- Paperback: 450 pages
- Publisher: Pocket Books; New edition edition (19 Feb 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 141654058X
- ISBN-13: 978-1416540588
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 606,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope
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Review
"A compelling story of the labor pains of a nation in the throes of rebuilding." -- "San Antonio Express News"
Product Description
When Paul 'Jerry' Bremer, a retired diplomat and counterterrorism expert, arrived in post-war Baghdad as 'pro-consul', he was shocked. His hurried briefings in Washington by the State and Defence Departments and the C.I.A. had not prepared him for the devastation, the chaos, and the violence. With security worsening, the Iraqi army having disappeared, no viable local currency, looters running wild, the electricity system down, food supply in jeopardy and factions of Kurds, majority Shia, and the newly dispossessed Sunnis at a political standoff demanding Iraq be turned over to them, Ambassador Bremer struggled to jumpstart the economy while putting the country on the road to democracy. Bremer describes his meetings with President Bush and multiple encounters with Rumsfeld, Rice and Powell in which he pushed for additional funds for Iraq's reconstruction and warned of the dangers of prematurely turning security over to untrained Iraqi security forces and turning governance over to exiles with no plan for a constitution or elections.He describes working with Iraqi leaders on a constitution to protect individual rights and dramatizes the heroic efforts of his staff and Coalition forces to give the long-suffering Iraqi people a measure of peace and hope. Ambassador Bremer's book is vital reading if we wish to understand the immense stakes involved in this war and this troubled region.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
Bremer will go down as one of the worst administrators in history. But the book is a great read. He so totally unqualified for the job of running Iraq that his wife could not believe that he was offered it. From the beginning, he got stuff disastrously wrong. His predecessor had allowed the Iraqis to form an interim government as a preparation for elections. Bremer dismissed it on the spot as the Shia were not capable of running the country in his opinion. His decision to scrap the old Iraqi army and to criminalise huge tranches of the Sunni middle class are explained here before it was clear that the decisions would be the cause of an insurgency. His contempt for the Shia leaders is open. It took over 100,000 dead before the Americans accepted reality and those same Shia leaders came to control the country. He shows the US military was scared of the Shia militias far more than they were of the Sunni rebels or of al Qaeda and the ultimate path to victory of the Shia militias can be seen from the US response to the Najaf rebellion.
The quality of advice from George W. Bush comes through. Bush advised him that cross-trainers are the most important fitness tool. And, um, that's all the useful advice he got running Iraq from George W. Bush. The rest of it seems to have been variants on "Just hang in there."
If you like reading a non-fiction book by someone who was there, who was in the hot seat, who made big decisions and got everything spectacularly wrong, this is a great book. If you have ever wondered what would happen if a decent guy with no government experience was told to run a country and made its dictator, this is a great book. IF you want any useful insight into Iraq, this book is useless. He had virtually no contact with local Arabs and spent his days in a cocoon of US grad school advisers in Baghdad.
I found it very interesting - recommend the book.
The quality of advice from George W. Bush comes through. Bush advised him that cross-trainers are the most important fitness tool. And, um, that's all the useful advice he got running Iraq from George W. Bush. The rest of it seems to have been variants on "Just hang in there."
If you like reading a non-fiction book by someone who was there, who was in the hot seat, who made big decisions and got everything spectacularly wrong, this is a great book. If you have ever wondered what would happen if a decent guy with no government experience was told to run a country and made its dictator, this is a great book. IF you want any useful insight into Iraq, this book is useless. He had virtually no contact with local Arabs and spent his days in a cocoon of US grad school advisers in Baghdad.
I found it very interesting - recommend the book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
53 reviews
70 of 76 people found the following review helpful
Another Self Serving Memoir
16 Dec 2006
Format:Hardcover
Bremer was appointed head of the CPA. Bremer did not speak Arabic, had never served in an Arab country, knew virtually nothing about Iraq (its economy, political structure, ethnic/religious divides, etc.) and perhaps more critically, Bremer had never managed a major program or corporation thus lacking critical management skills. His leadership of the CPA must go down as one of the most disastrous failures in US foreign policy. Many of the problems now facing the USA in Iraq can directly be attributed to decisions made and executed by Bremer. In many ways Bremer reminds one of "Heck-of-a-job" Brown during the Katrina crises. Both were decent men, both took their jobs seriously and both were strikning examples of the "Peter principle"- rising to their respective levels of incompetence.
