{"product_id":"9780805080087","title":"Squandered Victory : The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eSquandered Victory\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Larry Diamond\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Chilling—and often scathing—detail . . . Should be read by anyone interested in understanding why the United States' quick military victory has given way to an increasingly virulent insurgency.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the fall of 2003, Stanford professor Larry Diamond received a call from Condoleezza Rice, asking if he would spend several months in Baghdad as an adviser to the American occupation authorities. Diamond had not been a supporter of the war in Iraq, but he felt that the task of building a viable democracy was a worthy goal. But when he went to Iraq, his experiences proved to be more of an education than he bargained for.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSquandered Victory\u003c\/i\u003e is Diamond's provocative and vivid account of how the American effort to establish democracy in Iraq was hampered not only by insurgents and terrorists but also by a long chain of miscalculations, missed opportunities, and acts of ideological blindness that helped assure that the transition to independence would be neither peaceful nor entirely democratic. And in a new Afterword for the paperback edition, Diamond shows how the ongoing instability in Iraq is a direct result of the shortsighted choices made during the fourteen months of the American occupation and the subsequent Iraqi interim government.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A forceful and detailed critique of the invasion's aftermath. . . . A searing indictment.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Larry Diamond has a flair for making incisive points at the right moment. . . . [\u003ci\u003eSquandered Victory\u003c\/i\u003e] explodes with the frustrations he felt working for the U.S. occupation.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe New Republic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780805080087\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Holt Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40667527282894,"sku":"9780805080087","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_9e1e7e9e-87f2-4ae5-8bbc-0e571b1e5cc0.jpg?v=1639712643","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780805080087","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}