Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq

OPERATION HOTEL CALIFORNIA is a unique and riveting book about war. The reviews here run hot and cold, and that's to be expected -- this is a war book like few others.

Mike Tucker and his interview subject, the US counter-terrorist soldier Charles Faddis, combine their voices in counterpoint here. Tucker frames and story in both historic and mythic terms, while Faddis provides direct commentary on what happened when he and his team were ordered to enter Iraq in mid-2002 before the US invasion. This fugue of voice and view does not pretend to be the final word on US Iraq policy or on the events that preceded the US invasion, but it provides essential insight in two areas: (1) the egregious lack of coordination between the Bush administration and its own soldiers and allies, and (2) the way counter-terrorist teams operate and think in real time and real situations.

Faddis's accounts of action on the ground mix heroism, frustration and wit. I love the account of his team playing "Grand Theft Auto" and watching the film "Sideways" in-country, but I also love the explanations of how the team managed to take out rail lines essential to the Iraqi army in coordination with the Kurds. Faddis does not skimp on expressing his frustration: with inaccuracies in Bob Woodward's recent book, with the unwillingness of Bush administration figures to listen to the military, with failures of nerve and intelligence generally in how the administration failed to trust its own officers and troops.

Tucker's commentary -- and his policy recommendations in the book's epilogue -- strongly credits the Kurds with being the best allies of he US in the region. Tucker also endorses a series of policies going forward from the present (ending the Iraq War, fighting in Afghanistan, moving on global warming, reconstituting the OSS, allying with China and India in the global war on Islamic extremism). You may or may not agree with these notions -- or with the two authors' affection for single-malt scotch and music -- but they come out of a factual narrative about the beginning of the Iraq War that needs to be absorbed by people who are thinking about how to succeed in this critical military effort.

OHC reads quickly and sheds a wholly new light on the recent actions in the Middle East. Anyone interested in the topic should welcome these two unique views.

Its always amazing to me when an author who knows his subject well takes a fascinating subject and produces such a mediocre book.

I wish I had read the reviews here before I bought this book. A few pages into the book, I began to notice the word and idea repetition. Annoyed, I continued on, hoping that things would smooth out and the real story would begin. Unfortunately, it only got worse and by the time I got through the first chapter, I could take no more. Like another reviewer noted, I'll be selling my copy to a used book store. This book should have been edited by a competent editor before it was published. It was not and now I feel taken for $17.

A testament to the remarkable skills and patriotism of the CIA team in Iraq prior to the war. The accomplishments of this team are only overshadowed by what could have been if not for the ignorance and incompetence of so many others involved in the Iraq conflict. A very interesting story and I highly recommend the book just for that reason. The reason I did not rate it at 5 stars is that writing is pretty dry and the author relies too much on long quotes from Charles Faddis, an extremely capable CIO operative (now retired).

Rambling and repetitive, with an endorsement for Al Gore and pointless jazz references thrown in for good measure. Its point could have been made in a pamphlet- the Kurds are good fighters.