A Long Short War began on the online magazine Slate, whose editors questioned long-term analyses and the short-term challenges to long-term convictions vis-a-vis Iraq. While writing from Iraq, Christopher Hitchens posed and answered these questions: what was Saddams reign like – more ruthless than America even knew; was it war for oil–mostly; and would American intervention cause more terrorism – not likely cause. Note: this was written before the intervention.

Hitchens is convincing about his beliefs at the time of his writing, and he has included a preface and an epilogue to compare what he predicted with what occurred. A Long Short War is intriguing because someone who was there wrote it. If you want a concise, objective analysis of the postponed liberation of Iraq, read this book.