Deadly Betrayal: The Truth of Why We Invaded Iraq

by Dennis Fritz

Published on the 20th anniversary of the first Iraq war, Deadly Betrayal documents the truth of why a cabal of Pentagon Advisors in the George W. Bush Administration created a fabricated justification to attack Iraq and how they did it.

The book provides a detailed and first-hand account of how the Pentagon cabal strategized to manipulate intelligence, pressure the United Nations, force a Congressional authorization for the use of force through political threats, and scare the American people after 9/11 into supporting an attack on Iraq.

Authored by a Pentagon “Insider” and retired 28-year top senior enlisted leader, Command Chief Master Sergeant, Retired, Dennis Fritz worked directly for and advised some of the most senior General Officers in the Department of Defense, including the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard B. Myers, who served as Chairman during the height of the Iraq War. After military retirement, Fritz found himself inside Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon working for Douglas Feith, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and key architect of the case for war against Iraq. He was detailed to the Pentagon as a contracted Research Fellow and Analyst on a special project to gather and review all Iraqi Pre-War Planning Documents for declassification. Through his access to thousands of declassified handwritten personal notes, documents, and Pentagon's internal conversations, the truth of why America invaded Iraq is revealed.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, War

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 2023

Reviews

[Thomas Ray]

A taste of it here: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/w...
It matters now because it's happening again: Biden's war hawks are seeking ways to get into a war with Iran. Team Bush destroyed Iraq partly to reduce funding for Israel's enemies. Never mind that Saddam told the U.S. before the invasion that he would do anything the U.S. wanted. That wasn't good enough. Team Bush wanted war. The author points out that 4,500 U.S. soldiers died and 100,000 were permantly injured in the war. He doesn't mention Iraqi losses.

Note too that Kamala Harris in their debate taunted Trump for being "soft on China." Our politicians want to take us to war. Partly to enrich war-profiteering companies.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very relevant to current affairs, and obviously written with passion stemmed from experience working in the military and government at the time.

[Grouchy Historian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a hot mess. No real sourcing. Lots of recycled conspiracy theories and no really new revelations.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love OR Books, as they have me think or challenge the status quo. I picked up this book, as it is written by a retired Air Force command chief master sergeant, the top enlisted rank. As having lived through the Bush era, I was curious as to what someone of his rank and experience had to say about the 2003 Iraq War.

The book is short, with most of it the author's stories & opinions. The book has blacked out sentences. It isn't a scholarly essay, more a grappling of his conscience. He resigned due to the Bush administrations push to invade Iraq.

The main point is that Bush and his cronies were super worried about the credibility of the USA. There was a plan to blow through the middle east, tearing a path from Syria to Afghanistan. 9/11 actually helped them put the plan into action.

Think about that for a moment. Adults in charge of running the USA thought the best way to improve the credibility of the USA was to destabilize whole countries in a loud fashion. They believed it was for the good of the USA. But that isn't how credibility and trust work with normal, sane people. Carrots work better than sticks. But bullies and those who worry about their own weakness are those that jump to force first.

It didn't help that all of the decision makers didn't have any skin in the game. They were not on the front lines, they didn't have relatives in the thick of it. They were protected in their lofty towers and never regretted their decision to blunder into a place they didn't understand.

I could feel the author's pain of describing the veterans and their families that have had to bear the scars from the disastrous wars. His direct support of the vets puts all of the other leaders to shame, as all they wanted were photo ops.

While many of the author's points are apparent if you lived through the era, it becomes a good primer from a person who's credibility I place much, much higher than those that started the wars of the 2000's.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book and a very easy to read introduction to help understand the background behind the US starting the Iraq War. The book also used the Iraq Wat to provide some excellent perspective on the general US foreign policy.
I understand the author has been a long term high ranking US army member. This provide his understanding with a uniq angle that is valuable and not easily obtained in more traditional book with academic authors.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

First: the listing here is wrong. It is 161 pages (NOT 200)

Spoken Command Master Sgt. Dennis Fritz is more on point than this book which was a little compromised both in time it took to come to print and the redactions he allowed the Pentagon censors to make. Also his indignation at abuses by the W. Bush regime are undercut by the almost apologetic ignoring of the same patterns within the Obama regime.