Victory undone
Subtitle: the defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq and its resurrection as ISIS
By: Carter Andress with Malcolm McConnell
Contributors: McConnell, Malcolm, author
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 348
ISBN-13: 9781621572800
Subjects: War on Terrorism, 2001-2009; Qaida (Organization); Prevention; Islamic fundamentalism; Contractors; Terrorism; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Relations
Description: "The United States defeated al Qaeda in Iraq, leaving tens of thousands of the terrorist organization's operatives and supporters dead. The Sunni Arabs of Iraq turned against al Qaeda during the Iraq War and the rest of the Arab world followed their lead, leaving Osama bin Laden the "odd man out" in the Arab Spring currently roiling the old authoritarian order in the Middle East. In the counterinsurgency campaign that followed the destruction of the Saddamist dictatorship, U.S. government contractors equaled or exceeded the number of American soldiers on the battlefield. This unprecedented situation served to train and employ 100,000s of Iraqis on reconstruction projects and thereby drained the swamp whence the al Qaeda-led insurgency sprang. Andress and McConnell make the case that without private contractors working in the war zone, America and its allies would have lost the war"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-320) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note:; title: The Beginning of the End for Al Qaeda in Iraq; title: The Awaking Joins the Iraqi Security Services; title: The Ultimate Counterinsurgents; title: Back to Fallujah: Contractors Take the Lead; title: The Surge; title: Blackwater; title: The Tipping Point; title: Yellowcake from Saddam; title: The Raid; title: "Death to Al Qaeda!"; title: The Oilfields; title: The Last of the Occupiers; title: The Arab Spring; title: Afghanistan: How Not to Do It; title: Contractors at War; title: After-Action Review.