Steven Strasser, Edited by, The Abu Ghraib Investigations, The Official Reports of the Independent Panel and the Pentagon and the Shocking Prisoner Abuse in Iraq, Public Affairs, 2004

Strasser, Steven Edited by, The Abu Ghraib Investigations, The Official Reports of the Independent Panel and the Pentagon and the Shocking Prisoner Abuse in Iraq, Public Affairs, 2004

 

The Abu Ghraib Investigations includes two of the major government reviews of the prisoner abuse that occurred at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad at the end of 2003. One report is by the James Schlesinger commission that tried to look at the overall causes and a review by General George Fay that went through each one of the cases reported. Both show how President Bush’s call for extreme measures during interrogation to fight the War on Terror spread confusion over what was acceptable which led to the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Review Fighting for Fallujah, A New Dawn for Iraq

Ballard, John, Fighting for Fallujah, A New Dawn for Iraq, Westport, London: Praeger Security International, 2006

 

Fighting for Fallujah, a New Dawn for Iraq is a military history of the two battles for the Iraqi city by John Ballard. It covers how Fallujah became a center of resistance to the U.S. occupation, then the American attempt to pacify it and concludes with the rebuilding effort. It is heavy on details about the U.S. military units involved. The author veers off course sometimes but it is still a good blow by blow account of the struggle for Fallujah.

US Forces Not Leaving Iraq

Trump in Iraq (BBC)

During President Trump’s recent trip to Iraq he said he had no plans to withdraw U.S. forces. That’s shown by the fact that the U.S. just completed a new base in western Anbar along the Syrian border in September. That goes along with five other camps the Americans already had in the province, which are Camp Ain al-Assad, Camp Habaniya, one by Hit, one by Haditha Dam, and one by Rutba. Overall, the U.S. has around 5,200 troops in the country.

Review Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessments

Review Hooker, Gregory, Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessments, Washington DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2005

Gregory Hooker was an intelligence analyst at the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) who was involved in the planning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom goes through that process and what the Americans got right and wrong. It is a short, concise and very informative book on how civilians at the Pentagon hindered strategizing for the invasion, and how the military failed to prepare for postwar Iraq.

CPA’s Bremer: Iraq Is Not Vietnam, An Early Rejection Of Counterinsurgency Tactics

(Getty Images)

As early as July 2003 Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was complaining about the lack of forces. He got no real response from Washington, which was still thinking of drawing down its troops. Bremer would later write that the U.S. was failing in Iraq by the fall of 2003 because there was no strategy to defeat the insurgents. The CPA chief blamed the American commander General Ricardo Sanchez for this dilemma. Bremer and Sanchez barely talked and the lack of unity of command between the civilian authority and the military went a long way to undermining overall U.S. policy. What this discussion overlooks was whether more troops would have solved the problems in Iraq. Would Bremer and Sanchez been able to come up with a plan to counter the militants?

U.S. Troop Levels In Iraq May 2003-November 2011

U.S. Troop Levels In Iraq May 2003-November 2011

Month	Troops
May 03	150,000
Jun. 03	150,000
Jul. 03	149,000
Aug. 03	139,000
Sep. 03	132,000
Oct. 03	131,000
Nov. 03	123,000
Dec. 03	122,000
Jan. 04	122,000
Feb. 04	115,000
Mar. 04	130,000
Apr. 04	137,000
May 04	138,000
Jun. 04	138,000
Jul. 04	140,000
Aug. 04	140,000
Sep. 04	138,000
Oct. 04	138,000
Nov. 04	138,000
Dec. 04	148,000
Jan. 05	150,000
Feb. 05	155,000
Mar. 05	150,000
Apr. 05	142,000
May 05	138,000
Jun. 05	135,000
Jul. 05	138,000
Aug. 05	138,000
Sep. 05	138,000
Oct. 05	152,000
Nov. 05	160,000
Dec. 05	160,000
Jan. 06	136,000
Feb. 06	133,000
Mar. 06	133,000
Apr. 06	132,000
May 06	132,000
Jun. 06	126,900
Jul. 06	130,000
Aug. 06	138,000
Sep. 06	144,000
Oct. 06	144,000
Nov. 06	140,000
Dec. 06	140,000
Jan. 07	132,000
Feb. 07	135,000
Mar. 07	142,000
Apr. 07	146,000
May 07	149,700
Jun. 07	157,000
Jul. 07	160,000
Aug. 07	162,000
Sep. 07	168,000
Oct. 07	171,000
Nov. 07	162,000
Dec. 07	160,000
Jan. 08	157,000
Feb. 08	157,000
Mar. 08	155,000
Apr. 08	153,000
May 08	150,000
Jun. 08	148,000
Jul. 08	148,000
Aug. 08	148,000
Sep. 08	148,000
Oct. 08	148,000
Nov. 08	148,000
Dec. 08	145,000
Jan. 09	142,000
Feb. 09	140,000
Mar. 09	137,000
Apr. 09	137,000
May 09	134,000
Jun. 09	130,000
Jul. 09	130,000
Aug. 09	130,000
Sep. 09	124,000
Oct. 09	117,000
Nov. 09	115,000
Dec. 09	110,000
Jan. 10	110,000
Feb. 10	98,000
Mar. 10	98,000
Apr. 10	95,000
May 10	92,000
Jun. 10	85,000
Jul. 10	65,000
Aug. 10	49,700
Sep. 10	49,700
Oct. 10	48,000
Nov. 10	48,000
Dec. 10	48,000
Jan. 11	47,000
Feb. 11	47,000
Mar. 11	46,000
Apr. 11	46,000
May 11	48,000
Jun. 11	46,000
Jul. 11	46,000
Aug. 11	44,000
Sep. 11	40,000
Oct. 11	39,000
Nov. 11	17,000

SOURCE

India Vision, “’Only 17,000 US soldiers left in Iraq,’” 11/25/11

O’Hanlon, Michael Livingston, Ian, “Iraq Index,” Brookings Institute, 10/28/11