Iraq and Back: Inside the War to Win the Peace [Hardcover]

Kim Olson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

In April 2003, soon after Operation Iraqi Freedom had been declared a success, President Bush sent retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner to Iraq to rebuild the country. As Garner's executive officer, the author of this book was part of the senior leadership circle charged with three tasks. They were to reconstruct Iraq's infrastructure, provide humanitarian assistance, and lay the foundation for a democratic process to take hold. But not long after their arrival in the rubble and ruin of Iraq, the political, military, and economic wheels ground to a halt and theirs became mission improbable. In this book, Air Force colonel Kim Olson tells how and why. Readers are privy to the candid discussions of U.S. generals frustrated by operating in a policy void. They sit at the table with Iraqi leaders who warn of an impending insurgency if the proclamations crafted by ill-informed and arrogant policy makers are implemented. And they share Olson's fear as Saddam's death squads attempt to assassinate her in an explosion of bullets. This gripping, firsthand account of what went wrong is seen from Olson's unique point of view as a senior female military officer, pilot, wife, and mother. Many of the stories she tells are known to only the handful of people involved, including a mission to rescue two Iraqi women and details of early meetings with tribal leaders to discuss building a coalition government - an effort quashed by Garner's successor. Her haunting descriptions of Shiite families searching for loved ones in Saddam's killing fields and malnourished children in the town of Umn Qasr untouched by the International Oil-for-Food Program, will remain with readers long after they close the book. From the decisions of political leaders and military commanders to everyday encounters with the Iraqi people and informal conversations with soldiers, such a wealth of honest, insider information is rare. No other author weaves together military, political, and humanistic insights so effectively.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"We had shared good times and hardship; adventure and doldrums; happiness and heartbreak; security and danger. We had been participants in the greatest endeavor of this new century. As you read her book, you'll understand, as I do...they don't come any better than Kim."—from the Foreword by Jay Garner

"Colonel Olson is a modern day Joan of Arc--born to inspire, to lead and to command. A top flight jet pilot in the Air Force, she entered Baghdad with General Jay Garner to begin the overwhelming job of rebuilding Iraq. Her story will inspire all who open it and can't put it down."--William Sessions, Former Director of the FBI and U.S. District Judge

"This is one of the most provocative and compelling books on Iraq published to date. It encompasses that rare blend of insight and story telling from someone on the inside in the early days of the Iraqi reconstruction phase. This book makes me proud and mad simultaneously. That is told by a senior Air Force officer and pilot is all the more remarkable, because it gives tone, texture and human emotion to the devastation and destruction that defines war."--Ron Tammen

"Kim Olson brings a mother's love and a warrior's courage to her first-person account of the effort to rebuild Iraq as she experienced it-- from the inside. It is an unsparing tale; Olson is tough on people she didn't think were helpful and tough on herself, too, as she recounts a career that didn't end at all the way she hoped it would."--Louis D. Boccardi, Retired President, Associated Press

"This is a story of a life on the edge, at the transition of emerging opportunities for women in the military. And Olson did it all: flying and command assignments, staff and field assignments. Competent, assertive, caring, and loyal, nothing could have prepared her for her final assignment: securing the ‘peace’ in Iraq. A breathtaking, unforgettable account."--Sheila Widnall, Secretary of the Air Force, 1993-97

About the Author

Kim Olson, now retired from the military, was part of the U.S. Air Force’s first generation of female pilots in 1979 and became a command pilot with 3,700 hours of flying time in six aircraft. She has led troops through combat zones and served in several positions in the Pentagon. Currently she directs the homeless outreach program in Texas and is a motivational speaker addressing Iraq and other leadership challenges.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 211 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591145279
• ISBN-13: 978-1591145271
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,946,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trailblazer in a vale of tears, October 4, 2006

By 

Charles A. Krohn (Panama City Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iraq and Back: Inside the War to Win the Peace (Hardcover)

Colonel Olson rose to the top rank of Air Force jet pilots by taking charge of her professional life. Like other hard-chargers, she won some, lost some. This book lays out the atmospherics of Baghdad during the first hectic and terrible days of the American occupation, working along side Jay Garner. Flashbacks explain how she was invited to be Garner's executive officer and the many things she did trying to turn chaos into triumph. The whole thing came apart when the President put Bremer in and pushed Garner out. The defining aspect of this book is when Olson lays out a few serious missteps that cost her advancement without compromise to her character. There's really no other book around that lays out the daunting challenges Garner had to overcome, once Baghdad was captured. Whereas Bremer kept his own counsel close to his chest, Garner's strong suit was concensus building. Unfortunately for him--and maybe for the rest of us, too--he wasn't in place long enough to make a dent. Olson too comes across as the woman for her times.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD, November 3, 2006

By 

ATTICUS (NEW YORK, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iraq and Back: Inside the War to Win the Peace (Hardcover)

Kim Olson's memoir of ORHA, with the backstory of her own struggles in a man's military world, kept me enthralled by the sheer gumption of selfless men and woman who set out against odds. It is a wonder what Garner and his team, including Col. Olson, might have achieved, if only left alone to employ their experience, intelligence, and capture the moment. It wasn't to be, and Olson's account made this reader shake his head in dismay. I want my daughter to read this book as well. There are many lessons here for young women. My only quibble is with the author's purple prose, which somebody should have counseled Olson against. With her story to tell, she did not need to overwrite.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Iraq on a human scale, October 16, 2006

By 

C. Rousseau (Greensboro, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iraq and Back: Inside the War to Win the Peace (Hardcover)

Kim Olson presents an excellent portrait of life in post-invasion Iraq. Her unique insider viewpoint humanizes the gigantic machine that is the military. Jay Garner's little group earnestly tried to create the infrastructure to fulfill a vague and poorly defined White House mission with little help and even less direction. The mission was nearly guaranteed to be a failure, and the toll it took on Kim was enormous. Her description of her background of 20+ years of military service and success, and her final failure to advance because of political infighting and mistakes and the grudges and discrimination of her superiors is a tale for all women serving in today's military. A moving story of war, the machine that makes it, and its human face is a fascinating read.