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A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq Paperback – June 3, 2003
- Print length112 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPlume
- Publication dateJune 3, 2003
- Reading age18 years and up
- Dimensions5 x 0.5 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100452284988
- ISBN-13978-0452284982
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Product details
- Publisher : Plume (June 3, 2003)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 112 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0452284988
- ISBN-13 : 978-0452284982
- Reading age : 18 years and up
- Item Weight : 3.52 ounces
- Dimensions : 5 x 0.5 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,154,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #785 in Political Freedom (Books)
- #1,310 in Terrorism (Books)
- #10,023 in International & World Politics (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
![Christopher Hitchens](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61EYfoF3LpL._SY600_.jpg)
Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) was the author of Letters to a Young Contrarian, and the bestseller No One Left to Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family. A regular contributor to Vanity Fair, The Atlantic Monthly and Slate, Hitchens also wrote for The Weekly Standard, The National Review, and The Independent, and appeared on The Daily Show, Charlie Rose, The Chris Matthew's Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, and C-Span's Washington Journal. He was named one of the world's "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect.
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Hitchens is a crafty, skilled, invidious flack for the neocon minority that regards war as the solution for any problem produced by the collision of two or more ideas. He prides himself as a contrarian, an ironic self-title that mocks the opposition of those who recognize the civil war in Iraq as Bush's greatest folly. The book is an astute selection of 'Slate' online columns written prior to the invasion, his "facts" are a first-class example of what is known in the news business as "press release journalism".
As such, it is a concise summary of the folly -- some would say wisdom -- that inveigled Americans into a "perfect" war that avoids the horrendous toll of the Vietnam. But, it's just enough to maintain constant uncertainty, unease and doubts which Bush uses adroitly "to avoid changing horses (i.e. commander-in-chief') in midstream" but not enough to bring about his own defeat. Few wars are so good they last indefinitely without fatal results; but, Hitchens proves once and for all that it's possible to fool enough of the people enough of the time to win enough of the votes. The neocons couldn't be happier, more smug, more self-satisfied or more pleased with Hitchens.
Perhaps the most telling metaphor for the book is the cover photo showing US forces pulling down a statue of Saddam Hussein; to this day, Americans are still expected to do everything for the Iraqis. It's why more than 3,000 US civilians and military personnel have died since the "Mission Accomplished" boast. It shows why newspapers are still far more trustworthy than hired flacks. At least Colin Powell had the decency to admit he was duped; Hitchens has a habit of hiding from his mistakes, which may be why he hasn't come up with a sequel about "peace, prosperity and progress in the Garden of Eden (Iraq)".
Hitchens is a usually arrogant contrarian with a distaste for most elements of American-style democratic chaos; but, he can also be a fawning lap-dog for utterly ridiculous ideas as this book illustrates. Anyone who loves the American role in Iraq's civil war will find it is a useful and inspiring gospel; those who oppose folly will appreciate the ease with which some people can be thrown, tied and branded.
Today it's perhaps even more significant than in 2003, when Hitchens bought hook, line and sinker into the "let's have a nice little war" scenario. America now has its "long short war". Now, ominously, a similar drumbeat is starting faintly for a war against Iran; perhaps Hitchens will volunteer again to be a spokesman for why Americans should die in another MidEast land.
All in all, a wonderful book by a brilliant author whose penchant for irrascibility instead of reason results in razzle-dazzle raves for cowboy politics instead of the rational ideas of the Clinton years. Journalism used to reflect the idea, "Question everything: If your mother says she loves you, check it out." Hitchens has turned it around to mean, "Accept everything, if Bush says "war" just reply "Ready, aye, ready!"
1. He claims that Hussein's regime will inevitably fail and fall, as, we are told, all such despotic regimes do. This is historically false. There are many, many records of long-sustained despotisms, including those of incredible moral turpitude. North Korea would be a very obvious modern day example. Merely referencing the fact that a particularly evil system of government came to an end is no proof that all such governments carry an early expiration date.
2. He claims that Hussein has used chemical weapons before, including on his own people (quite true) so therefore we can be assured that he continues to have such weapons and is likely to use them again. We now know for a fact that he did not have such weapons. And the reasoning which says that something once happened before therefore we know for a fact that it will happen again is not tenable.
3. He makes a similar claim about nuclear weapons (that Hussein was well on his way to developing them, or perhaps to even have them quite soon). We now know for a fact that Hussein had no nuclear weapons and was not close to developing them.
4. It is repeatedly noted that well-known terrorists had been in Iraq without being detained or arrested or anything else, which supposedly proves complicity with terrorism, including 9/11. If failure to arrest someone who later turned out to be a terrorist constitutes culpability for 9/11, there are about 30 or 40 more countries, including some in Europe, that are equally to blame. Suspicious? Sure. Conclusive proof of anything? Of course not.
The book functions best as a historical record of what went on in this country after 9/11. How angry, paranoid, fearful, even conspiratorial a good number of people were. It is also helpful as a readjustment of sorts -- now that history has proven "the naysayers" right, this book is an excellent antidote to any kind of arrogance or moral posturing. As Hitchens does well to point out, not everyone against the war was a clean and pure moral objector. The book provides an excellent counterbalance in that regard.
It is also the record of a successful con job perpetrated by a group of people so desperate to get rid of Hussein (and to install themselves in his vacated seat) that they felt justified to tell any lie they could think of to reach that end. The amount of bad intelligence that either originated from these con men, or was at least ushered along and aided by them is nauseating. And there is no better example of this sort of person than the man this book is dedicated to: Ahmad Chalabi.
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To sum it up, it deals with possibilities and not probabilities which makes it useful to fanatics, and useless to practical and sane people.