bringing scholars and policy-makers together to explore how and why the surge came to be.
* International Affairs *
The Last Card is unique in that the book looks to make primary and secondary contributions simultaneously. Without a doubt, the work adds to narratives regarding the Bush administration and its handling of the war in Iraq. It provides insight on a thematically complex subject, offering immediate value to scholars in several fields.
* Presidential Studies Quarterly *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The American Occupation of Iraq by 2006 and the Search for a New Strategy
1. America's War in Iraq: 2003–2005
2. This Strategy Is Not Working: January–June 2006
3. Together Forward? June–August 2006
4. Silos and Stovepipes: September–October 2006
5. Setting the Stage: Early November 2006
6. A Sweeping Internal Review: Mid–Late November 2006
7. Choosing to Surge: December 2006
8. What Kind of Surge? Late December 2006–January 2007
9. How the "Surge" Came to Be
10. Iraq, Vietnam, and the Meaningof Victory
11. Decisions and Politics
12. Blood, Treasure, and Time: Strategy-Making for the Surge
13. Strategy and the Surge
14. Civil-Military Relations and the 2006 Iraq Surge
15. The Bush Administration's Decision to Surge in Iraq: A Long and Winding Road
16. The President as Policy Entrepreneur: George W. Bush and the 2006 Iraq Strategy Review
