There are many books on the Iraq war and on WMD-type issues, but this is the first to offer a historical overview of chemical-biological defense issues and a policy analysis of how the U. S. government addresses the threat of weapons of mass destruction and how ground forces deal with the problem on the battlefield. Al Mauroni looks at how the 9/11 disaster forced the Department of Defense to review its management of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) defense equipment and then make significant changes. He outlines in detail the government's decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq and search for WMDs.

The fact that no such weapons were found, the author explains, has had dramatic consequences for how U.S. military forces address the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons in Iraq and how they support the federal response to terrorist incidents involving these weapons at home. Mauroni draws on two decades of experience in the area of chemical-biological defense policy to present this comprehensive analysis of the decision-making process within the Department of Defense and the actions of U.S. forces in the second Iraq War. Explaining that`WMD' is no longer a useful term for the threat faced by military leaders and emergency professionals, he also outlines a number of lessons learned from the conflicts in the Middle East and offers recommendations on how to improve CBRN defense for the future.

AL MAURONI, a former Army officer, has been a defense consultant on chemical-biological defense policy and programmatics for more than twenty years. A resident of northern Virginia, he is the author of four books and numerous articles on the subject.