Reconstructing Iraq: Regime Change, Jay Garner, and the ORHA Story

When President George W. Bush stood on the decks of the U.S.S. Lincoln in May 2003 and announced the victorious end to major combat operations in Iraq, he did so in front of a huge banner that proclaimed “Mission Accomplished.” American forces had successfully removed the regime of Saddam Hussein with “rapid decisive operations”—and yet the United States was unprepared to effectively replace that regime. Gordon Rudd’s excellent history reveals why in stark detail.

Between the invasion of Ira...