Editor's Picks: Iraq War

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Essential Reading - Iraq

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The Surge One Year Later
Center for American Progress, 13 January 2008.

Violence-Related Mortality in Iraq from 2002 to 2006
World Health Organization. Published by The New England Journal of Medicine, 09 January 2008.

For U.S., The Goal Is Now 'Iraqi Solutions'
Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung. Washington Post, 10 January 2008.

Fallujah: The First Iraqi Intifada
David Isenberg. Asia Times, 08 January 2008. (See report below)

Complex Environments: Battle of Fallujah I, April 2004
National Ground Intelligence Center, US Army.

46,000 Refugees Return to Iraq
Aseel Kami. The Independent, UK, 05 January 2008.

2007 Deadliest for U.S. Troops in Iraq
Bradley Brooks. The Associated Press, 31 December 2007.

Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007
Juan Cole. Informed Comment, 27 December 2007.

Al-Qa'ida's Foreign Fighters in Iraq: A First Look at the Sinjar Records
Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman. Combating Terrorism Center, West Point, 19 December 2007 (.pdf file).

Political Progress in Iraq During the Surge
Rend al-Rahim Francke. U.S. Institute of Peace, 19 December 2007 (.pd file).

Public Attitudes in Basrah
Poll conducted by Opinion Research Business and posted on the BBC News website, 14 December 2007 (.pdf file).

$1B In Military Equipment Missing In Iraq, Exclusive: Report Shows Vehicles, Machine Guns And More Meant For Iraqi Forces Unaccounted For
Laura Strickler. CBS News, 06 December 2007.

Rebuilding a Non-Sectarianism in Iraq
Eric Davis. Strategic Insights, 05 December 2007.

Why Bush's Troop Surge Won't Save Iraq
Juan Cole. Salon.com, 04 December 2007.

White House Releases 'Principles' for Permanent Iraqi Presence
Spencer Ackerman. Talking Points Memo, 26 November 2007.

U.S.-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation
White House, 26 November 2007

Baghdad Bonanza
Bill Buzenberg. Center for Public Integrity, 20 November 2007.

Letter from Iraq: Inside the Surge
Jon Lee Anderson. The New Yorker, 19 November 2007 issue.

Shiite Politics in Iraq: The Role of the Supreme Council
International Crisis Group, 15 November 2007 (.pdf file).

F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause
David Johnston and John M. Broder. The New York Times, 14 November 2007.

The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11
Amy Belasco. Congressional Research Service, updated 09 November 2007.

The Record on Curveball
John Prados, ed. The National Security Archive, George Washington Universty, 05 November 2007.

The Dark Side of Iraq's Good News
Phillip Carter. Slate.com, 02 November 2007.

Quarterly Report to Congress
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, 30 October 2007.

Ill-Equipped Soldiers Opt for 'Search and Avoid'
Dahr Jamail. Inter Press Service, 24 October 2007.

Interim Review of DynCorp International, LLC, Spending Under Its Contract for the Iraqi Police Training Program
Glenn D. Furbish. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, 23 October 2007 (.pdf file).

The Real Iraq We Knew
12 Former Army Captains. Washington Post, 16 October 2007.

Marines Press to Remove their Forces From Iraq
Thom Shanker. The New York Times, 11 October 2007.

A Real Success Story in the U.S.'s Iraq: Iran
Peter Galbraith. The New York Review of Books, 11 October 2007.

Pandora's Box: Iraqi Federalism, Separatism, 'Hard' Partitioning, and US Policy
Anthony H. Cordesman. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 09 October 2007.

The Myth of AQI
Andrew Tilghman. Washington Monthly, October 2007.

Millions in Flight: the Iraqi Refugee Crisis
Amnesty International, 24 September 2007.

The Possible Costs to the United States of Maintaining a Long-Term Military Presence in Iraq
Congressional Budget Office, 20 September 2007 (.pdf file).

Hearing on Iraq
Amb. Ryan C. Crocker. Joint Hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services, 10 September 2007. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq
Gen. David H. Petraeus. Report to Congress, 10-11 September 2007. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The Report of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq
Gen. James L. Jones. 06 September. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq: A Critique
Anthony H. Cordesman. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 06 September 2007. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Assessing the 'Surge': A Survey of Baghdad Neighborhoods
The New York Times, 06 September 2007.

Iraq: Tribal Engagement Lessons Learned
Lt. Col. Michael Eisenstadt. Military Review, September/October 2007 (.pdf file).

The War as We Saw It
Buddhika Jayamaha et al. The New York Times, 19 August 2007.

From Belfast to Baghdad – What Have We Learned?
Douglas A. Borer. The Christian Science Monitor, 16 August 2007.

The Tenuous Case for Strategic Patience in Iraq: A Trip Report
Anthony H. Cordesman. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 06 August 2007. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website.

