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by Michael R. Gordon (Author)
"This is the ultimate insider's view of perhaps the darkest chapter of the Forever Wars. Michael R. Gordon knows everyone, was seemingly everywhere, and brings a lifetime of brilliant reporting to telling this crucial story." --Retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, Sixteenth Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and author of To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision
An essential account of the struggle against ISIS--and of how Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden have waged war.
In the summer of 2014, President Barack Obama faced an unwelcome surprise: insurgents from the Islamic State had seized the Iraqi city of Mosul and proclaimed a new caliphate, which they were ruling with an iron fist and using to launch terrorist attacks abroad. After considerable deliberation, President Obama sent American troops back to Iraq. The new mission was to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS, primarily by advising Iraqi and Syrian partners who would do the bulk of the fighting and by supporting them with airpower and artillery. More than four years later, the caliphate had been dismantled, the cities of Mosul and Raqqa lay in ruins, and several thousand U.S. troops remained to prevent ISIS from making a comeback. The "by, with, and through" strategy was hailed as a template for future campaigns. But how was the war actually fought? What were the key decisions, successes, and failures? And what was learned?
Author Biography
Michael R. Gordon is the national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and the former chief military correspondent for The New York Times. He is the coauthor, with the late general Bernard E. Trainor, of three definitive histories of the U.S. wars in Iraq: The Endgame, Cobra II, and The Generals' War.
