The Achilles trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the origins of America's invasion of Iraq

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Coll, Steve

Coll, Steve

Duraleigh Road Community
East Regional
Eva H. Perry Regional
Express Library Fayetteville St.

Adult Non-Fiction

Duraleigh Road - Adult Non-Fiction
East Regional - Adult Non-Fiction
Eva H. Perry Regional - Adult Non-Fiction
Express - Fayetteville St. - Adult Non-Fiction
Middlecreek Community - Adult Non-Fiction
Morrisville Community - Adult Non-Fiction
Oberlin Regional - Adult Non-Fiction
Remote Storage - Adult Non-Fiction
Southeast Regional - Adult Non-Fiction

"From bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Coll, the definitive story of the decades-long relationship between the United States and Saddam Hussein, and a deeply researched and news breaking investigation into how human error, cultural miscommunication, and hubris led to one of the greatest geopolitical conflicts of our time When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, its message was clear: Iraq, under the control of strongman Saddam Hussein, possessed weapons of mass destruction which, if left unchecked, posed grave danger to the world. But when no WMDs were found, the US and its allies were forced to consider that their political and intelligence failures had led to one of the most disastrous conflicts of our time. And a more integral question remained unsolved: Why had Saddam seemingly sacrificed his long reign in power by giving the impression that he possessed hidden stocks of dangerous weapons? The Achilles Trap masterfully untangles the people, ploys of power, and geopolitics that led to America's disastrous war with Iraq, and, for the first time, dramatizes America's fundamental miscalculations during its decades-long relationship with Saddam Hussein. Beginning with Saddam's rise to power in 1979 and the birth of Iraq's secret nuclear weapons program, Steve Coll traces Saddam's motives by way of his inner circle. He brings to life the diplomats, scientists, family members, and generals who had no choice but to defer to their leader-a leader directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, as well as the torture or imprisonment of hundreds of thousands more. This was a man whose reasoning was impossible to reduce to a simple explanation, and the CIA and successive presidential administrations failed to grasp integral nuances of his paranoia, resentments, and inconsistencies - even when the stakes were incredibly high. Calling on unpublished and under-reported sources, interviews with surviving participants, and Saddam's own transcripts and audio files, many of which have never been made public, Coll pulls together an incredibly comprehensive portrait of a man who was convinced the world was out to get him, and acted accordingly. A work of great historical significance, The Achilles Trap is the definitive account of how corruptions of power, lies of diplomacy, and vanity - on both sides - led to avoidable errors of statecraft, ones that would enact immeasurable human suffering and forever change the political landscape as we know it"--

Book

Books

9097d8c0-56e5-5081-8d34-549e7b416d54

9780525562269

2025-08-05T09:15:01.662Z

-1

Non Fiction

Non Fiction

956.704 COLL

Wake County Public Libraries

Duraleigh Road Community
East Regional
Eva H. Perry Regional
Express Library Fayetteville St.
Middle Creek Community
Morrisville Community
Oberlin Regional
Southeast Regional

9780525562269

2024

Penguin Press

grouped_work

Hussein, Saddam, -- 1937-2006
Iraq -- Foreign relations -- United States
Iraq -- Politics and government -- 2003-
Iraq War, 2003-2011
United States -- Foreign relations -- Iraq
United States -- Politics and government -- 2001-2009
United States. -- Central Intelligence Agency

The Achilles trap : Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the origins of America's invasion of Iraq

The Achilles trap : Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the origins of America's invasion of Iraq / Steve Coll

The Achilles trap

Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the origins of America's invasion of Iraq

Foreign relations
Hussein, Saddam
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Politics and government