The Road to Iraq - by Muhammad Idrees Ahmad (Paperback)

About the Book

Ahmad presents a social history of the war's leading agents - the neoconservatives - and shows how this ideologically coherent group of determined political agents used the contingency of 9/11 to overwhelm a sceptical foreign policy establishment, military brass and intelligence apparatus, propelling the US into war.

Book Synopsis

The Iraq war - its causes, agency and execution - has been shrouded in an ideological mist. Now, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad dispels the myths surrounding the war, taking a sociological approach to establish the war's causes, identify its agents and describe how it was sold. Ahmad presents a social history of the war's leading agents - the neoconservatives - and shows how this ideologically coherent group of determined political agents used the contingency of 9/11 to overwhelm a sceptical foreign policy establishment, military brass and intelligence apparatus, propelling the US into a war that a significant portion of the public opposed. The book includes an historical exploration of American militarism and of the increased post-WWII US role in the Middle East, as well as a reconsideration of the debates that John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt sparked after the publication of 'The Israel lobby and US Foreign Policy'.

From the Back Cover

'A superb analysis of how and why a small band of neoconservatives helped push the United States into a disastrous war. Far from being tough-minded patriots, Ahmad reveals them to be deceitful and manipulative self-promoters who remain influential in policy-making circles, despite the enormous cost of their past follies. His analysis is nuanced, his research comprehensive, and the story he tells is profoundly disturbing.' Stephen Walt, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University 'This is by far the clearest, most incisive, most comprehensive account I've seen of something very like a coup inside the US foreign policy process and the commentariat during the George W. Bush era. Is it not somehow comforting that the transparency of digital-age media can reveal the folly in American ''thinking'' to a studious scholar abroad and, in this fascinating book, even to Americans?' Christopher Lydon, Radio Open Source, www.radioopensource.org A rigorous investigation into the socio-political milieu that produced the Iraq war The Iraq war - its causes, agency and execution - has been shrouded in an ideological mist. This book is an attempt to dispel the myths surrounding the Iraq war, taking a sociological approach to establish the causes, identify its agents and describe how it was sold. Muhammad Idrees Ahmad presents a social history of the war's leading agents - the neoconservatives - and shows how this ideologically coherent group of determined political agents used the contingency of 9/11 to overwhelm a sceptical foreign policy establishment, military brass and intelligence apparatus and propelled the US into a war that a significant part of the public opposed. The book includes a historical exploration of American militarism and of the increased post-World War II US role in the Middle East, as well as a reconsideration of the debates that John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt sparked after the publication of The Israel lobby and US Foreign Policy. Muhammad Idrees Ahmad is a Lecturer in Journalism at the University for the Creative Arts. His articles and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, The National, Guernica, Le Monde Diplomatique and the London Review of Books blog, among other publications, and he has appeared as a political analyst on the BBC and Al Jazeera and on various international radio channels. Cover image: US 15th Marine Expeditionary manned M1 A (c) Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Cover design: www.hayesdesign.co.uk

Review Quotes

The Road to Iraq is one of the most insightful and instructive books for anyone wanting to know why the United States launched the Iraq War, one of the biggest blunders in the history of US foreign policy ... The Road to Iraq is an illuminating read about one of the most disturbing episodes in recent US history. What the neocons did in hijacking US policy was the closest thing to a coup that the United States ever experienced, and this book does an excellent job of explaining how the coup-plotters pulled it off.

--Paul R. Pillar, Center for Security Studies, Georgetown University "International Journal of Middle East Studies "

This forcefully argued and meticulously researched (with no fewer than 1,152 footnotes, many of which are full-blown paragraphs) book turns out to be enormously relevant to the present moment ... Let me reiterate the enormous significance and relevance of The Road to Iraq. It is a work of tremendous intellectual diligence and moral seriousness. We are all indebted to Ahmad for undertaking this major contribution to the debate on one of the central events of this century, whose aftershocks continue to unfold daily, to disastrous effect. With the neocons poised to make a comeback, this book serves as a cautionary tale of bracing urgency. It is a must-read guide to the history of the present.

--Danny Postel, Associate Director of the Center for Middle East Studies, University of Denver "The Drouth "

Ahmad, who teaches journalism in the UK and writes for a variety of American and European publications, traces the remarkable history of neoconservatism in minute detail. He demonstrates its consistent role as the voice of cold-war thinking, segueing smoothly from militant anti-Communism of the era of Scoop Jackson (the 'Senator from Boeing') to the new opportunities afforded by Islamic fundamentalism since the 1990s.--James B. Rule "Dissent "

About the Author

Muhammad Idrees Ahmad is a Lecturer in Digital Journalism at the University of Stirling. He has a doctorate in Sociology and his articles and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, Al Jazeera, The Nation, Le Monde Diplomatique, Guernica, Adbusters, IPS News, Political Insight and the London Review of Books blog. He has also appeared as a political analyst on the BBC, Al Jazeera, RAI TV, and various international radio channels. He edits Pulsemedia.org.