A Tough, Hard Look at the Long War

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A Tough, Hard Look At the Long War Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq. Thomas E. Ricks. The Penguin Press. 482 pages; photographs; maps; index; $27.95.

Thomas Ricks' thesis in Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq is unambiguous. Indeed, he leaves nothing to chance in assuring that the reader understands what that thesis is, stipulating on the first page that he chose the subtitle precisely because it conveys his view that Operation Iraqi Freedom constituted military "adventurism" in the worst sense of the word. The invasion of Iraq was "launched recklessly, with a flawed plan for war and a worse approach to occupation," he says. "Blame" for this adventure, …