New York Times chief military reporter to discuss new book on Iraq

Tuesday, April 4

Event: "How Donald Rumsfeld misread Saddam Hussein's strategy and created the Iraqi insurgency," a talk by Michael Gordon, New York Times chief military correspondent and coauthor of "Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq."

When: 1-2 p.m., April 4.

Where: Bass Lecture Hall, on the basement level of the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Sid Richardson Hall, 2315 Red River St., The University of Texas at Austin.

Note: A live webcast of the event will appear on the LBJ School Web site. A streaming video of the lecture will be available in the LBJ School Screening Room by April 11.

Background: Gordon will discuss his new book "Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq," which he coauthored with Bernard Trainor, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General.

Informed by unparalleled access to still secret documents, interviews with top field commanders and a review of the military's own internal after - action reports, "Cobra II" is the definitive chronicle of America's invasion and occupation of Iraq. From the Pentagon to the White House to the American command centers in the field, the book reveals the inside story of how the war was actually planned and fought. Drawing on classified United States government intelligence, it also provides a unique account of how Saddam Hussein and his high command developed and implemented their war strategy.

"Cobra II" traces the interactions among the generals, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President George W. Bush. It reconstructs the principal battles from interviews with those who fought them, providing reliable accounts of the clashes waged by conventional and Special Operations forces. It documents the failures of American intelligence and the mistakes in administering postwar Iraq.

Gordon, who has worked at the New York Times since 1985, has covered the Iraq War, the American intervention in Afghanistan, the Kosovo conflict, the Russian war in Chechnya, the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the American invasion of Panama. He is also coauthor, with Lieutenant General Bernard Trainor, of "The Generals' War," an inside account of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, which the Council on Foreign Relations described as "the single best volume on the Gulf War."

The talk is free and open to the university community.

Contact:
Megan Scarborough
(512) 471-8954