During the war in Iraq, the BBC deployed an unrivaled group of correspondents to cover every aspect of the controversial conflict: the issues behind the decision to go to war, world opinion, and the front-line experiences of coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. The quality, fairness, and accuracy of their dispatches attracted a huge worldwide audience and once again confirmed the BBC's reputation as the world's most trusted source of information.
In The Battle for Iraq, the BBC's best reporters offer a uniquely balanced, accessible, and multifaceted history of the conflict that leads the reader through each stage of the Iraq crisis. The book's early chapters recount the Bush administration's earliest iteration of its desire to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein, the showdown in the U.N. over Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, and the growing divisions between the U.S., Great Britain, and the rest of the world over the doctrine of preemption. The correspondents then turn to the conflict itself: the coalition's military strategy, the implementation of "Shock and Awe," and the rapid collapse of the Hussein regime. The Battle for Iraq also contains riveting first-hand accounts from the front lines by embedded reporters and by the BBC's acclaimed man in Baghdad, Rageh Omaar. In the book's concluding chapter, Allan Little describes the long, bloody, and frustrating aftermath of the brief conflict, from President Bush's declaration that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" to the bombings of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf -- and he looks ahead to Iraq's precarious future.
Whatever one's opinion of the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein, The Battle for Iraq charts a clear path through the complexities of world events during this turbulent time.
Contributors: Paul Adams, Ben Brown, Evan Davis, Matt Frei, Caroline Hawley, Gavin Hewitt, Fergal Keane, Martha Kearney, Bridget Kendall, Allan Little, Jim Muir, Adam Mynott, Clive Myrie, Andrew North, Rageh Omaar, Paul Reynolds, Stephen Sackur, John Simpson, David Willis
