The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq Book

Map of Iraq

Map of Baghdad

1 How to Create a Mess (Summer 2006) 3

2 Descent into Chaos (September-December 2003) 18

3 A Near Collapse (January-June 2004) 26

4 War (July-December 2004) 43

5 Inadequate Means (2005) 64

6 Widescale Fighting (2005) 84

7 Contradictory Goals (2005) 106

8 The Second War Begins (2006) 113

9 The Islamic Caliphate (2006) 130

10 Haditha: Explosion on the Home Front (2006) 148

11 A Flawed Assessment (Mid-2006) 159

12 Al Qaeda: Murder and Intimidation (Fall 2006) 167

13 The Turnaround Begins (Fall 2006) 173

14 The Civil War (Fall 2006) 187

15 Bush Weighs His Options (Fall 2006) 197

16 The War Turns (November 2006) 208

17 Washington Turns (December 2006) 216

18 The Sunnis Change Sides (Winter 2007) 224

19 Momentum (Spring 2007) 246

20 Overview (Summer 2007) 273

21 Victory in Anbar (Fall 2007) 280

22 Baghdad: The Surge Takes Hold (Fall 2007) 293

23 Washington Assesses the Surge (Fall 2007) 317

24 Progress and Uncertainty (2008) 334

25 The Strongest Tribe (2009) 361

Afterword: "How the War in Iraq Will End" 377

Acknowledgments 381

Appendix A Insurgency and Unity of Command in Vietnam 393

Appendix B Memo to Gen. George W. Casey, USA 399

Appendix C Bing West's Counterinsurgency Lessons 403

Notes 405

Bibliography 419

Index 423