Book Review: ‘Surge’ by Peter R. Mansoor
Book Review: 'Surge' by Peter R. Mansoor – Review by Max Boot, Wall Street Journal.
There have been many turning points in American military history. The Battles of Saratoga, Gettysburg and Midway and the landing at Inchon are some of the most famous. To that list should be added the 2007 "Surge" in Iraq, even if its consequences not as lasting.
Iraq today is a mess, with suicide bombings a regular occurrence after a few years of diminished violence. Al Qaeda in Iraq has come back from the grave and even expanded into Syria. Grandiose expectations that Iraq would become a showcase of democracy haven't been realized. Iraq is not an Iranian puppet, as some claim, but nor is it a reliable ally of the U.S., as many had hoped it would become—witness Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's refusal to stop Iran from using Iraqi airspace to supply Bashar Assad in Syria. There are some bright spots, principally surging oil production (3.3 million barrels a day), which has made Iraq the third-largest oil exporter in the world behind only Saudi Arabia and Russia. But the future of Iraq doesn't look nearly as bright as it did just a couple of years ago…
