Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Warsnin the Muslim World

Journalist Rosen (In the Belly of the Green Bird) distills seven years of reporting on the Middle East into a scathing study of U.S. policy in the region—with a focus on the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. Rosen argues that the "brutal" occupation inflicted daily violence and humiliation on civilians, "divided Iraqis against one another," catalyzed a devastating civil war, and reinvigorated regional sectarianism. While he acknowledges that the insurgency has been defeated, Rosen fears that "a new phase of violence and factional fighting would likely begin" after an American withdrawal. The author charges that the Bush administration inflated a "war against two hundred unsophisticated extremists" into a global war on terror and that "[General Stanley] McChrystal and the military... wanted billions of dollars and a war without end so they could experiment with COIN [counterinsurgency warfare]." Rosen has traveled throughout the region, often off the beaten path, and interviewed hundreds of ordinary people; the result is a provocative indictment of American policy and policy makers. (Oct.)