The CIA War in Kurdistan

The Untold Story of the Northern Front in the Iraq War

By: Sam Faddis

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

In 2002, Sam Faddis was named to head a CIA team that would enter Iraq to facilitate the deployment of follow-on conventional military forces numbering more than 40,000 American soldiers. This force, built around the 4th Infantry Division, would, in partnership with Kurdish forces and with the assistance of Turkey, engage Saddam's army in the North as part of a coming invasion. Faddis expected to be on the ground in Iraq within weeks, the entire campaign likely to be over by summer.

The 4th Infantry Division never arrived, nor did any other conventional forces in substantial number. The Turks not only refused to provide support, they worked overtime to prevent the United States from achieving success. And an Arab army that was to assist US forces fell apart before it ever made it to the field.

Alone, hopelessly outnumbered, short on supplies, and threatened by Iraqi assassination teams and Islamic extremists, Faddis' team, working with Kurdish Peshmerga, miraculously paved the way for a brilliant and largely bloodless victory in the North and the fall of Saddam's Iraq. That victory, handed over to Washington and the Department of Defense on a silver platter, was then squandered. The decisions that followed would lead to catastrophic consequences that continue to this day.

©2020 Sam Faddis (P)2020 Tantor

great history

great history of the leading up to the war in iraq. a lot of behind the scenes details and messed up communication between those within country to back home and back again.

Highly Recommended Read

Been there...didn't do what Sam and his team did. Straightforward and very accurate. Sam tells you how it was and pulls no punches. If you read one book this year...read this one!

Love and Hate

I had to pause a lot while reading this book because I got so incredibly angry and frustrated, not with the author, but what the author was reporting. I highly recommend this book. It left me in tears.

Influencing the Iraq war

This guy was in charge of collecting intelligence for invading Iraq from the north. His team was based in Kurdistan. This is his play by play account of what happened.

Interrogations

The SERE Schools use the interrogation tactics to show what they could expect from our enemies during interrogation. The SERE School nor its instructors had anything to do with conducting interrogations at Abu Ghraib Prison or Guantanamo Bay. It was unqualified soldiers at Abu Ghraib Prison not SERE Instructors. Not sure what intelligence agency was involved, but it wasn’t people from SERE.