Getting Out
Historical Perspectives on Leaving Iraq

Michael Walzer and Nicolaus Mills, Editors

168 pages | 6 x 9 | none
Cloth 2009 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4216-4 | $29.95t | £19.50 | Add to shopping cart

"Our entry into Iraq was a moral and operational catastrophe, but our exit doesn't have to be. Getting Out shows that if we take the trouble to learn from history the United States can do in Iraq what few departing imperial powers ever do: make the welfare of those left behind its highest priority."—Hendrik Hertzberg, senior editor, New Yorker

"This admirable book makes it plain that one reason why military occupations are, in general, a bad idea, is that exit ramps get blocked and horrors ensue. It is morally evident that, for the occupying power, there is no end to responsibilities, which begin even in nightmares. This is not a book that offers simple recipes for Iraq or Afghanistan. But people of all persuasions should read it to deepen their awareness of the moral imperatives."—Todd Gitlin, Columbia University

"The continuing American presence in Iraq raises large and difficult questions about responsibility as well as justice, global security, and accountability. This excellent collection of essays offers several answers to each of these questions and adds an essential historical perspective. It is an arresting, morally serious book, of the sort that readers have come to expect from the precincts of Dissent."—Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy: Jackson to Lincoln

Eventually every conqueror, every imperial power, every occupying army gets out. Why do they decide to leave? And how do political and military leaders manage withdrawal? Do they take with them those who might be at risk if left behind? What are the immediate consequences of the departure? For Michael Walzer and Nicolaus Mills, now is the time to ask those questions about exiting—and to worry specifically about the difficulties certain to arise as we leave—Iraq.

Getting Out approaches these issues in two sections. The first, entitled "Lessons Learned," examines seven historical cases of how and how not to withdraw: Britain's departure from the American colonies and from India, the French withdrawal from Algeria, Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, and the U.S. decision to leave (or not leave) the Philippines, Korea, and Vietnam. These cases offer a comparative perspective and an opportunity to learn from the history of political and military retreats.

The second section, "Exiting Iraq," begins with an introduction to just how the United States got into Iraq and continues with an examination of how the U.S. might leave from a diversity of voices, ranging from those who believe that the Iraq war has produced no real good to those who hope for a decent ending. In addition to essays by volume editors Walzer and Mills, Getting Out features contributions by Shlomo Avineri, Rajeev Bhargava, David Bromwich, Frances FitzGerald, Stanley Karnow, Brendan O'Leary, George Packer, Todd Shepard, Fred Smoler, and Stanley Weintraub.

Michael Walzer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and editor of Dissent. He is the author of many books, including Just and Unjust Wars and, most recently, Thinking Politically: Essays in Political Theory.

Nicolaus Mills is Professor of Literature and American Studies at Sarah Lawrence College. A long-time contributor to Dissent magazine, his most recent book is Winning the Peace: The Marshall Plan and America's Coming of Age as a Superpower.

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