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SO WRONG FOR SO LONG: How the Press, the Pundits--and the President--Failed on Iraq (2013 Edition) Kindle Edition

by Greg Mitchell (Author), Bruce Springsteen (Preface) Format: Kindle Edition

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"Read this book. Twice." -- BILL MOYERS

“Worthy of shelving alongside the best of the Iraq books.”-- KIRKUS REVIEWS

With a new Introduction and lengthy Afterword, updated to March 26, 2013. Preface by Bruce Springsteen.

In early 2003, Greg Mitchell was one of the few mainstream journalists to seriously question the stated reasons for invading Iraq. In the years since, he has repeatedly challenged the media to probe its conduct and misconduct in covering the war.

Now, he traces the conflict -- from the "run-up" to the "surge" and beyond -- and the many media, and political failures, in this updated edition. In a new Introduction and Afterword he traces the debate and the tragedies right up to the end of March 2013 and controversies surrounding the 10th anniversary of the start of the war. The author outlines the many lessons for today, amid new concerns about the current "drone war" and the alleged Iranian nuclear.threat.

Greg Mitchell served as the editor of the influential magazine Editor & Publisher from 2001 to 2009, and now writes daily for The Nation. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including "The Campaign of the Century," winner of the Goldsmith Book Prize. As the Iraq war spun out of control, Mitchell was repeatedly ahead of the curve in intensely scrutinizing both the president and the press--and the controversies swirling around Judith Miller, Donald Rumsfeld, Pat Tillman, Valerie Plame, Bradley Manning, and numerous other figures.

His book is a unique history of the entire war. From writing early warnings that anticipated a long and bloody war, to analyzing Stephen Colbert's in-his-face mockery of George W. Bush, Greg Mitchell explores how we got into the war in Iraq--and why it took so long for us to get out. Against this backdrop, Mitchell is the rare journalist who has seen it all with clear eyes. In the new edition of "So Wrong for So Long, " he tells the whole story for the first time.

“Greg Mitchell has given us a razor-sharp critique of how the media and the government connived in one of the great blunders of American foreign policy. Every aspiring journalist, every veteran, every pundit—and every citizen who cares about the difference between illusion and reality, propaganda and the truth, and looked to the press to help keep them separate—should read this book. Twice.”—BILL MOYERS

“The profound failure of the American press with regard to the Iraq War may very well be the most significant political story of this generation. Greg Mitchell has established himself as one of our country's most perceptive media critics, and here he provides invaluable insight into how massive journalistic failures enabled the greatest strategic disaster in the nation's history.”—GLENN GREENWALD, author of "How Would a Patriot Act?"

"Excellent book!" -- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

"Greg Mitchell makes it clear that Iraq is a case study in bad judgment, from the misguided moves of an administration blinded by its zealotry to a complacent media that too often acted as an extension of the White House press office. Read it and weep; read it and get enraged; read it and make sure it doesn't happen again."—ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

"Anyone who cares about the integrity of the American media should read this book. Greg Mitchell asks tough questions about the Iraq war that should have been asked long ago, in a poignant, patriotic, and thoughtful dissection of our war in Iraq. Mitchell names names and places blame on those who’ve blundered. Examining the most complex issue of our time, he connects the dots like no one else has."—PAUL RIECKHOFF, Executive Director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

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2013
March 4
File size

723 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this pertinent but ego-driven compilation of writings on the Iraq War, Mitchell, editor of media industry magazine Editor & Publisher, argues that, from the outset, the press did not adequately question the reasoning behind American operations in Iraq. Quoting his publication, Mitchell condemns the press's tendency "to accept the military's word first and ask questions later," citing specific examples like the media's blind approval of Secretary of State Powell's Feb., 2003, speech favoring a call to arms. Mitchell describes incidents like this as a symptom of the media's "failure of will" to probe matters of national security. His thesis-that a weak press deserves blame for the Iraq quagmire-is hard to argue with, but it's not exactly news. Still, he provides a valuable roundup of media reactions from across the spectrum, and his grievances are substantial. Ultimately, though, Mitchell is difficult to distinguish from the one-sided, single-minded figures he rails against; readers will learn a great deal about the media politics behind the Iraq war, but will have to decide for themselves how trustworthy a pundit Mitchell really is.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Worthy of shelving alongside the best of the Iraq books.”--Kirkus

