Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump

The war had been waging for eight years and was polarizing. A blitzkrieg-like victory had unraveled into a maddening stalemate due to arrogance, political groupthink, and ignorance of your enemy. The U.S. military had formally left the war-scarred Iraq in 2011. President Obama had overseen the pullout that had been previously agreed to between the U.S. and Iraqi governments. However, the U.S. military would be back sooner than anyone anticipated. ISIS (Islamic State) forces emerged menacingly in Iraq, spreading terror and mayhem across the population. As Obama took the brunt of the blame, a new approach in Iraq was warranted. The generals who administered the operations urged a new tactical approach: proxy forces and fewer troops and advisors. Neither Obama nor his successor President Trump wanted a further sinking into the quagmire. War is often unwilling to cooperate with timetables.

Degrade and Destroy reigns as an all-encompassing view of the second half of the second Iraq war. Author Michael R. Gordon (co-author, The Generals’ War) brings the reader full circle into the maddening world of combat and its inherent frustrations. Gordon’s often frontline view gives him the optimal perspective in covering the hostilities (on and off the battlefield), and his work is exemplary.