However, as one of the other reviewers noted, this is a must read for anyone attempting to understand this phase of the US occupation of Iraq. There is no doubt that Mr. Bremer took his role seriously and worked very hard at his task. Sadly, he very conceit and self confidence brought about the disaster of today's Iraq. As Caesar's wife Portia notes..."you are consumed with confidence" when she urges him to forbear going to the Senate. Caesar's over confidence was Rome's tragedy that resulted in endless civil war. Bremer's self confidence has brought a similar result. We know, for example, that he ordered the disbanding of the Iraqi army. In his book, however, he pretends that the order was simply a formality- that the army had self imploded. However, what he does not admit is that key officers of the Iraqi army were already in negotiations to call back their units under US supervision. Moreover, he then decides not to pay pensions to the disbanded army thereby throwing hundred of thousands of Iraqi families into poverty. He disbands the Baa'th Party without having any understanding that virtually every civil servant, doctor, teacher, etc. was a member of the Party. His actions threw what was left of Iraq's functioning government into absolute chaos. He imposes a parliamentarian system of government on the Iraqis without any appreciation that Iraqi political society has fragmented into sectarian lines. Bremer is a sad figure. He will go down into his history as one of history's great incompetence. Although, General Franks, Doug Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Don Rumsfeld or the current "Idiot-in-Chief" may vie for that spot! Read this work and weep for the more than 25,000 Americans killed and wounded and the several hundred thousand Iraqis needlessly dead today for this travesty that we call "Operation Iraqi Freedom."
However, as one of the other reviewers noted, this is a must read for anyone attempting to understand this phase of the US occupation of Iraq. There is no doubt that Mr. Bremer took his role seriously and worked very hard at his task. Sadly, he very conceit and self confidence brought about the disaster of today's Iraq. As Caesar's wife Portia notes..."you are consumed with confidence" when she urges him to forbear going to the Senate. Caesar's over confidence was Rome's tragedy that resulted in endless civil war. Bremer's self confidence has brought a similar result. We know, for example, that he ordered the disbanding of the Iraqi army. In his book, however, he pretends that the order was simply a formality- that the army had self imploded. However, what he does not admit is that key officers of the Iraqi army were already in negotiations to call back their units under US supervision. Moreover, he then decides not to pay pensions to the disbanded army thereby throwing hundred of thousands of Iraqi families into poverty. He disbands the Baa'th Party without having any understanding that virtually every civil servant, doctor, teacher, etc. was a member of the Party. His actions threw what was left of Iraq's functioning government into absolute chaos. He imposes a parliamentarian system of government on the Iraqis without any appreciation that Iraqi political society has fragmented into sectarian lines. Bremer is a sad figure. He will go down into his history as one of history's great incompetence. Although, General Franks, Doug Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Don Rumsfeld or the current "Idiot-in-Chief" may vie for that spot! Read this work and weep for the more than 25,000 Americans killed and wounded and the several hundred thousand Iraqis needlessly dead today for this travesty that we call "Operation Iraqi Freedom."
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
A diplomat desperately trying to justify his efforts
22 Jan 2007
I think that this is one of the important books of the Iraq war. Bremer is perhaps the most important figure of the most important part of it, namely, the attempted reconstruction of the country. This book describes his efforts toward that end, and attempts to justify his decisions.
Unfortunately, the effort is a disaster. Bremer really didn't have much experience with this kind of work, and it appears clear from the beginning that right-wing ideology was the driving factor in his decision making -- and most of these decisions suffered for that. For instance, Bremer refused to re-open the state-run businesses, because he thought the private sector should run all business -- this immediately threw tens of thousands of people out of work. Similarly, the draconian de-Baathification forced almost all qualified managers from their jobs. Bremer also, and I think unforgivably, doesn't spend any time comparing this attempted rebuilding to the very successful post WW II efforts. In particular, the de-Baathification seems to have been based on the de-Nazification in Germany, without really looking too closely at what might be different between Iraq and Germany.
Still, it's an interesting book, and a point of view that should be a part of any study of the war. The book could well have been 10 times as long, and it would be interesting to see what parts were edited out. I share others recommendations of "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" as a great companion book.
Unfortunately, the effort is a disaster. Bremer really didn't have much experience with this kind of work, and it appears clear from the beginning that right-wing ideology was the driving factor in his decision making -- and most of these decisions suffered for that. For instance, Bremer refused to re-open the state-run businesses, because he thought the private sector should run all business -- this immediately threw tens of thousands of people out of work. Similarly, the draconian de-Baathification forced almost all qualified managers from their jobs. Bremer also, and I think unforgivably, doesn't spend any time comparing this attempted rebuilding to the very successful post WW II efforts. In particular, the de-Baathification seems to have been based on the de-Nazification in Germany, without really looking too closely at what might be different between Iraq and Germany.
Still, it's an interesting book, and a point of view that should be a part of any study of the war. The book could well have been 10 times as long, and it would be interesting to see what parts were edited out. I share others recommendations of "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" as a great companion book.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Barely a first-person source, more like selective telling of the facts
28 Dec 2006
Format:Hardcover
Read this book with Rajiv Chandrasekaran's Imperial Life to get the full impact of Bremer's story. Pay attention to the details Bremer glosses over, like what Bernie Kerik did (the guy in charge of rebuilding Iraq police). Ignored is the background and selection process of the people who served Bremer and how "loyalists" were more valued over experience and skill.
At times selective in the facts and other times ignorant, this book is useful only in reading the perceptions of reality the viceroy of Iraq held.
At times selective in the facts and other times ignorant, this book is useful only in reading the perceptions of reality the viceroy of Iraq held.
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