When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, its message was clear: under the control of strongman Saddam Hussein, Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that, if left unchecked, posed grave danger to the world. But when no WMDs were found, one integral question remained unsolved: Why had Saddam sacrificed his long reign in power by giving the false impression that he had hidden stocks of dangerous weapons?
In his latest book, The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq, Steve Coll untangles the people, ploys of power, and geopolitics that led to America’s disastrous war with Iraq and, for the first time, details America’s fundamental miscalculations during its decades-long relationship with Saddam Hussein.
Steve Coll is the author of nine books, including The Bin Ladens, Private Empire, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning Ghost Wars and dean emeritus of the Columbia Journalism School. He is dean emeritus of the Columbia Journalism School, an editor at The Economist in London, was a staff writer at The New Yorker for nearly two decades.
