Inside CentCom: The Unvarnished Truth About the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Hardcover)

~ Mike DeLong (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Lt. General Mike DeLong, deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, was second only to General Tommy Franks in the war on terror. At the center of discussions between President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Tommy Franks, General DeLong offers the frankest and most authoritative look inside the wars-how we prepared for battle, how we fought, how we toppled two regimes-and what's happening now on these two crucial fronts.

From the Inside Flap

Only two men on earth have the insider knowledge about what really happened at the highest levels of our government and military from September 11, 2001, through the fall of Saddam Hussein's notorious dictatorship in Iraq.

One of these men is Army General Tommy Franks. The other is Marine Corps General Mike "Rifle" DeLong, Franks's deputy.

General DeLong was Donald Rumsfeld's "answer man" during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He assembled and held together the international coalitions for the War on Terror and the war against Saddam Hussein. And while Franks was in the field, former Marine combat pilot DeLong ran CentCom, the nerve center of both wars.

In Inside CentCom, you'll learn what only insiders have known up to now:

* How President Bush had a chance to take out Saddam and his sons before the war-and why he chose not to
* How the idea of invading Iraq came up as early as September 11, 2001
* The likely hiding place of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction-yes, they do exist
* Al-Qaeda and Saddam: why CentCom believes they are co-conspirators
* Why CentCom knew in advance that the United Nations would never approve military action against Iraq-and why the war was justified
* Why chaos in Iraq was greater than predicted-and the mistakes that contributed to it
* The failure of Ahmad Chalabi's alleged Iraqi "freedom fighters" as American allies

Inside CentCom takes you inside the center of American defense intelligence and war planning for the greater Middle East. You'll go behind the scenes on the stealth operations leading up to the Afghan and Iraq wars, and then read the after-action report from today's Iraq. This is an unmissable book about the wars we have already won-the first steps in winning the War on Terror.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc.; 1st Edition: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 edition (September 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895260204
• ISBN-13: 978-0895260208
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #642,374 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An insider's look at the battles for Afghanistan and Iraq, September 9, 2004

By	Dan J (USA) - See all my reviews

Coming out shortly after the release of Tommy Frank's new book, American Soldier, Inside CentCom is written by the only other man not in the military that knows what really went on during the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, former deputy commander of CentCom, Lt. General Micheal "Rifle" DeLong.

General DeLong sets out in his book to tell nothing but the truth about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq unlike so many other books coming out today that so clearly have agendas. DeLong describes in great detail special operations missions that helped bring down the Taliban in Afghanistan, including the Northern Alliance's assault on Mazar-e-Sharif. He describes the coalitions lightning advance towards Baghdad in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the joint warfare that made that campaign so successful.

He also has many new revelations in this book. I won't go into them as they are all mentioned in the editorial review and are described in greater detail in the book. Buy and read this book right after reading "American Soldier" to give yourself a much understanding of the battles in the War on Terror we have already won and what we still face.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read.. Gripping, A Unique Inside Look , September 22, 2004

By	Anthony (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

"Rifle" Delongs command as written with Noah Lukeman provides readers with a powerful story of what went on behind the scenes of the wars. This non-fiction book read's like a best selling Tom Clancy novel. It places the reader right in the middle of the action that the news channels never broadcasted, much less knew about. Any objective reader without an agenda will find this book both intriguing and valuable.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, September 20, 2004

By	Xavia Publishing "XP Angela" (Florida) - See all my reviews

Thank you for writing a book that speaks straight out to the American people. No matter their class, history, background or standing in life this book is meant for us.

At times it seems that the media is set out to create different kinds of mindsets for the different classes of people that America holds. Thank you for including everyone and for me personally, showing that in Iraq there are those who will work with the U.S. and the Coalition, and those who will fight and die for their own freedom and all that it encompasses.