The American military is a tightly sealed community, and aside from the handful of Generals who have publicized their views on the Iraq war, few outsiders have access to the personal views of senior officers. But many officers have shared their thoughts with renowned military reporter Thomas E. Ricks.

In his book, Fiasco, Ricks combines these on-the-record military accounts with his own on-the-ground reportage to create a distinctive account of this war. While there was never any question that the U.S. military would topple Saddam Hussein, Ricks concludes there was also never any real thought about what would come next. Through his interviews with a number of military figures in his book - from leaders at the highest levels of the Army and Marine hierarchies to the men and women who led to battlefield success in Fallujah to Tall Afar - he argues that short-sightedness has ensured the current Iraq dilemma, arguing that the Iraq war will hold a place in history that is nothing less than a 'fiasco'.