Greg Mitchell has given us a razor-sharp critique of how the media and the government connived in one of the great blunders of American foreign policy. Every aspiring journalist, every veteran, every punditand every citizen who cares about the difference between illusion and reality, propaganda and the truth, and looked to the press to help keep them separateshould read this book. Twice.”Bill Moyers

"With the tragic war in Iraq dragging on, and the drumbeat for new conflicts growing louder, this is more than a five-year history of the biggest foreign policy debacle of our timesit's a cautionary tale that is as relevant as this morning's headlines. Greg Mitchell makes it clear that Iraq is a case study in bad judgment, from the misguided moves of an administration blinded by its zealotry to a complacent media that too often acted as an extension of the White House press office. Read it and weep; read it and get enraged; read it and make sure it doesn't happen again."Arianna Huffington

The profound failure of the American press with regard to the Iraq War may very well be the most significant political story of this generation. Greg Mitchell has established himself as one of our country's most perceptive media critics, and here he provides invaluable insight into how massive journalistic failures enabled the greatest strategic disaster in the nation's history.”Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com columnist and author of A Tragic Legacy and How Would a Patriot Act? "Anyone who cares about the integrity of the American media should read this book. Greg Mitchell asks tough questions about the Iraq war that should have been asked long ago, in a poignant, patriotic, and thoughtful dissection of our war in Iraq. Mitchell names names and places blame on those who’ve blundered. Examining the most complex issue of our time, he connects the dots like no one else has."Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and author of Chasing Ghosts
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00BP02ASE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sinclair Books (March 4, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 4, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 723 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #2,020,418 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #519 in War & Peace (Kindle Store)
- #1,428 in 21st Century History of the U.S.
- #1,651 in War & Peace (Books)

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4.3 32 ratings

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Greg Mitchell

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Greg Mitchell is a film director and the author of dozen non-fiction books. His latest book, published in May 2023 is "Memorial Day Massacre: Workers Die, Film Buried," is the companion to his PBS film of the same name. His previous book was the award-winning "The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood--and America--Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," published in 2020. Before that was his 2016 bestseller "The Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill" (Crown).

His other books include: "Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady: Richard Nixon vs. Helen Gahagan Douglas" (a New York Times Notable Book); "The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor and the Birth of Media Politics" (winner of the Goldsmith Book Prize); "So Wrong for So Long," on Iraq and the media; and two books with Robert Jay Lifton, "Hiroshima in America" and "Who Owns Death?"

Mitchell won numerous national awards as the editor of Editor & Publisher from 2001 to 2009. He began his magazine career as Senior Editor of the legendary Crawdaddy for most of the 1970s and helped create the first major article about Bruce Springsteen (and later was presented with a gold record for "Born to Run").

He co-produced the recent film, "Following the Ninth," about the cultural and political impact of Beethoven's Ninth symphony around the world in recent years, and has served as adviser to other acclaimed documentaries. His articles have appeared in dozens of national magazines and leading newspapers such as The New York Times and Washington Post.

He lives in the New York City area.

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rworthen

Good look back.

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2013

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Normally I won't write reviews of books I've read unless they're exceptional in some way. I don't think this book is exceptional though it is good. I am writing this review because I read recently of a Republican Congressman, Jim Ryun, who makes a practice of writing reviews of books he doesn't read and encourages others to do the same. He and his group -American Majority - have admitted training Tea Party activists on how to manipulate the ratings of books and movies they disagree with on sites like Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes. Ryun is quoted as saying "Literally 80% of the books I put a star on, I don't read." You will see one of those never read - one star - ratings of this book. Apparently they would like to prevent people from reading points of view different from the one they're selling. This should offend everyone, conservatives and liberals alike. Fake reviews are just offensive generally.

Actually Michael Isikoff and David Corn's book - Hubris - is better on this subject. Though I didn't find this book exceptional I would recommend reading it if just as a reminder of what went on during the run up to the Iraq war. The book is mostly a collection of previously published pieces from a few months prior to the invasion and up to the end of 2007. If you were paying attention during that period, you`re not likely to learn much new here, though like me, you may have forgotten much of it. The writing isn't great, but it's not bad, and there's no question about the accuracy. It's all part of the public record now. Mitchell doesn't try to restrain his outrage but his anger is focused almost exclusively on the media and various pundits who acted like cheerleaders instead of journalists. He doesn't explore the reasons why the war was being pushed so hard and that's unfortunate. Undoubtedly a lot of war profiteering went on and should be examined by someone eventually.

