For Americans of the Xennial Generation, born in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, it has felt as though our country was at war with Iraq our entire lives. George H. W. Bush invaded in defense of Kuwait in 1990 along with a coalition of nations. It was settled with an agreement resulting in Saddam Hussein pulling his forces out of Kuwait and the establishment of a no-fly zone around Iraq’s borders. George W. Bush later invaded Iraq again in the search for nuclear and biological weapons and in hopes of ending the terrorism of Al Queda. But what few in my generation understand is just how far back the relationship between the United States and Saddam Hussein goes and how much the country invested in establishing the now-defunct president as a leader among his countrymen. Steve Coll explores this relationship from its infancy through to the later capture, trial, and execution of the man in The Achilles Trap. Beyond just the political life of Saddam, Coll delves into the family troubles that threatened his rule as well as the frequent misunderstandings between Saddam, the CIA, and a variety of US Presidents. Utilizing journals and meeting notes from leaders across both sides, the author gives an enlightening look inside the motivations of Saddam and his adversaries at each encounter.
I give The Achilles Trap 5 out of 5 stars. I first heard of this book from the Atlanta History Center – I attended an author lecture at their facilities earlier this year where Coll spoke about his investigations and have been wanting to read the book in full ever since. This book elaborates on so many historical events that I only understood on the surface from media reports. I was surprised to learn of the infighting between Saddam’s sons and sons-in-law, as well as the extent to which Iraqi scientists were able to develop chemical and nuclear weapons. There were times the sheer volume of facts felt overwhelming, but Coll managed to keep this book in the realm of intrigue and not verge into the textbook, rote retelling of the events.
This was the first book I have read about the reign of Saddam Hussein and I feel it may be the most in depth and reader-friendly version of that history available on shelves. If you, like me, grew up watching SCUD missiles fired over the Arabian skies on TV news reports, I think you’ll find this book very interesting. I would also recommend this book for anyone interested in a life in foreign diplomatic service or intelligence – the volume of misunderstandings that shaped the way the American-Iraqi relationship unfolded over the past few decades should be understood and studied to avoid future mistakes of the same caliber.
I chose The Achilles Trap as my TBR read for November. The passion Coll spoke with at the author lecture immediately grabbed my attention – he spoke about the misunderstandings and the CIA’s roll in both bringing the man into power and out of it again in a way that you wanted to know more. Coll has also written similar books about Bin Laden and the CIA you may also find interesting!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: The Cold Dish, Craig Johnson
- Current audio book: Shotgun Lovesongs, Nickolas Butler
- Book I’m most looking forward to: The Twelve Topsy-Turvy, Very Messy Days of Christmas, James Patterson & Tad Safran
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