Into the Desert

In the decade following the first Gulf War most observers regarded it as an exemplary effort by the international community to lawfully and forcefully hold a regional aggressor in check. Interpretations have changed with the times. The Gulf War led to the stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia an important contributing cause of the 9/11 attacks. The war also led to a long obsession with Saddam Hussein that culminated in a second far longer American-led war with Iraq. In Into the Desert Jeffrey Engel has gathered an all-star cast of contributors to reevaluate the first Gulf War: Michael Gordon of the New York Times; Sir Lawrence Freedman former foreign policy advisor to Tony Blair; Ambassador Ryan Crocker; Middle East specialist Shibley Telhami; and Richard Haass President of the Council on Foreign Relations. Engel and his contributors examine the war''s origins the war itself and its long-term impact on international relations. All told Into the Desert offers an astute reassessment of one of the most momentous events in the last quarter century.