"Achieving Victory in Iraq is, by far, the best available blueprint for reaching a successful outcome in this crucial struggle. At a time of destructive political polarization and partisan noise-making, this book is wonderfully honest, sensible, realistic, and genuinely insightful. The authors--both first-rate soldiers--have provided an important service to our country. Let's hope that our leaders, in and out of uniform, pay attention." -- Ralph Peters, columnist and author of Looking for Trouble: Adventures in a Broken World

"Caraccilo and Thompson have written a crisp, stinging rebuttal to Tom Ricks's Fiasco. In Achieving Victory in Iraq, they draw on their combat tours in Iraq to argue that the United States does have a plan and is able to prevail there, if only the American politicians and people will give the U.S. military time to accomplish the mission and learn from its missteps. They point to the consequences of earlier U.S. withdrawals from Afghanistan in 1989 and Somalia in 1993 as cautionary tales of what not to do in Iraq." -- Linda Robinson, author of Tell Me How This Ends: General Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq

"Dom Caraccilo is one of the bright lights of the U.S. Army who, through personal integrity and decency and intellectual preparedness, got right in Iraq what too many senior officers got wrong." -- George Packer, writer for the New Yorker and author of The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq

"Sure to generate heated controversy, Achieving Victory in Iraq is a hard-hitting, compelling account of the complexities of waging war in the modern world. Caraccilo and Thompson courageously address the leading political, social, economic, and military issues inherent in countering an armed insurgency and outline a blueprint for victory as the United States and its allies wage a global war against terrorism." -- Col. Cole C. Kingseed, USA (Ret.), co-author of the New York Times bestseller Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters

"While `political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,' Achieving Victory in Iraq insightfully makes the case that the barrel of that gun must be held by an Iraqi, not an American, soldier. If we're to achieve any degree of success, Caraccilo's and Thompson's blueprint to train Iraqi forces to fight and win primarily through their own processes and cultural mores is our only viable course of action." -- Lt. Col. J. D. Lock, USA (Ret.), author of Rangers in Combat and Chain of Destiny

This book is not a "Monday morning quarterback" critique from people who have "been there and done that" and think that it would have all turned out better if only they had been in charge. Quite to the contrary, Caraccilo and Thompson provide an excellent history of Operation Iraqi Freedom and set the context for where we find ourselves today in Iraq. They state in the introduction that they believe there was and is a strategy for Operation Iraqi Freedom and that their purpose in writing is to convey how, based on what has worked, to bring that strategy to a successful conclusion.

Of particular use to military and civilian leaders is their survey of successful commanders in Iraq and descriptions of how each achieved their success in their respective situations. In the final chapter, the authors wrap up their analysis by recounting the most recent strategic guidance and operational imperatives, and even offer a set of "kit bag items" based on proved tactical experience. If busy warfighters and policymakers only have time to read one book on counterinsurgency, reading this one would be time well spent. --R.E. Hernstrand, JFQ, issue 52, 1st quarter 2009

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