Adrian Weale
An Occupation in Pieces
The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace
By Ali A Allawi
Yale University Press 432pp £18.99 order from our bookshop
Ali Allawi’s credentials for writing The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace are unimpeachable. Born an Iraqi Shi’a, Allawi spent most of his life in exile from his native country, pursuing careers in banking and academia (paralleled by his role as a leader of the Iraqi exile community), before his return to Iraq in 2003, some months after the United States – with a little help from their British ally – had swept through Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein’s brutal totalitarian regime.
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