The author protrays Bush and Bremer as ignorant. For example, Bush had never heard of the Sunni-Shiite split before the war. RDS, Amazon.com
Because the book has a first-rate personal perspective including extraordinary travel that most US officials and journalists cannot claim, it gets full five stars. I especially liked the "cast of characters" at the end, with names and titles and dates.
The Administration continues to deny that Iraq is in a civil war, yet the author cites the Iraqis as saying otherwise.
The author also cites the Iraquis as stating that America lost it [?] when the US turned from liberator to occupying power.
The author protrays Bush and Bremer as ignorant. For example, Bush had never heard of the Sunni-Shiite split before the war.
He concludes that the White House and the Pentagon's politically-appointed leaders consistently "ignored inconvenient facts."
The book is a clearly partisan document that admires the Kurds and makes the case for a free Kurdish state within Iraq.
The book includes the following: an accounting of the atrocities committed against the Kurds, the rebuilding by the Kurds (including English-speaking universities) and the doctors certified by the British Medical Board.
The author details the incompetence of the Bush Administration in planning for the war, laying lays much of the blame on Cheney for falling prey to Ahmad Chalabi's lies. The author says on page 86 that Chalabi's role cannot be overstated.
We learn of the idiocy and arrogance of Paul "Jerry" Bremer, whose first two decisions were to banned all Baaths from leadership positions, and dismembered the army and all security services.
The author condemns Bremer's gratuitous humiliation as having broken Iraq apart and spawned the insurgency. In the author's view, Bremer blew it when he assumed the role as a naked Emperor hiding in the Green Zone.
The book concludes that the fastest way out of Iraq is to work toward a three-state Iraq. I agree.
Pending
The author protrays Bush and Bremer as ignorant. For example, Bush had never heard of the Sunni-Shiite split before the war. 
RDS, Amazon.com
