"War and Destiny joins a growing number of books on the national security policy of the George W. Bush adminstration. . . . [It] will rank with the best of them. It is the first book that encompasses Bush's foreign policy, defense policy, and defense transformation, and integrates them with a detailed first-person look at the war in Iraq. . . . [It] is well written, comprehensive, and complex. It covers the gamut from high policy to the down-and-dirty aspects of war."—Joint Forces Quarterly
"James Kitfield has produced a valuable text. War and Destiny interprets the events of the past four years in a compelling narrative that has the coherence provided by a strong theoretical framework. It is very much worth reading for serious scholars and historians alike."—John Hamre, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for Strategic & International Studies
"In his brilliant narrativeWar and Destiny, James Kitfield powerfully chronicles how the war in Iraq has brought us to a crossroads. He appropriately questions whether the new war paradigm--characterized by a military transformation that relies on lean forces--poses unacceptable risk to our troops. Kitfield correctly postulates that the decisive factor of success in effective regime change will be stabilization, not combat. Like his previous book, Prodigal Soldiers, War and Destiny will become a preeminent reference for a critical period in our country’s military history."—Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, USA (Ret.), Bradley Distinguished Professor of International Security Studies, U.S. Military Academy
"James Kitfield is a human Global Hawk, scanning the Iraqi battlefield from the heavens. And just like the military’s latest spy drone, Kitfield’s finely tuned journalistic sensors zoom in amazingly close to the action, in many cases because he actually was there. From the Pentagon to the front lines, he gets it right--once again--in War and Destiny."—Mark Thompson, senior correspondent, Time
"Masterful! An incredibly insightful portrayal of war, diplomacy, national security policy-making, and the struggle for American success in Iraq. He reports it, he lives it, and he analyzes it. Kitfield is a must-read for anyone who wants a realistic, balanced look at U.S. actions under the leadership of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld."—Gen. Wesley Clark, USA (Ret.), author of Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire
"Masterful! An incredibly insightful portrayal of war, diplomacy, national security policy-making, and the struggle for American success in Iraq. He reports it, he lives it, and he analyzes it. Kitfield is a must-read for anyone who wants a realistic, balanced look at U.S. actions under the leadership of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld."
"James Kitfield is a human Global Hawk, scanning the Iraqi battlefield from the heavens. And just like the military’s latest spy drone, Kitfield’s finely tuned journalistic sensors zoom in amazingly close to the action, in many cases because he actually was there. From the Pentagon to the front lines, he gets it right--once again--in War and Destiny."
"In his brilliant narrativeWar and Destiny, James Kitfield powerfully chronicles how the war in Iraq has brought us to a crossroads. He appropriately questions whether the new war paradigm--characterized by a military transformation that relies on lean forces--poses unacceptable risk to our troops. Kitfield correctly postulates that the decisive factor of success in effective regime change will be stabilization, not combat. Like his previous book, Prodigal Soldiers, War and Destiny will become a preeminent reference for a critical period in our country’s military history."
"James Kitfield has produced a valuable text. War and Destiny interprets the events of the past four years in a compelling narrative that has the coherence provided by a strong theoretical framework. It is very much worth reading for serious scholars and historians alike."
"War and Destiny joins a growing number of books on the national security policy of the George W. Bush adminstration. . . . [It] will rank with the best of them. It is the first book that encompasses Bush's foreign policy, defense policy, and defense transformation, and integrates them with a detailed first-person look at the war in Iraq. . . . [It] is well written, comprehensive, and complex. It covers the gamut from high policy to the down-and-dirty aspects of war."
"Explains the neoconservative ideology and its effects with such clarity that nothing happening today in Iraq, Afghanistan, or elsewhere should be a surprise. Kitfield, a reporter who has covered national security affairs for nearly 20 years, displays an understanding of defense issues that allows him to get beyond political rhetoric and find the underlying basis for modern policies. . . . His accounts a print journalist seem more gripping than anything reported on television."
