Doonesbury.com's The War in Quotes is a startling account of the Iraq War, told entirely in the words of those who conceived, planned, advocated, and executed it. Presented in chronological order in thematic groups against a timeline of key events, this astonishing record of remarks both public and private speaks for itself, chronicling the dramatic unfolding of America's first preventative war.

THAT WAS THEN 

"Once you've got Baghdad, it's not clear what you do with it. It's not clear what kind of government you put in place. How much credibility is that government going to have if it's set up by the U.S. military?" --Dick Cheney, 1991

MIND-SET

"F*** Saddam. We're taking him out." --George W. Bush, to three U.S. senators, March 2002

WMD

"If the president wants to go to war, our job is to find the intelligence to allow him to do so." --Alan Foley, director, CIA Weapons Intelligence, to staff, December 2002

THE PLAN

"There was no guidance for restoring order in Baghdad, creating an interim government, hiring government and essential services employees, and ensuring that the judicial system was operational." --3rd Infantry Division's official after-action review

INSURGENCY

"I really qualify it as militarily insignificant. They are very small. They are very random. They are very ineffective." --Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, June 18, 2003

REALITY

"Does [the Iraq war strategy] make America safer?" --Sen. John Warner

"I don't know, actually." --Gen. David Petraeus, in Senate testimony, September 11, 2007

Doonesbury.com's The War in Quotes

$9.99

Launched as a military blog (or "milblog") by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau in October 2006, The Sandbox is an online forum through which service members in Afghanistan and Iraq share their stories with readers here at home. In hundreds of fascinating and compelling posts, soldiers write passionately, eloquently, and movingly of their day-to-day lives, of their mission, and of the drama that unfolds daily around them.

A dog adopts a unit on patrol in Baghdad and guards its flank; a soldier chronicles an epic day of close-call encounters with IEDs; an Afghan translator talks earnestly with his American friend about love and theology; a dad far from home meditates on time and history in the desert night under ancient stars; a Chuck Norris action figure witnesses surreal moments of humor in the cramped cab of a Humvee --Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan presents a rich outpouring of stories, from the hilarious to the thrilling to the heartbreaking, and helps us understand what so many of our countrymen are going through and the sacrifices they are making on our behalf.

* I really feel like most people look at this war as little more than a television event. How many have ever taken the time to stop and think about what we go through every day over here? The bullets, rockets, and IEDs are not the hard part. The hard part is knowing that life goes on back at home. --FC1 (SW) Anthony McCloskey

* The man looks at me, his jaw working in anger. For a brief second, I get the impression that he is going to attack, and then suddenly, as if the energy has gone out of him, his shoulders slump slightly and he looks down at his brother's body. --1LT Adam Tiffen

* Out here in the desert, Time is King; the minutes are his minions and the months his sabers by which you are knighted. The King controls all that you do, when you come and go, and how long until you see your children. --Capt. Lee Kelley

Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox

$16.95

This breathtaking volume boldly, cheerfully, and blankly stares back across the stunningly mellow life and times of Zonker Harris. From his Californian-American roots to his legendary status as surfer, nanny, and former sun god, his career trajectory has unfailingly carried him ever deeper into the homegrown heart of the American daydream. A puddle-plumbing denizen of Walden Commune, Harris spent his formative years as a bodaciously freaked-out college student. His innovative decoding of the rites and rituals of the burgeoning counterculture put him on the cover of Time. Forced by a strategic oversight to graduate from college, Harris blazed a path to glory on the pro tanning circuit. His triumph in the George Hamilton Cocoa-Butter Open set a high watermark for the sport.

Family values led Harris to devote considerable time to helping his stunned parents refill their empty nest. Extended-family values propelled him into a career as a professional nanny, in which capacity he has indeed taught the children well--especially Sam, who was surfing the long board while still in diapers. Later, leveraging his political cluelessness, Zonker served on the disastrous Duke2000 presidential campaign. A devoted foot soldier in the war against AIDS suffering, Zonk is held in high regard among SoCal's medical marijuana community for the efficacious potency of his magic brownies. Unfazed by worldly success, he remains a true and gentle freak. After all, he humbly notes, I am but one dude. 

Dude

$19.95

  Everyone can relate to having a family member with an unusual hobby or habit. The Fox clan is no different. The youngest Fox is Jason, whose best friend is an iguana named Quincy. His sister, Paige, is a shopaholic. The oldest Fox sibling is Peter, whose stomach is a bottomless pit. But perhaps the most unusual of all is level-headed mom and official family mediator, Andy, who is working through her obsession with the movie Titanic. A slave to her emotions, she is brought to tears at a mere hint of the soundtrack and attends multiple movie screenings each day. This leaves well-meaning husband, Roger, struggling to live up to her new romantic expectations. All of this is par for the course in the hilarious but hectic Fox household.

  What makes the Fox clan so entertaining? They're just like us—only funnier—with no sappy sentimentality. Readers can't help but recognize a little bit of themselves in this family strip with its good-hearted, if not eccentric, characters. The Foxes deal with everything from sibling rivalry to marital disagreements over golfing habits to sharing time on the computer, always making us laugh in the process.

FoxTrot has amassed a colossal audience of fans of all ages who eagerly turn to this hilarious strip, whether in newspapers or on the Web. New fans and loyal readers alike will enjoy I'm Flying, Jack . . . I Mean, Roger, a FoxTrot collection. Together, the Fox family provides a witty window on the realities of home life today.

I'm Flying, Jack . . . I Mean, Roger

$18.99