Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq

Linda Robinson provides an inside view of the war in Iraq and critical insight into the decisions now facing President Obama.

Based on extensive interviews with General Petraeus and his commanders, diplomats, and Iraqis, and months the author spent on the frontlines in Iraq, Linda Robinson’s book, Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq, provides an unique insider’s account of Petraeus’s attempt to turn around the war that has been the focus of national attention since 2003.

Named by The New York Times as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2008, Tell Me How This Ends focuses on both the military and political issues behind the decisions and negotiations that drove the Iraq War, including revelations into dramatic behind-the-scenes confrontations. Robinson, a Booz Allen Hamilton associate, outlines disastrous mistakes made by U.S. diplomatic and military officials and the Bush White House, including disbanding the Iraqi military and de-Ba’thification of the government, which led to disenfranchisement of Sunnis in the new Iraqi government.

“Prior to conflict, America must have a thorough understanding of the countries in which it engages its military,” Robinson says.

In 2007, after the White House appointed General Petraeus the Commanding General of the coalition forces, new strategies and tactics were adopted, including outreach to insurgents, walls to protect neighborhoods, dispersion of troops into those neighborhoods, and use of biometric devices to identify potential insurgents. These measures, says Robinson, helped the American military dramatically improve security for Iraqis.

Tell Me How This Ends also analyzes the options for the endgame of the most intensive war the U.S. has fought since Vietnam. Robinson stresses that the focus of the U.S. executive branch will continue to be key during this transitional period in Iraqi history: “I think what’s most critical is that the White House gives this enough attention and draws some redlines.”

Robinson joined Booz Allen in 2008 as a senior analyst with 25 years of experience and field research in insurgency, counterinsurgency, and irregular warfare. She made extended reporting trips to Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11 and received the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Reporting on National Defense. Robinson covered military, national security, and international issues for U.S. News & World Report, and was senior editor at Foreign Affairs magazine. Her 2004 book about the U.S. Army Special Forces, Masters of Chaos, was a New York Times bestseller.

summary posted September 2008