Prospects for Iraq's Stability: Some Security Progress but Political Reconciliation Elusive
Update to National Intelligence Estimate, August 2007. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Progress Report on Iraq Benchmarks
BBC News Graphic, 12 July 2007.

Initial Benchmark Assessment Report
National Security Council, 12 July 2007 (.pdf file).

Iraq and Anbar: Surge or Separation?
Anthony H. Cordesman. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 29 June 2007. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Where Is Iraq Heading? Lessons from Basra
International Crisis Group, 25 June 2007 (.pdf file).

Strategic Reset: Reclaiming Control of U.S. Security in the Middle East
Brian Katulis, Lawrence J. Korb, Peter Juul. Center for American Progress, 25 June 2007.

In the Crossfire or the Crosshairs? Norms, Civilian Casualties and U.S. Conduct in Iraq
Colin H. Kahl. International Security, Summer 2007 (.pdf file).

Report on Prewar Intelligence Assessments about Postwar Iraq
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 25 May 2007 (.pdf file).

The Department of Defense's Use of Solatia and Condolence Payments in Iraq and Afghanistan
Report to Congressional Requesters. Government Accountability Office, 23 May 2007 (.pdf file).

Iraq's Troubled Future: The Uncertain Way Ahead
Anthony H. Cordesman. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 13 April 2007. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Prospects of Iraq's Stability: A Challenging Road Ahead
National Intelligence Estimate, January 2007. Declassified and posted on 23 August 2007 on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

After Baker-Hamilton: What To Do in Iraq
International Crisis Group, 19 December 2006 (.pdf file).

Saudis Give a Grim What If Should U.S. Opt to Leave Iraq
Helene Cooper. The New York Times, 13 December 2006.

The Iraq Study Group Report
James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, Co-Chairs. United States Institute of Peace, 06 December 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Post-Saddam Iraq: The War Game
Posted on The National Security Archive, George Washington University, 04 November 2006.

Neo Culpa: Politics & Power
David Rose. Vanity Fair, 03 November 2006.

The More-Than-Two-Trillion-Dollar War
Linda Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz. Milken Institute Review, December 2006. Posted on the Nieman Watchdog website on 01 November 2006.

Military Charts Movement of Conflict in Iraq Toward Chaos
Michael R. Gordon. The New York Times, 01 November 2006.

Progress in Iraq: A 2006 Report Card on the Bush Administration's Iraq Policy
Larry Korb and Brian Katulis. Center for American Progress, 24 October 2006 (.pdf file).

Mortality after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq: A Cross-Sectional Cluster Sample Survey
Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy and Les Roberts. The Lancet, 11 October 2006.

Postwar Findings About Iraq's WMD Programs and Links to Terrorism and How They Compare with Prewar Assessments
Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Senate, 08 September 2006 (.pdf file).

The Use by the Intelligence Community of Information Provided by the Iraqi National Congress
Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Senate, 08 September 2006 (.pdf file).

Pyrrhus on the Potomac: How America's Post-9/11 Wars Have Undermined U.S. National Security
Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Report #18, 05 September 2006.

New State Department Releases on the 'Future of Iraq' Project
National Security Archive. Posted on the George Washington University website on 01 September 2006.

Iraq Tribal Study - Al-Anbar Governorate
Lin Todd et al. Study conducted under contract with the Department of Defense, 18 June 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Insurgent Iraq
Essential and important readings on the Iraqi insurgency. Project on Defense Alternatives.

The Next Iraqi War? Sectarianism and Civil Conflict
Middle East Report #52. International Crisis Group, 27 February 2006.

In Their Own Words: Reading the Iraqi Insurgency
Middle East Report #50. International Crisis Group, 15 February 2006 (.pdf file).

Iraq's Evolving Insurgency: The Nature of Attacks and Patterns and Cycles in the Conflict
Anthony H. Cordesman. CSIS, 03 February 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Up In The Air
Seymour M. Hersh. The New Yorker, 05 December 2005. Posted on 28 November 2005.

Iraq War Withdrawal and Exit Plans
Major plans by analysts and experts, positions of U.S. political leaders, and selected commentaries on exiting Iraq. Project on Defense Alternatives.

Why Iraq Has No Army
James Fallows. The Atlantic Monthly, December 2005.

Strategic Redeployment: A Progressive Plan for Iraq and the Struggle Against Violent Extremists
Lawrence J. Korb and Brian Katulis. Center for American Progress, 03 October 2005.

Willful Ignorance: How the Pentagon Sent the Army to Iraq without a Counterinsurgency Doctrine
Jason Vest. Center for Defense Information, 16 September 2005.

Warnings Went Ignored as Bush Slashed Flood Defense Budget to Pay for Wars
Geoffrey Lean. The Independent, 04 September 2005. Posted on the Common Dreams website.

Why the Memo Matters
Mark Danner. Published 20 June 2005 by TomDispatch.com and forthcoming in the New York Review of Books on 14 July 2005.

