Hide and Seek: The Search for Truth in Iraq

by Charles Duelfer

Charles Duelfer is one of the most senior intelligence officers with on-the-ground experience to have worked in Iraq before, during, and after the Gulf War. His 2004 CIA report is widely renowned as the most authoritative account on how the world was led to believe that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. But until now, Duelfer has never publicly shared his unrivaled expertise on just how the U.S.-Iraq relationship spiraled into a second war, and ultimately into chaos. Hide and Seek is his account—based on unparalleled access to Iraqi leadership, the White House, and the CIA—of the long and tragic unraveling of the U.S. relationship with Iraq. This book sees beyond the propaganda and deceits of both sides to tell the story of the miscalculations in assessing Iraq as a threat, why Saddam responded as he did to U.S. demands, and precisely how the U.S. implemented its decision to topple Saddam's regime. No one is better able than Duelfer to see inside the mindsets of the two administrations, with their mismatched priorities, wounded pride, and dangerous ability to bluff and counterbluff.

Genres: Military Fiction, History

560 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 2008

Reviews

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile if very long book for getting a detailed grasp of the weapons inspections before and after 911 as well as the political fallout and road to chaos of post-invasion Iraq. Duelfer was there for it all; I can only imagine he knows Iraq about as well as any American. Some parts of this book are totally fascinating, including he interrogation of top Baathist officials, his relationship with the regime before the war, and many individual accounts of inspections.

Still, this book could be a good 50 pages shorter. Duelfer didn't need to reintroduce Iraqi history since Babylon; the rise of the Baath would have sufficed for the purposes of the book. A lot of the book is about organizational processes, which are important, but the detail can become a little mind-numbing at a certain point. There are a few chapters with a fair amount of drift that could have been cut down.

Duelfer still stands behind the decision to invade IQ, although he laments the ignorant and disorganized way the US carried out invasion and occupation. He argues that the Bush admin should have centered their anti-SH case around more than just WMD, including his horrible human rights record. This is a common liberal argument for the war, one that could still be held once the central WMD rationale fell through. So if you are looking for an example of the liberal case for war or just a better grasp of the inspections, this is a good volume.. So yeah, I guess that means it is a fairly specialized book.

[Eric Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the man who was there for the search for WMD, it's an enlightening read that details the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Overall the book is detailed and shows what happened prior to the 2003 invasion for the search for WMDs. As when I deployed to Iraq, there was no search at our unit level for WMDs, just dealing with insurgents and the like, and unit politics. Overall I would recommend the book as he goes into detail about the search for WMDs, and the overall result is that none were found. It is a controversial topic in my mind, as while we were all led to believe they were there, the nation being suckered into a war based on what Colin Powell described as an asset "knew there was WMD" when he briefed either Congress or the UN. While there was a report of Sarin in Baghdad, I never searched, nor saw any WMDs during my tour. Maybe the Iraqis did destroy them before the invasion, or whatnot, but this sheds light on that subject fairly well.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The complexity of the Middle East and our policies are overwhelming. If you read this book you'll know more than 99% of your fellow citizens, and 100% of our politicians.

[Mary Gail O'Dea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Duelfer at various times worked for State, Defense, and the CIA. The CIA approved this book. He believed in going into Iraq and shows well how bad Saddam really was, though acknowledging that there indeed were no WMDs. He also has a clear-eyed view, however, of what a mess we made and how badly off the Iraqi people were for years after the war. While the war itself was planned brilliantly, the occupation was not planned at all and led to devastation of Iraq and made space for the insurgency. The writing style can get a little tedious but is worth the journey through the book.

[Janel Atlas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reading this book for work, and it is really amazing. I have read MANY Iraq analysis books for my job as a writer, and this one is by far the best written and most thorough. Highly recommended. I never thought I'd say this, but it's a page turner about what went wrong in Iraq.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to re-read this. I think GWB does too.