Tom Ricks: The Iraq 'Fiasco'

Steve Scher
08/09/2007 at 9:00 a.m.

Fiasco. That one word sums up the war in Iraq, according to Thomas Ricks. He's the Washington Post's Pentagon correspondent. He's put together a comprehensive history of the lead-up to the Iraq invasion ("based on perhaps the worst war plan in American history") and the ongoing "derelict occupation." Ricks talked to more than 100 senior U.S. military officials and waded through more than 30,000 pages of documents. He concluded the military, more than the Bush administration, is to blame for what's gone wrong in Iraq.

Guests:
Thomas E. Ricks has covered the U.S. military for the Washington Post since 2000. Before that he reported on the military for the Wall Street Journal, where he worked for 17 years. He has won two Pullitzer Prizes. His recent book is FIASCO: The American Military Adventure in New York.