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Recommended reading on Iraq, the war, the region and related subjects:
"Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq" by Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor -- an excellent, highly detailed military history of the war, and very light on political slant.
"Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq" by Thomas E. Ricks -- less objective than Cobra II, but includes a strong analysis of the failure to adopt proper counterinsurgency strategy during the first several years of the war.
"Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude" by Robert Baer -- Baer was, by every account I have read, the CIA's most effective officer in the Middle East during his 21 year career. I highly recommend this book and Baer's "See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism" for anybody interested in these topics... fascinating, entertaining and extremely informative stuff.
"The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader" and "Holy War, Inc." by Peter Bergen -- great, great books on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. I don't know of anybody else who has done as much painstaking, carefully researched reporting on Bin Laden as has Bergen. Many books about Bin Laden devolve into little more than unfounded mythology and rumor, and Bergen's work is totally the opposite -- every single fact gives a reference, and his access to people who know and have worked with or against Bin Laden is simply amazing.
"The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot and Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It" by John J. Miller, Michael Stone, and Chris Mitchell -- don't let the title give you the idea that this book is an over the top anti-FBI/CIA rant; these days John Miller serves as one of the assistant directors of the FBI...
I've read some other decent books on the subject of Iraq, the 'war on terror,' etc., but the above are definitely the cream of the crop.
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Q. Boyer
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