- New Yorker – Dexter Filkins provides a considered answer to the question of how good was General Petraeus?

- Foreign Policy – An excellent overview of post-American Iraq, by the Iraqi scholar Emma Sky.

- Daily Telegraph – John Nagl writes that overwhelmingly the American people would say the war was a mistake, and undeniably the reason we went to war in the first place was invalid.

- Best Defense – Tom Ricks analyses the current situation in Iraq, with the US about to pull out…

- Washington Post – David Ignatius interviews Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi, who was the most effective lobbyist in favor of the 2003 U.S. invasion: “So that’s how it ends — not with a bang or a whimper, either, but with a smooth valedictory from the man whom history will record as the secret instigator of [...]

The Atlantic – The Wrong Man for the Job Robert D. Kaplan on how Obama’s new ambassador to Iraq is a star diplomat—but has no experience in the Arab world. Why Christopher Hill is a bad choice.

Washington Post – There’s Still a War In Iraq. It Isn’t Ours. Greg Jaffe writes that the Iraq war is over — for us.

National Interest – Heirs of Sargon Robert D. Kaplan reviews the history of Iraq.

World Politics Review – The New Rules: ‘Hard Lessons’ from Iraq, for Afghanistan and Beyond Thomas P.M. Barnett writes that the recurring theme of “Hard Lessons,” the recent report by the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, is that of somebody finally “taking charge.” The description is patently disproven, however, by the [...]

Daily Telegraph – We must take on board the lessons of Iraq As British troops head home from Iraq, John Keegan says military force should be used only as a last resort.

Washington Post – The war in Iraq isn’t over. The main events may not even have happened yet. Tom Ricks provides the postscript to his new book entitled “Gamble.”

Washington Post – A Military Tactician’s Political Strategy The second excerpt from Tom Ricks’ new book on the surge entitled “The Gamble:” In defending the troop increase, General Petraeus paved the way for a “long war.”

Washington Post – The Dissenter Who Changed the War The first excerpt from Tom Ricks’ new book on the surge in Iraq, entitled “The Gamble:” As the No. 2 commander in Iraq, Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno challenged the military establishment, pressing for the case for a “surge” of U.S. troops and a long-term strategy [...]

World Affairs –

New York Times – Official History Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling [...]

National Journal – What Can 44 Do In Iraq And Afghanistan? The Former CENTCOM Commander Anthony Zinni on Iraq, Afghanistan and the next Administration’s options.

Washington Post – Excepts from Bob Woodward’s new book, The War Within, that describes the inside story of how President Bush’s team dealt with its failing Iraq strategy. Part 2: Outmaneuvered And Outranked, Military Chiefs Became Outsiders Part 3: ‘You’re Not Accountable, Jack’ Part 4: A Portrait of a Man Defined by His Wars more…

New Yorker – David Petraeus, the pressures of politics, and the road out of Iraq.more…

New York Times – John Nagl on what our exit strategy should be from Iraq.more…

New York Times Magazine – Michael Gordon writes that the fight between the Shiites and the Sunnis in Iraq seems to be quieting down. But the Shiites still have one fight left — among themselves.more…