Confronting Saddam Hussein

George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq

By: Melvyn P. Leffler

Narrated by: Christopher P. Brown

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

America's decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 is arguably the most important foreign policy choice of the entire post-Cold War era. Nearly two decades after the event, it remains central to understanding current international politics and US foreign relations.

In Confronting Saddam Hussein, the eminent historian of US foreign policy Melvyn P. Leffler analyzes why the US chose war and who was most responsible for the decision. Employing a unique set of personal interviews with dozens of top officials and declassified American and British documents, Leffler vividly portrays the emotions and anxieties that shaped the thinking of the president after the shocking events of 9/11. He shows how fear, hubris, and power influenced Bush's approach to Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

At the core of Leffler's account is his compelling portrait of Saddam Hussein. Rather than stressing Bush's preoccupation with promoting freedom or democracy, Leffler emphasizes Hussein's brutality, opportunism, and unpredictability and illuminates how the Iraqi dictator's record of aggression and intransigence haunted the president and influenced his calculations. Throughout, Leffler highlights the harrowing anxieties surrounding the decision-making process after the devastating attack on 9/11 and explains the roles of contingency, agency, rationality, and emotion.

©2023 Melvyn P. Leffler (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

A necessary addition to this history

I've read many books about the conflicts in Iraq. The overwhelming majority of books leave one with the usual and over used criticisms of the United States and George W. Bush. Most don't really give a fair view of the Bush and American policy after 9/11. Leffler's book does a much more thorough job of presenting the various views. The interviews of the key figures involved in the U.S. government and administration is what was usually missing from other books. The book left me with the impression that Bush did not want to go to war, and the primary driver of American policy was the security of the United States after 9/11. That may be an assumed view in many other books, but other authors seem bent on minimizing this view and instead just criticizing American policy. He presents Rumsfeld from an overall negative perspective which I didn't really know to this extent before reading this book. But, even though Leffler was good at bringing up various American perspectives, at the very end of the book, he seems to throw out his balanced approach and becomes very critical of Bush - the conclusion he comes to seems to contradict much of the book and he seems overly critical of Bush over literally the last few pages. Overall, a great contribution to understanding the history of the conflict - more important than many other books that seemingly rehash the same theme repeatedly.

A very honest look at the Iraq war

This book was phenomenal, it perfectly illustrates the different dynamics of the conflict while also not falling into populist or partisan traps. It paints Bush and his administration as actual people with limitations and explains how the intersection of these limitations with other dynamics contributed to the conflict. He doesn't necessarily reinforce typical narritives but gives an honest look at the situation while not sparing anyone from blame or treating anyone unfairly. I look forward to reading more of his work, and the narrator was super engaging.