This book is a major reinterpretation of the Iran-Iraq War, and is a source for reinterpreting the US involvement in the Gulf. Pelletiere argues that the war was not a standoff in which Iraq finally won a grinding war of attrition through luck, persistence and the use of poison gas. Instead, Iraq "planned the last campaign almost two years prior to its unfolding. (The Iraqis) trained intensively and expended enormous sums of money to make it (their effort) succeed. What won for them was their superior fighting prowess and greater commitment. Gas - if it was used at all - played only a minor part in the victory".