The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq

From bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Steve Coll comes the definitive story of the decades-long relationship between the United States and Saddam Hussein. This deeply researched and news-breaking investigation reveals how human error, cultural miscommunication, and hubris contributed to one of the costliest geopolitical conflicts of our time.

The 2003 Invasion of Iraq: A Question of WMDs

When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, its message was clear: Iraq, under the control of strongman Saddam Hussein, possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that, if left unchecked, posed a grave danger to the world.

However, when no WMDs were found, the United States and its allies were forced to confront the political and intelligence failures that had led to the invasion, the occupation, and the civil war that followed. One integral question has remained unanswered:

Why had Saddam seemingly sacrificed his long reign in power by giving the false impression that he had hidden stocks of dangerous weapons?

The Achilles Trap: Untangling Power and Miscalculations

The Achilles Trap masterfully unravels the people, ploys of power, and geopolitical dynamics that led to America’s disastrous war with Iraq. For the first time, Steve Coll details America’s fundamental miscalculations during its decades-long relationship with Saddam Hussein.

• Beginning with Saddam’s rise to power in 1979 and the birth of Iraq’s secret nuclear weapons program, Coll traces Saddam’s motives through the lens of his inner circle.
• The book brings to life the diplomats, scientists, family members, and generals who had no choice but to defer to their leader—a man directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, as well as the torture or imprisonment of countless others.
• Saddam’s reasoning, marked by paranoia, resentments, and inconsistencies, defied simple explanation. The CIA and successive presidential administrations failed to grasp these critical nuances, even when the stakes were incredibly high.

A Definitive Historical Account

Calling on unpublished and underreported sources, interviews with surviving participants, and Saddam’s own transcripts and audio files, Steve Coll creates an incredibly comprehensive portrait of a man convinced the world was out to get him—and who acted accordingly.

A work of great historical significance, The Achilles Trap is the definitive account of how:

• Corruptions of power,
• Lies of diplomacy, and
• Vanity—on both sides—
  led to avoidable errors of statecraft.

These errors enacted immeasurable human suffering and forever changed the political landscape as we know it.