The US Army is declassifying documents and details about the war in Iraq
US Army releases long-awaited Iraq War history. Featuring unprecedented access to memos, planning docs, and interviews related to the war against the insurgency, including Islamic State of Iraq (now known as ISIS).
Volume 1: -Invasion-Insurgency-Civil War, 2003-07 (716 pages, PDF)
Volume 2: -Surge-Withdrawal, 2007-… (742 pages, PDF)
Stash of primary/declassified documents:
The second volume goes all the way to 2014 and the rise of ISIS.
The publications are raw, honest, and hopefully learned from.
It represents the most detailed government account yet and is very critical.
The study highlights numerous failures, including a lack of awareness among military leaders about the sectarian, social and political dynamics that would fuel much of the violence and eventually the collapse of Iraq and Syria as well as the establishment of the Caliphate.
WSJ says that the study is ‘spurring worries’ among top officers.
(Likely because it scrutinizes figures such as former Defense Secretary James Mattis and others who lead pivotal events such as the battle of Fallujah) Furthermore it criticizes the advocates of ‘nation building’ and those responsible for crafting overall military strategy.
