America at War [Hardcover]

Dan Rather (Author), The Reporters of CBS News (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2003

In "America at War," Dan Rather and the reporters of CBS News provide a unique historical record of military conflict from a riveting vantage point -- alongside our brave soldiers on the frontlines of combat.

During the war in Iraq, journalists and photographers embedded among our troops had an unprecedented view of the fierce realities experienced by our men and women in uniform -- from the extreme heroism of battle to the poignancy of humanitarian efforts. Long heralded for setting the standard for television journalism, Dan Rather and his CBS News colleagues deliver here a volume of work that captures, as never before, that firsthand perspective. In reflective personal commentary, stunning photographs, and groundbreaking video, the exhilarating and heartbreaking stories of war come vividly to life against the backdrop of a military conflict that affected Americans at home and abroad.

Among the contributors is Mark Strassmann, embedded with the First Brigade of the 101st Airborne in Kuwait, who recalls the aftermath of the shocking fratricide that claimed one officer's life and injured fourteen others. Allen Pizzey relays his conversation with a U.S.-backed Kurdish fighter outside of Mosul, still reeling with anger after a U.S. air strike gone devastatingly wrong killed more than seventeen. Jim Axelrod recounts the heart-stopping moment when the Humvee in which he was traveling quit in the middle of an unprotected bridge, and with AK-47 fire whistling overhead, his colleagues in a nearby truck performed a daring rescue. These and many other stories are reported with the vivid detail and emotional resonance of firsthand experience.

A full-length DVD tells the fullchronological story of the military conflict and brings together some of the most powerful war images ever captured -- from video of blazing firepower to intimate, revealing interviews with military personnel. The DVD also contains special features, including Dan Rather's exclusive interview with Saddam Hussein, gripping stories of soldiers lost and rescued, and an informative library of military vehicles and aircraft.

From the first jet that took off from the USS "Abraham" to the now-famous toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad, the reporters of CBS News were there on the frontlines, documenting history as it happened. Now, in words, photographs, and video, "America at War" provides a unique historical record of a controversial military conflict, and preserves the deeply human moments that will remain a lasting part of our national consciousness.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-A quickly delivered punch replayed in slow motion shows the anticipation, impact, and separation of a hit. Similarly, this book is a clearly focused close-up of the force, the strikes, and the toll taken in Iraq. In short essays, some of CBS's most renowned contemporary news journalists embedded with U.S. military troops share their experiences. A generous portfolio of color photos that tell equally as poignant stories accompanies the text. Broadcast veteran Rather cautions in his May 2003 introduction that "as this remembrance of 28 days of fighting goes to press, the war cannot yet be termed decisive." But a chronology, maps, and the tension-drenched observations of correspondents such as Jim Axelrod, Lara Logan, and Allen Pizzey make readers passengers on the sandy battle course. From them, troops turn into individuals and timing shifts back and forth from friend to foe. Additionally, a DVD with extensive interviews and frontline coverage intensifies the first-person view. In print or video, America at War is a rich reference for classroom assignments and an excellent way for YAs to process the news and form opinions.
Karen Sokol, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The March to War

To hear U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell tell it, the Bush administration was never in a rush toward war. Powell spent seven and a half weeks negotiating Resolution 1441 line by line, word by word. By the time it was approved unanimously by the fifteen-member U.N. Security Council in November 2002, as far as Powell was concerned, everyone -- including the French, the Russians, and the Germans -- knew that the resolution's reference to "serious consequences" meant only one thing: either Saddam Hussein complied fully with new weapons inspections or the Bush administration would go to war with Iraq.

But the diplomatic wrangling was not over. By March 2003, Paris and Moscow's call for a second resolution authorizing force had been joined by London, Washington's staunchest ally. Public sentiment throughout Europe against a war was strong, and this made already skeptical leaders more nervous. Many Europeans thought President Bush's personal style was brash and that he was morally arrogant.

The policy disagreement boiled down to this: The Bush administration saw Saddam Hussein as a clear and present danger. Having suffered one huge attack on September 11, 2001, President Bush was unwilling to take any chances that the Iraqi dictator would allow weapons of mass destruction to fall into the hands of terrorists for use in another attack. Led by France, much of Europe's political leadership didn't see the threat in immediate terms and refused to pledge support for a second resolution.

On the Security Council, Britain, Spain, and Bulgaria were firmly behind the United States on a second resolution. Five other members -- France, Germany, Russia, China, and Syria -- were firmly opposed. Washington was left looking for five of the six votes from those who were undecided: Mexico, Chile, Pakistan, Cameroon, Angola, and Guinea.

But France threatened to use its veto if Washington got the nine votes required for passage, thus escalating the policy disagreement into a political and diplomatic crisis. In many ways, the confrontation over Iraq had become a test among Security Council members of how much the United States could get away with as the world's only remaining superpower.

Faced with a possible veto, the U.S. withdrew the resolution on March 17. That evening, President Bush delivered his ultimatum speech, giving Saddam Hussein forty-eight hours to leave Iraq or face military action.

CHARLES WOLFSON
STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER, CBS NEWS

Copyright © 2003 by CBS Worldwide Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743257863
• ISBN-13: 978-0743257862
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,648,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping look at modern warfare, September 15, 2003

By 

Christopher Nelson (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America at War (Hardcover)

If the film footage from the front lines wasn't enough for you, check this book out. It's a behind-the-scenes view of Iraq from a soldier's perspective.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping book on a fascinating subject, October 14, 2003

By 

C. Catherwood "writer" (Cambridge UK and Richmond VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: America at War (Hardcover)

As the cousin of an embedded journalist in Iraq during the war, I find stories like this gripping - and they don't try to overdramatize of make heroes where none exist. We ought all to find out what our troops really did go for in the fight to free the Iraqi people. Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003) and the forthcoming CHURCHILL'S FOLLY: HOW WINSTON CHURCHILL CREATED IRAQ AND LED TO SADDAM HUSSEIN (Carroll & Graf, 2004)

5.0 out of 5 stars The reporters recognized the growing problems, the decision makers did not, December 14, 2006

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: America at War (Hardcover)

This book, published shortly (2003) after the U. S. led invasion of Iraq toppled Saddam Hussein, is a vivid description of the war. Many commentators are now referring to the early phase of the war as a "cakewalk." Kenneth Adleman, one of the neoconservative architects of the policy that led to the invasion, used that term on a news show this past week. However, as this book makes quite clear, the invasion was a bloody business. Despite all the intelligence embedded in the munitions, there was a great deal of collateral damage and Iraqi deaths to go along with the American casualties.
At the end of the book, some of the reporters showed a great deal of prescience in their reporting. Dan Rather notes on pages 146 and 147 how thin the U. S. forces were spread and how little they could do to control the conditions in Iraq. However, the situation was best summed up in the afterword written by Mark Phillips. His comment, ". . . quell what military officials were calling `isolated' attacks by diehard Saddam loyalists, but which seemed to me and other observers like a nascent, organized resistance movement." He also described a middle-aged man who was spitting with rage and screaming into the camera."Go! We do not like Saddam. But we hate Americans. Leave this place!" He also said that he felt more occupied than liberated. Finally, there is the comment, "Moreover, what was missing was any coherent U. S. plan to rebuild the country."
The events of the last three years have clearly demonstrated that these reporters detected the gestating problems as soon as Saddam was toppled. It is unfortunate for the world that the decision makers were so caught up in their beliefs of personal infallibility that they failed to heed and respond to them. For if they had, a great deal of bloodshed and destruction could have been avoided.