2 people found this helpful

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Sneezy777

A detailed witness of the Bush subversion of American media.

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2015

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For Boomers, the American news media were a bastion of professionalism renowned for an ability to present facts and expose deceit to voters. In the second Bush presidency, media not only failed, but became complicit in falsehood to a degree thought impossible, with a speed that seemed almost instantaneous at the time. Contrarian guardians we relied on were winkingly on the take. This book details flaws of a rogue presidency and testimony of media threatened and subverted - a media many of us will never trust again. A crucial history of our time.

One person found this helpful

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Gerhardt J. Steinke

APT TITLE - BUT UNLOVABLE STORY

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2014

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Wrong? Being "wrong" is a very weak adjective to describe actions and inactions misleading us into the Iraq tragedy. How can those of the caliber of Dick, Rummy and George sleep nights? After a first read, I'm ambivalent in a five star "love it" initial evaluation of book. Love it? Well not exactly. Scholarship seems well sourced - but story told is unlovable and depressing.

How can a democracy work properly when citizens are lied to by "leaders" as the mass media gives governmental lies (of biblical proportions) a pass - without later apologies for proven offenses against truth and morality? Viet Nam lesson appear forgotten.

Book merits re-readings - as truths needs repetition. Not only is truth the first casualty of war - but also the last. We’ve STILL not come to terms with The American War (often misnamed "Viet Nam War.") Viet Nam is a country - not a war. Is not all human life precious? Including over three million killed as USA supported one corrupt criminal South Viet Nam regime after another? (with minuscule popular support from those living there). “Kill Anything That Moves” is ALSO a “must” read.

One person found this helpful

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AB Album

Not Great

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2016

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The subtitle is "How the Press, the Pundits--and the President--Failed on Iraq". The word "President" should be dropped. It is not about politics or history; it is all about the press. There is a story to be told there, but the way it is told is not that interesting. A collection of columns from 2003-2007 with a recently written but sketchy "connective tissue". Even the afterward is 3 years old (this is a 2013 edition). I can see where this might be an easy way to write a book, but for a 5 star, the author will have to work a lot harder and actually provide some perspective on this after 13 years.

There is better books out there folks. Frank Rich's "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" is one.

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Karl LaFong

Greg Mitchell Got It Right

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2013

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As we endure the 10 year anniversary of our catastrophic debacle in Iraq, it's worth re-visiting -- in all its horror -- the utter failure of the press to question the rush to war. I watched in terror and despair as the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove/Wolfowitz "Vulcans" manipulated the data, intimidated the press and suffocated the opposition. The good news and the bad news are the same news -- this whole thing is just as infuriating as it was ten years ago. What's amazing about this is that it's not amazing -- the Vulcans were very workmanlike in achieving their ends, to commit us to war (without paying for a single dollar of it). The utter fecklessness of the prosecution of the war and the gormless ineptitude of Junior Bush are still kind of astonishing. Buy Mitchell's book. Read it. Wave it at the television when William Kristol bleats about the need to go to war with Iran.

14 people found this helpful

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Juan El Gordo

This is a good analysis of how our government has misled our society ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2017

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The Middle East has always been an area that has presented challenges to the rest of the world. It continues to do so at the present time. This is a good analysis of how our government has misled our society and been misled into some very questionable operations.

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J. Beck

Hindsight being perfect, Americans needed to pay attention to Greg Mitchell ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2015

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Hindsight being perfect, Americans needed to pay attention to Greg Mitchell from the first. He had it right, from the get-go. Now he nails the apathetic, the misguided, and the idiots, including the mainstream press, who all swallowed without question whatever the Bush administration handed out. It is sickening to consider how many American troops paid the price of Bush's hubris, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Many are still dying from the opening of Pandora's box in the Middle East, because America's media failed abysmally to do due diligence. This book is very specific in laying out the blame.

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