The Occupation of Iraq

Announcing the release...

Posted by Yale University Press

Monday marked the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad and the publication of the highly anticipated book, Ali A. Allawi's "The Occupation of Iraq," a comprehensive account told for the first time by an Iraqi insider. Interest on this groundbreaking title was already building, with a nationwide Associated Press Wire story running two days ago.

(Excerpted)
Iraqi details 'shocking' U.S. missteps
By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

NEW YORK--In a rueful reflection on what might have been, an Iraqi government insider details in 500 pages the U.S. occupation's "shocking" mismanagement of his country — a performance so bad, he writes, that by 2007 Iraqis had "turned their backs on their would-be liberators.

...[this is the] first senior Iraqi official to look back at book length on his country's four-year ordeal. It's an unsparing look at failures both American and Iraqi...

Although Allawi, a cousin of Ayad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister in 2004, is a member of a secularist Shiite Muslim political grouping, his well-researched book betrays little partisanship.

The author has been instrumental since 2005 in publicizing extensive corruption within Iraq's "new order"...Under Saddam, he writes, the secret police kept would-be plunderers in check better than the U.S. occupiers have done.

As 2007 began, Allawi concludes, "America's only allies in Iraq were those who sought to manipulate the great power to their narrow advantage. It might have been otherwise."

Click here for the full article.

Allawi kicked off his publicity tour as the featured speaker on The Diane Rehm Show. Listen to Ali A. Allawi's first public radio interview on The Diane Rehm Show on WAMU 88.5 FM, American University Radio. Allawi is also slated to appear on The Charlie Rose Show this Wednesday, as well as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, April 18. 

The Occupation of Iraq coming soon...

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.