This is one of the benefits of a free citizenry that is able to criticize its government. I know that the Washington post is not popular, but one of its writers wrote a very prophetic book:
While many here would claim that the book is "anti-patriotic" the book praises the work that Petraeus did when he served in Iraq and his efforts to develop counterinsurgency doctrine before being appointed the ground commander in Iraq.
Furthermore, the book is "optomistic" in the sense that it demonstrates very clearly what can be achieved when one has cogent strategies and well thought out plans and also what the consequences are when one walks into a situation blindly, without a real plan, hoping for the best.
In my view this is one of the most important books of our age.