"The Endgame" Book Launch with Michael Gordon

The Institute for the Study of War presents:

The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq,
 from George W. Bush to Barack Obama

Discussion with Author Michael R. Gordon

Moderated by Dr. Kimberly Kagan

Thursday October 25, 2012

5:30 – 7:00pm

ISW Office Building - Lobby Conference Room

1400 16^th Street NW

Book Signing and Reception to Follow

RSVP by Wednesday, October 24

The Institute for the Study of War invites you to celebrate the publication of a news-making and heavily researched account of the Iraq War by Michael R. Gordon, former Senior Fellow at ISW and Chief Military Correspondent at The New York Times.  Co-written with Bernard E. Trainor during Gordon’s tenure at ISW, The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama, is an exemplary work of investigative journalism and historical reconstruction, which covers the Iraq conflict from 2003 through the first half of 2012.

RSVP here. 

We invite you to join us for a book launch event with author Michael Gordon.  The evening will begin promptly at 5:30 with remarks from Mr. Gordon, followed by discussion moderated by ISW President Kimberly Kagan.  After, the author will sign copies of his book (available for purchase at the event) during a casual cocktail reception.

In the book, Gordon and Trainor, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general, outline how American military and civilians failed to adapt as U.S. strategy faltered during the early years of the war.  An internal study prepared by General Casey's own staff in 2005 that called for embracing many of the tenets of the "surge" strategy was ignored. 

Once the Bush Administration changed course, the “surge” served as a catalyst that enabled the Anbar Awakening to spread to other parts of Iraq and to Baghdad itself. But these hard-won gains have been jeopardized by the failure of the United States and the Iraqis to conclude a Status of Force Agreement in 2011 that would have enabled the United States to keep a modest number of forces in Iraq to train Iraqi forces, carry out counterterrorism raids against Al Qaeda in Iraq, protect Iraq's air space, and counter Iranian influences. You can preview these themes in Mr. Gordon’s recent articles inForeignPolicy.com and The New York Times.

The authors’ research was based on internal documents, as well as interviews with key figures in both the Bush and Obama administrations, including senior military officers and officials at State and Defense Departments and within the intelligence community. The authors also drew on interviews with Sunni and Shiite leaders, Kurdish politicians, tribal sheikhs, former insurgents, and senior Iraqi military officers to present Iraqi perspectives on the war.

Gordon and Trainor previously coauthored Cobra II, a well-regarded history of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and The Generals’ War, an account of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. At The New York Times, Mr. Gordon has covered a variety of national security issues, including military conflicts, defense policy, and the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons.

RSVP by Wednesday, October 24.  This invitation is non-transferable.

For questions, contact Stephanie Swierczek at [email protected] or 202-293-5550 x210