In a Sept. 21, 2021, speech before the United Nations, President Joe Biden declared, “I stand here today, for the first time in 20 years, with the United States not at war. We’ve turned the page.” Biden’s remarks were meant to highlight the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, but as he was speaking, several thousand troops remained in the Middle East, part of the operation to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
To paraphrase Leon Trotsky: You might think that you’re done with war, but war isn’t done with you. This is among the many lessons contained in Michael Gordon’s new book Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump.
Gordon’s experience and his years spent accumulating sources are evident throughout the book. A veteran reporter, Gordon has spent decades chronicling America’s involvement in Iraq.
(The rest of CAMERA’s Aug. 4, 2022 review of Michael Gordon’s book on the war against ISIS can be found here)