Iraq: Options Paper
prepared by the Overseas and Defence Secretariat, classified "Secret UK Eyes Only," 08 March 2002, published by the The Associated Press on 19 June 2005. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website.

Iraq: Legal Background
classified "Confidential," 08 March 2002, published by the The Associated Press on 19 June 2005. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website.

The Other Bomb Drops: Iraq 'Pre-War' Launched without Congressional Authority
Jeremy Scahill. The Nation, 01 June 2005. Posted on the Truthout website.

Vicious Circle: The Dynamics of Occupation and Resistance in Iraq, Part One. Patterns of Popular Discontent.
Carl Conetta. PDA Research Monograph #10, 28 May 2005. PDF version.

CIA’s Final Report: No WMD Found in Iraq
Associated Press, 25 April 2005. Posted on the Global Policy Forum website.

Iraq: The Real Election
Mark Danner. New York Review of Books,, 28 April 2005. Posted on 07 April 2005.

Should We Stay or Should We Go? The US Debate on Exiting Iraq
Carl Conetta. PDA Briefing Memo #33, 07 March 2005.

What do Iraqis want? Iraqi attitudes on the occupation, US withdrawal, Iraqi governments, and quality of life
Compiled by Carl Conetta. Project on Defense Alternatives, 01 February 2005.

Iraq: Winning the Unwinnable War
James Dobbins. Foreign Affairs, January/February 2005. Posted 22 December 2004.

The Coming Wars
Seymour M. Hersh. New Yorker, 17 January 2005.

On War
Chris Hedges. New York Review of Books, Issued 16 December 2004. Posted on 09 December 2004.

Playing the Course: A Strategy for Reshaping US Policy in Iraq and the Middle East
Anthony Cordesman. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 19 November 2004 (.pdf file).

Out of Iraq
Stanley Hoffmann. New York Review of Books, 21 October 2004.

Is the Iraq War Sapping America's Military Power?
Carl Conetta, Charles Knight, Melissa Murphy. Project on Defense Alternatives, 22 October 2004.

Abu Ghraib: The Hidden Story
Mark Danner. New York Review of Books, 07 October 2004. Posted on the author's website.

What Went Wrong in Iraq
Larry Diamond. Foreign Affairs, September/October 2004.

Iraq: The Bungled Transition
Peter W. Galbraith. New York Review of Books, 23 September 2004. Posted on 17 September 2004.

Containing Iraq: Sanctions Worked
George A. Lopez and David Cortright. Foreign Affairs, July/August 2004. Posted on the Joan P. Kroc Institute website.

Inside the Iraqi Resistance - Seven Part Series
Nir Rosen. Asia Times, 15 -24 July 2004.

Radical Departure: Toward a Practical Peace in Iraq
Carl Conetta. Project on Defense Alternatives Briefing Report #16, 07 July 2004.

Unfit to Print?
Michael Massing. New York Review of Books, 24 June 2004.

The Logic of Torture
Mark Danner. New York Review of Books, 24 June 2004.

On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Center for Army Lessons Learned, 10 June 2004. Posted on the Global Security website.

Iraq and Vietnam: Differences, Similarities, and Insights
Jeffrey Record and W. Andrew Terrill. Strategic Studies Institute, May 2004 (.pdf file).

Regional Implications of Shi'a Revival in Iraq
Vali Nasr. Washington Quarterly, Summer 2004 (.pdf file).

Disappearing the Dead: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Idea of a "New Warfare"
Carl Conetta. PDA Research Monograph #9, 18 February 2004. PDF version.

U.S. Casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Compiled by Melissa Murphy. Project on Defense Alternatives, 19 November 2003 (.pdf file).

20 Lies About the War
Glen Rangwala and Raymond Whitaker. The Independent, 13 July 2003. Posted on the Common Dreams website.

Civilian Casualties in the 2003 Iraq War: A Compendium of Accounts and Reports
compiled by Melissa Murphy and Carl Conetta. Project on Defense Alternatives, 21 May 2003.

Reconstructing Iraq: Costs and Possible Income Sources
Carl Conetta. Cambridge, MA: Commonwealth Institute, 25 April 2003 (.pdf file).

Disarming Iraq: What Did the UN Missions Accomplish?
Carl Conetta. PDA Briefing Memo #27, 25 April 2003. PDF version.

First Strike Guidelines: the case of Iraq
Charles Knight. PDA Briefing Memo #25, 16 September 2002 (revised and updated 10 March 2003).

Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance
Harlan K. Ullman and James P. Wade. National Defense University Press, December 1996.

A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm
Richard Perle. Jerusalem, Israel: Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, June 1996.

'What Is Iraq, Anyhow?' Can the US Mission Learn Something from a WWII Manual? A Short Guide to Iraq
US War and Navy Departments, 1942.

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