Leap of Faith: Decision Making Before the Iraq War with Michael Mazarr

Air Dates: May 13-19, 2019

In 2003, the United States military unleashed a campaign the press had pre-christened “Shock and Awe,” the dominant and overwhelming application of American military power against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and its military.  Within weeks, U.S. forces controlled all of Iraq, and then the fighting really began.  This week on “Story in the Public Square,” Michael J. Mazarr unravels the decision making that led to what he calls, “America’s greatest foreign policy tragedy.” 

Mazarr is author of a new book about the run-up to the Iraq War, Leap of Faith: Hubris, Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy. Currently a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, Mazarr worked previously at the U.S. National War College, where he was professor and associate dean of academics.

Story in the Public Square broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 4:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.