One Woman's Army: The Commanding General of Abu Ghraib Tells Her Story - Softcover

Karpinski, Janis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1401360122 ISBN 13: 9781401360122

Publisher: Miramax, 2006

Synopsis

In an outspoken memoir -- all the more powerful in light of recent discoveries -- Janis Karpinski reveals the true story of the tragic and shameful events of 2004 from her first-hand experience as commanding general in Iraq.

Karpinski was the only female general officer commanding troops in a combat zone in Iraq. Although she had no training in handling criminal prisoners, she was selected to run Abu Ghraib. Now Karpinski takes us inside the prison walls and describes what it was like to interact with the Iraqi prisoners, the corruption within the armed forces, and her meeting with Saddam Hussein, who refused to believe that a woman could be in charge.

Co-written with Newsweek correspondent Steven Strasser, she forcefully argues that the bulk of the blame for the Abu Ghraib scandal goes to the very top of the chain of command -- to Lieutenant General Sanchez, Ambassador Bremer, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld -- and tells why she has been made the scapegoat. Hers is a story of military leaders run amok and a moving portrait of a woman who spent her life defying the odds.

About this title

About the Author:

General Janis Karpinski served in the military for over 25 years. She was an Intelligence Commander in Iraq and the only female commander to serve there in the Army Reserves. She attended West Point and the US Army War College, and served in the first Gulf War where she received a Bronze Star. She grew up in New Jersey, and has been married for 30 years to a Lieutenant-Colonel in the army. This is her first book.
Co-writer Steven Strasser is an author and a foreign correspondent for Newsweek. He currently teaches journalism at Rutgers University and lives in Manhattan.

From Booklist:

The charge to find intelligence for use against terrorists with no clear rules as to how to do it led inevitably to abuses at Abu Ghraib, asserts Karpinski, the commanding general in charge of military police at the prison made infamous by Saddam Hussein and even more so by American troops. In a bid not to be defined by Abu Ghraib, Karpinski tells the story of her life in the military leading to her command of the Iraqi prison, including her stint with the reserves and her deployment to the first Gulf War, where she earned a Bronze Star. When she was assigned to oversee MPs at Abu Ghraib, Karpinski found herself doubly resented, as a reservist and as a woman. She details the conflicts with military culture and an old-boy network, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. She describes little support from the regular army and no clear chain of command as military intelligence stepped up harsh treatment of prisoners in search of "actionable intelligence." Karpinski accepts her own shortcomings but maintains that she was made a scapegoat in the shameful events for which, other than herself, only lower-level servicemen have been punished. This is a completely fascinating look at a troubling event from the perspective of a woman who has been on the frontline. REVWR
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About this edition

• Publisher: Miramax
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1401360122
• ISBN 13: 9781401360122
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256