Barnet is insightful in regards to revealing how different Iraq turned out than the largely successful occupation of both Germany and Japan. Both of these countries, in contrast to Iraq, were devastated by wholesale destruction and they realized that resistance was futile. Then again, remarkable post-war leaders developed, especially a leading light such as Konrad Adenauer. No similar quality of post-war leaders emerged from Iraq as Germany and Japan produced. This work is an important corrective, and contrast, to the failure of post-war Iraq. The U.S. failed to break the resolve of the defeated Iraqis nor did the occupied country produce the kind of leadership needed in a time of crisis. Barnet may be coupled with Lucius Clay's Decision in Germany as a point of comparison.