I also am grateful to the intrepid Josh White for obtaining and sharing doc.u.ments growing out of the investigation of the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison and other facilities. Other Post Post reporters who have shared their thoughts or filed memorable stories that I have relied on here include Vernon Loeb, Brad Graham, Ann Tyson, Ed Cody, Theola Labbe, Jackie Spinner, Scott Wilson, Pam Constable, Kevin Sullivan, Doug Struck, Peter Slevin, Ariana Cha, Dana Priest, Bart Gellman, Walter Pincus, Jon Finer, Nelson Hernandez, and Ellen Knickmeyer. The Iraqi journalists in the reporters who have shared their thoughts or filed memorable stories that I have relied on here include Vernon Loeb, Brad Graham, Ann Tyson, Ed Cody, Theola Labbe, Jackie Spinner, Scott Wilson, Pam Constable, Kevin Sullivan, Doug Struck, Peter Slevin, Ariana Cha, Dana Priest, Bart Gellman, Walter Pincus, Jon Finer, Nelson Hernandez, and Ellen Knickmeyer. The Iraqi journalists in the Post"s Post"s Baghdad bureau-Naseer Nouri, Omar Fekeiki, Ba.s.sam Sebti, and K. I. Ibrahim-also made an essential and especially courageous contribution in recent years. To my mind they are heroes, as is the Baghdad bureau-Naseer Nouri, Omar Fekeiki, Ba.s.sam Sebti, and K. I. Ibrahim-also made an essential and especially courageous contribution in recent years. To my mind they are heroes, as is the Posfs Posfs security chief in Baghdad. security chief in Baghdad.

I also am grateful to my current and former editors at the Post, Post, including Scott Vance, Matt Vita, Andy Mosher, Alan Cooperman, Mike Abramowitz, Liz Spayd, Bob Woodward, David Hoffman, Steve Coll, Phil Bennett, and Len Downie. The including Scott Vance, Matt Vita, Andy Mosher, Alan Cooperman, Mike Abramowitz, Liz Spayd, Bob Woodward, David Hoffman, Steve Coll, Phil Bennett, and Len Downie. The Post Post is a wonderful place to work; thanks to all of them and to the publisher, Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr., and the chairman, Donald Graham. The Graham family"s stewardship of the is a wonderful place to work; thanks to all of them and to the publisher, Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr., and the chairman, Donald Graham. The Graham family"s stewardship of the Post Post is, in my opinion, an important act of patriotism in a troubled time for our country. is, in my opinion, an important act of patriotism in a troubled time for our country.

Thanks also to Shadid and Nora Boustany for instruction in some of the finer points of Arabic slang.

I also must recognize other colleagues in journalism, having relied on both their published work and their private insights. In addition to the very good reporting that has appeared in major newspapers-the New York Times, New York Times, the the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Inquirer, and other Knight-Ridder newspapers-I also am indebted to the solid work that has consistently appeared in two journals written for military audiences, the and other Knight-Ridder newspapers-I also am indebted to the solid work that has consistently appeared in two journals written for military audiences, the Army Times Army Times and and Stars & Stripes. Stars & Stripes.

I also was influenced in my writing by the background on Paul Wolfowitz provided in James Mann"s impressive work of intellectual history, Rise of the Vulcans. Rise of the Vulcans.

In addition, I have turned back at several points to reread pa.s.sages from Alistair Home"s compelling history of the Algerian war, A Savage War of Peace. A Savage War of Peace. Readers also will note that I was particularly influenced by the insights offered by David Galula, a French veteran of Algeria, in his cla.s.sic little book, Readers also will note that I was particularly influenced by the insights offered by David Galula, a French veteran of Algeria, in his cla.s.sic little book, Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice.

Not one page of this book could have been written without the help of researchers. Adam Comis did a marvelous job at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, double-checking obscure facts, reading vast amounts of material, obtaining forgotten doc.u.ments and obscure books, and poring through them for more facts. He deserves special credit for his work in two areas: a.s.sembling the portfolio of photographs and other artwork, and reviewing hundreds of pages of transcripts of congressional hearings on the Bush administration"s handling of Iraq.

Also, thanks to Army Capt. Lesley Kipling not only for her enthusiastic and dogged research aid as this book project got off the ground, which reflected upon the best traditions of the U.S. Army, but also for her candor in sharing her letters home to her boyfriend. I am sorry it didn"t work out between them.

I also am grateful to a group of academics, think tankers, and other defense experts who have helped educate me on military affairs. They are a diverse group of strategic thinkers whose common traits are intellectual curiosity, good humor, and uncommon tolerance of differing views: Eliot Cohen, Andrew Bacevich, Tom Donnelly, Peter Feaver, Tom Keaney, Bob Killebrew, Richard Kohn, and Michael Vickers. I think of them as the intellectual G.o.dfathers of this book. I also am thankful to Donnelly for coining the evocative phrase "the Army of the Euphrates."

In addition, I owe an intellectual debt to the continuing education given me on a daily basis by John Collins and his Warlord Loop, a floating electronic seminar on military history, strategy, and practice, with a faculty that most notably includes Terry Daly (who introduced me to the works of Galula, the Clausewitz of counterinsurgency), John Crerar, Caleb Carr, and more than one hundred others, some of whom must remain unnamed here.

Thanks also to John Pike and his encyclopedic Web site, www.globalsecurity.org, which saved me countless hours of research, especially on weapons systems and specific U.S. military operations in Iraq.

I also owe thanks to the military officers who gave their time to be interviewed, and frequently followed up with doc.u.ments ranging from diaries to official records of their command time. Some are named in the text, while others wish to remain anonymous. I am especially grateful to those senior officers who, despite the current atmosphere of intimidation in the Pentagon, trekked to my office or met me in other places to convey views and facts that didn"t always conform to the official version of events.

Finally, I wish to thank the many friends and colleagues who gave the ma.n.u.script of this book a critical reading.

The errors are my own.