Book Presentation
The Assassin’s Gate by George Packer
Book Abstract
In The Assassin’s Gate, George Packer investigates exactly how U.S. policy led to American’s invasion of Iraq and then seeks to understand how we have become involved in a protracted occupation and guerilla war. He first examines how the neoconservative policy agenda, growing out of the post-cold war, the humanitarian crises of the ‘90s and post 9-11, redefined American pre-eminence as the sole global power, whose responsibility to spread democracy and protect American interests included the possibility of pre-emptive action and intervening within another country’s affairs.
Packer also charts the administration’s war planning and its impact on troop levels and the post-war environment in Iraq. He develops a detailed and penetrating image of post-war Iraq through his portraits of individual Iraqis, recounted through personal conversations, and of American officials and soldiers, whom he accompanies at work and on patrol.
About the Author
George Packer is currently a journalist for The New Yorker. His reporting on Iraq has received an Oversea Press Club award, as has his coverage on atrocities and civil war in Sierra Leone. His articles have also appeared in The Nation, Harper’s, Mother Jones, and The New York Times.
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