Fiasco (book)

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Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
Cover of the paperback edition
Author	Thomas E. Ricks
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject(s)	Iraq War
Publisher	Penguin Group
Publication date	2006
ISBN	ISBN 159420103X

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (2006) is a book by Washington Post Pentagon correspondent Thomas E. Ricks. Fiasco deals with the history of the Iraq War, from the planning phase to combat operations to 2006, and argues that the war was badly planned and executed. Ricks based the book in part on interviews with military personnel involved in the planning and execution of the war.

[edit] Quotes from Fiasco

“

…strategy. That is a grand-sounding word, and it is frequently misused by laymen as a synonym for tactics. In fact, strategy has a very different and quite simple meaning that flows from just one short set of questions. Who are we, and what are we ultimately trying to do here? How will we do it, and what resources and means will we employ in doing it? The four answers give rise to one’s strategy. Ideally, one’s tactics will then follow from them – that is, this is who we are, this is the outcome we wish to achieve, this is how we aim to do it, and this is what we will use to do it. But addressing the questions well can be surprisingly difficult, and if the answers are incorrect or incomplete, or the goals listed not reachable, then the consequences can be disastrous.

”

– Thomas Ricks, Fiasco

“

They said they came to liberate us. Liberate us from what? They came and said they would free us. Free us from what? We have traditions, morals, and customs. We are Arabs. We’re different from the West. Baghdad is the mother of Arab culture, and they want to wipe out our culture, absolutely.

”

– Mohammed Abdullah (Baghdad citizen quoted by Ricks in Fiasco)