Ghost riders of Baghdad: soldiers, civilians, and the myth of the surge

Preface: "No shit, there we were": Salman Pak backstory -- Enter the "ghost riders": 2nd Platoon, B/3-61 CAV -- Citizenship and sacrifice: reflections on military service -- Life as a countdown: drinking, training, and otherwise getting by -- Doing more with less -- "These dudes are trying to kill us" -- Indispensable friends: Mark and the interpreters -- Breaking point: fear, loss, and defeat -- Sunni versus Shia: the anatomy of sectarian civil war -- Ushering in the "surge": farewell Mada'in, hello Baghdad -- Troop shortage, troop surge: good people, bad advice -- A night to remember -- Shouting at Lindsay Graham -- Staggering to the finish line: aftermath in a shattered platoon -- Disappointing paths: Iraq, seven years on -- War in the rearview: on life after Iraq -- Coda the power of memory.