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George Packer

The Assassins' Gate : America in Iraq Hardcover – Bargain Price, October 15, 2005

by George Packer (Author)

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Product details

ASIN : B000GQLCY6
Publisher : Farrar Straus & Giroux; Later Printing edition (October 15, 2005)
Hardcover : 480 pages
Item Weight : 1.45 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #12,240,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,343 in Iraq War History (Books)
- #106,619 in Deals in Books
- #344,867 in United States History (Books)

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183 ratings

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Sam Green

Why stick to false understanding when you can read such a fair and well informed book about the Iraq War?

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2016

Verified Purchase

Packer is one of those writers that, if I see his name on anything printed, I'll stop to read his thoughts. This book, which does a great job at taking the reader through all the stages that lead to the Iraq War and then through the mismanagement of this great achievement (to topple Saddam with very little bloodshed on both sides) did something very meaningful for me. I didn't support the war when it took place and was dismayed to see what has happened to Iraq under, during, and after the American involvement. But I was fairly ignorant of the who and why and for what. If you'd have asked me in real time I would have most likely said that the war is (only) about oil and that president Bush is, to quote Packer, "not very curious about the world". Now I know better, the war was (also) about oil, but also about big ideas and the future of the world and simple faith that America can make great and positive things happen in our complex and bogged down world. I'm not sure much of that faith will be around in the next decades. In a very bleak and ashen way this book makes the reader believe once more that big ideas do actually matter, perhaps because of the time given in it to Kanan Makiya. Who remains a powerful figure throughout the years this book covers.

5 people found this helpful

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pcast99

Very informative first hand take on how the Iraq war was bungled.

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2021

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If you want an accurate and fair account on the Iraq War from an on the ground reporter this is a book I'd recommend.
The author gives background on the buildup to the invasion, and goes into lengths to describe neo-liberals in the republican party and even some war hawks on the democratic side as well who championed the invasion. When he details experiences from Iraqis as well as troops on the ground in the first year of the war was the most intriguing part of this book.
However I felt his writing style at times was too wordy and can be confusing at times for those not fully knowledgeable about politics and ideologies. I agree with some reviews that you may need to re-read certain parts to understand what the author is saying.
But nonetheless this was very well researched and intimate, recommended for those who want to understand the failures of the Iraq war.

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Carson

Recommended

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2019

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Great book. I did two tours in Iraq with the US Army, including one in the “Green Zone” living in Saddam’s palace. I have sought out the opinions of many others and thought that his book sounded interested. While I didn’t agree with everything the author wrote (who agrees with everything anyway), but I did find it well written and informative. I recommend this book to Iraqi vets and people that have never been to Iraq for some interesting insight and information.

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Michael Heath

Journalism at its best

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2006

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Assassins' Gate is an astonishing work. This book is a rare find, Packer is a journalist who not only digs deep for the stories he tells, but is able to put them within the proper context, a feat rarely attempted and seemingly un-attempted nowadays.

This book is based on the reporter's experiences meeting with the ex-pat Iraqis that lobbied for America to overthrow Hussein and the extensive amount of time he spent in Iraq after the invasion. The book has narrow objectives. It doesn't push a point a view based on the status of major metrics like the change in oil supplies or electricity to Iraqis. This book does not report much of anything regarding America's invasion of Iraq. This book is not an attempt to defend the supporters or detractors of America invading. This book does not attempt to provide a bird's eye view of the success or failure of the vast undertaking of building a democracy in Iraq.

What this book does do is interweave stories about real Iraqis and the effect Hussein had on their lives, and what life is like after we brought the Baathists down. Packer also gets the perspective of the military, the bureaucrats in the Coalition trying to rebuild a country, and the local Iraqis that are working with America to rebuild Iraq. While Packer keeps his reporting down in the dirt, rather than writing from an ivory tower, one is able to come up with some strategic conclusions about how efforts have gone so far and what successes and failures Iraqis and Americans have experienced based on his anecdotal narratives. This is because Packer does such a great job of providing a large number of perspectives where he's able to capture the complex impressions of the people experiencing these times in Iraq. There are no cardboard caricatures in this book!

Packer does take the liberty of providing us with his perspective on the current reality near the end of the book. I have found no writer more worthy of pushing their point of view, he earned it by spending so much time outside the green zone with Iraqis and the Americans that are the boots on the ground making the effort to increase our odds of success.

If one were at a dinner party with Packer discussing the wisdom of our approach and the performance of our efforts, and partisans from both sides were also present, I believe by the end of the evening, all the non-partisans would be pretty much ignoring the ideologues to listen exclusively to what Packer learned. Problem is, it seems there are hardly any non-partisans (see pg. 383 where Packer reports on his dinner party conversations back in America).

Decades and a century from now, when these events have played out more and history has lent us some perspective, I have no doubt historians will be heavily leveraging Packer's work. Packer provides perspective and the human element necessary to illuminate how the major milestones into 2005 affected the people of Iraq and the Americans present in Iraq who are making the effort to build a constitutional democracy.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Dr. V. Stewart

Easily the best book on the Iraq mess - disturbing, stunning

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2006

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I have a whole bookcase of books about the Iraq business and this is far and away the best - and that is saying something! I would agree with everything that the previous reviewer wrote, and so I won't repeat his detailed summary; suffice it to say that the story is alarming, the writing amazing, the breadth and the depth are awe-inspiring. If you have to read only one book on Iraq, make it this one. (All my friends got compulsory copies).

2 people found this helpful

Arthur R Clinton

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on April 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

interestiing

andrew pettitt

delivered as advertised

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 2, 2015

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delivered as advertised

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