Impossible Victory: How Iraq Defeated ISIS

By Haider al-Abadi

“A remarkable inside story of the war from the perspective of the Iraqi Commander-in-Chief. Fascinating, very readable, and recommended.” – Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor

“Impossible Victory is the definitive memoir of Iraq’s effort to save its people and many other would-be victims from the most destructive terrorist organisation in history.” – Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, former US national security advisor and author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World

“This book … casts a historical light on a decisive era.” – Jean-Yves Le Drian, French minister for Europe and foreign affairs

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By 2014, the world had grown weary of Iraq and its troubles. The Americans had all but gone and the media had turned its gaze towards Syria, but Iraq’s problems were far from over. That same year, ISIS put Iraq back on the map as they crossed the border from Syria and rampaged through the country, kidnapping, raping and killing, all in the name of enforcing their murderous interpretation of Sharia law.

Terror had arrived and was taking the region in its grip. Saddam Hussein, the occupation, sectarian war, corruption and political instability had collectively laid the groundwork for further violence, and Iraqis were about to see the worst of it.

It was against this backdrop that Haider al-Abadi became Prime Minister. What would likely be the most formidable task of his life lay ahead of him: to help unify his homeland’s fractured military and politics and, slowly, to turn the tide on ISIS, ultimately achieving what once seemed an impossible victory.

This is the definitive and fascinating true story of how the people of Iraq took on and eventually defeated ISIS, told by the country’s former Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Biteback Publishing
• Release date: Apr 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781785907432

Haider al-Abadi

Dr Haider al-Abadi was born in Baghdad in 1952 into a professional, middle-class family. He lived in exile in the United Kingdom in for twenty-seven years due to his involvement with the political opposition to Saddam Hussein. During his exile, Dr Abadi founded his own company specialising in rapid transit systems. He also led the Islamic Dawa Party in the UK and was a member of the party’s leadership worldwide. In 2003, he returned to Iraq to join the new government, occupying the positions of Minister of Communications, adviser to the Prime Minister, chair of the Parliamentary Finance and Economic Committees and Deputy Speaker of Parliament between the years 2006 and 2014. In 2014, Dr Abadi became the Prime Minister of Iraq and led the country’s successful military campaign against the so-called Islamic State (Daesh) as Commander-in-Chief.