Inside the US War Against the Islamic State

BOOK REVIEW: Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State from Barack Obama to Donald Trump

By Michael R. Gordon / Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Reviewed by Robert Richer

The Reviewer — Robert Richer served as a former Associate Deputy Director for Operations at the CIA.  He retired in 2005 and before his retirement he also served as Chief of the Near East and South Asia Division, responsible for Clandestine Service Operations throughout the Middle East and South Asia. Mr. Richer currently consults on Middle East and national security issues and is a senior partner with International Advisory Partners.

REVIEW — Michael Gordon’s credentials for detailing accurately and meticulously, the narratives he presents in all his works are in full display in Degrade and Destroy, an exceptionally well-researched and presented book.

His reporting on Iraq while with the New York Times and later, the Wall Street Journal commencing with his 1991 book, The General’s War that covered the war in the Gulf and the period after the Iraq War and subsequent U.S. occupation of Iraq as outlined in Endgame, were well received and cited by various senior leaders involved at that time as both exceptional and on the mark. (Those books were co-authored with now deceased General Bernard Trainor, USMC, ret.)  

Having been intimately involved with Iraq through the period of much of the author’s work, I have found his account extremely accurate and presented in a way that lacked personal or political bias.  Having met him while he was embedded with General Tommy Franks during the Iraq War, I know and deeply respect Gordon’s diligence in getting details and sourcing correct and unvarnished.

The initial chapters of Degrade and Destroy outline the full spectrum of events and developments in Iraq leading to the initiation of Operation Inherent Resolve in the summer of 2014.  The narrative reads like a Tom Clancy novel.  Gordon masterfully weaves developments touching on the Iraqi government – U.S. Military tactical and strategic military discussions and regional and bilateral diplomacy – in such a measured way that it is easy to read and the narrative flows effortlessly.  By the end of chapter 7, the reader understands what led up to the inception of Inherent Resolve along with the politics that impacted the that operation in Washington.

What follows next is an exceptionally well-crafted narrative of how the war against the Islamic State developed under the Obama Administration.  It correctly outlines the Kurdish and Turkey dynamics and the impact those dynamics had on the initial states of the more regional approach to the war.

The author captures many of the inconsistencies of how the Administration prosecuted the war to include the failure of the Syrian Free Army initiative as developed by both the CIA and US Special Operations Command.  Russia’s entry into Syria in 2015, and the impact of that entry and subsequent Russian military operations on the war against ISIS in Syria and risks to U.S. military personnel and forces supported by the U.S. are well noted.


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The Trump Administration in early 2017, initially continued with the previous administration’s intent and playbook in prosecuting the war against ISIS as it scrambled to pull together its own National Security team. That said, there was severe friction between then-National Security Advisor, General H.R. McMaster on one side and General James Mattis and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the other, regarding how the war should be prosecuted and who had the lead.  The infighting between the various generals involved, active duty, retired or in Administration positions is extremely well detailed and presents a clear picture of the dysfunction in those initial months of the changeover of Administrations. 

Notwithstanding the initial disfunction, the US military, select allies, and the Iraqi army continued to effectively prosecute the overall effort against ISIS.  

The final chapters of the book outline the complexities and sensitivities of dealing with both Turkey and Russia during the later stages of the war, including significant tactical operations and strategic initiatives to include the addition of U.S. Marine artillery to the battlefield.  The increasing influence of Iran in Iraq and the region during that period is also detailed.  The author also captures the contribution of the Iraqi military which has been often badly presented in other narratives.  As Gordon so well notes, many elements of the Iraqi military fought well, suffered significant casualties and contributed greatly to the success of the war against ISIS.

This book is a must read for those interested in understanding how this war was prosecuted and the complexities involved throughout.  As noted earlier, it reads easily and does not bury itself in military or political acronyms.  It captures the tone of Washington, echoes the deliberations at the Pentagon and State combined with the frustrations, successes and situations in the field.  An exceptional, well-researched and documented effort.

This book earns a prestigious four out of four trench coats.

 

 

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