Tom Ricks

Thomas Ricks has seen it all, covering military conflicts, defense and national security issues for over twenty years. But after five gritty tours in Iraq, the veteran reporter came away stunned, calling it “the worst war plan in American history,” and wrote a commanding analysis in his New York Times #1 bestseller, Fiasco: The Military Adventure in Iraq.

A book of fact based on thousands of documents, hundreds of interviews, and Rick’s own experiences in the region, Fiasco has served as the tipping point on the national debate around the Iraq war. Harshly critical, but yet written with a journalist’s objective eye, it tells the important untold stories of the conflict, translating reality into the first draft of history with compelling narrative.

A seasoned reporter, journalist, and writer, Ricks examines what happened in Iraq, how it happened, and why it happened. Moving the discussion forward, he says, “We are enmeshed in the Middle East as never before in our nation’s history and cannot wash our hands of Iraq.”

With an incisive perspective on the mistakes made by the Bush administration, the intelligence community, the media, Congress, and the military leadership, Ricks argues that the battle for the future of Iraq and the US in the Middle East has only just begun. We need to face the truth of the conflict now to fully understand the consequences and the precarious cost it will have on future generations.