21 Days to Baghdad

General Buford Blount and the 3rd Infantry Division in the Iraq War

21 Days to Baghdad cover

Description

An authoritative military history of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom, describing the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the siege and fall of Baghdad, and the nation-building mission that followed.

In 21 Days to Baghdad, historian Dr. Heather Stur describes the commitment of the division to Kuwait, the invasion of Iraq and the three weeks of violent desert conflicts on the way to Baghdad before the siege and battle for the city itself, and the “thunder runs” that saw its fall to U.S. forces. She then details the complex security mission that required the soldiers and their commanders to convince Iraqi citizens that the U.S. was there to help them, while at the same time they continued fighting Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard, paramilitary forces, and terrorists.

This new history is based on exclusive, extensive interviews with General Buford “Buff” Blount, the U.S. Army two-star general who led the 3rd Infantry Division. His years of experience in the Middle East led him to question the recall of his division from Iraq at the end of 2003 and its replacement by a less experienced unit. President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld did not believe that peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance were worthwhile uses of a conventional combat force like the 3rd Infantry Division. The division had destroyed Hussein's government. Mission accomplished, or so Bush and Rumsfeld thought.

21 Days to Baghdad illustrates the long reach of the U.S. military, the limitations of nation building in the wake of war, and the tensions between policymakers in Washington, DC, and troops on the ground over the purpose and conduct of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Maps
Introduction
1. The Making of a Seventh-Generation Soldier
2. The Arabist: Blount in Saudi Arabia
3. War Planning
4. Preparations in Kuwait
5. Invasion
6. Pushing Through Karbala
7. The General's Gamble: Seizing Baghdad
8. Now What?
9. Fallujah
Conclusion
Appendix: Third Infantry Division Order of Battle, Iraq 2003
Acronyms

Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published Sep 28 2023
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 320
ISBN 9781472853622
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations A 16-page, full-colour plate section; black and white maps
Series General Military
Short code GNM
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Heather Marie Stur

Dr. Heather Marie Stur is a professor of history a…

Resources

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