Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

By Brian Freeman

Bowden, Mark. Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. New York: Penguin Group, 2000.

After years of fierce battles between competing warlords, Somalia’s government is overthrown and the country is in complete chaos. These warlords destroy the agriculture of Somalia and use starvation as weapon. An estimated 300,000 Somalians died of starvation and another 1.5 million people suffering from malnutrition and diseases.

With hundreds of thousands dead and millions starving in the early 1990s, the United Nations voted to intervene militarily in Somalia to feed the starving people and begin the process of rebuilding the nation. United Nations, led by United States forces, met powerful resistance from the most powerful clan leader Mohammed Farrah Aidid. Several bloody incidents led the UN and former President Bill Clinton to conclude that Aidid was an obstacle and must be removed. Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War is a minute-by-minute reconstruction of one of the most paramount battles in the short, ill-fated American military campaign to capture and disrupt Mohammed Farrah Aidid in Mogadishu.

Originally former President George Bush Sr. ordered to send an overwhelming deployment of American military forces to help lead the United Nations operation to open relief supply routes against the depredations of Somali militias whose power struggles had caused the famine. The United Nations operation at first is extremely successful. However in late 1992 the most powerful clan Islamic Habr Gidr, headed by warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid, attacked both UN and U.S. forces. President Bill Clinton changed the peacekeeping mission to an assault on Aidid and Habr Gidr. Clinton gives Special Forces Unit Task Force Ranger and Delta Force the job of capturing Aidid.

By this time, Aidid and his clan considered themselves at war with the United States. The planned raid launched on October 3, 1993, and was later called Black Hawk Down. Originally, the plan was to focus on the capture and meeting of two Aidid's senior advisors, reported to be in the most dangerous part of Mogadishu. The goal of the raid was to destabilize Mohammed Farrah Aidid’s clan politically after they failed to capture Aidid. This was the sixth raid of its kind consisting of Army Rangers and Delta Force who were so confident from previous quick victory missions that they neglected to properly equip themselves with night-vision devices, water, and body armor panels.

The mission was led by elite Delta Force soldiers that would go in by helicopter to kidnap the two top Lieutenants of Aidid's clan. The Rangers were given the job of securing the perimeter and escorting convoy that contains the captured Lieutenants of Aidid's clan out of the city. The convoy consisted with 160 men, 19 aircraft, 9 hummers, and 3 five-ton trucks. The operation from the start was marred with problems and would turn disastrous when two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down. After 27 hours of fierce fighting, 18 U.S soldiers are dead and over 70 injured. The Somalian death count was much higher with over 1000 injured and 500 dead.

The planned assault was only supposed to take an hour and was launched into the most dangerous part of Mogadishu. The entire mission changed from capture and extract to search and rescue when the first of five Blackhawks crashes inside the city. Originally commanders thought it was highly unlikely that Somalis could shoot down helicopters with rocket propelled grenades. By the end day the U.S. Military saw five shot down, with two crashing in the city and three limped back to base before crash-landing.

Several Ranger and Delta elements of the attack force fought their way to the crashed chopper and attempted to secure the area. Not only are members of the militia attempting to prevent the Special Forces from securing the area, but the citizens of Mogadishu, who were sick of U.S interference in their country, also take arms. Gunfire is coming from all sides when the second Blackhawk is shot down. The Special Forces unit trying to contain the perimeter around the first crash site were then ordered to spilt up and set up a perimeter around the second crash. While the main convoy containing the captured Lieutenants attempts from the target location to the crash site. The Somalia militia set up road blocks making the convoy disoriented in the city streets. They drove around in circles through heavy fire looking for the crash sites. As the convoy losses mounted and with the two Lieutenants killed in the action, they were forced to return to base, leaving about 100 Americans surrounded by fierce militia at the crash site.

One of the most memorable moments of the book is when snipers Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart volunteer to secure the second crash site until help can arrive, although it arrived far too late. The two snipers along with the help Mike Durant commit a patriotic Alamo last stand and fight to the bitter end. The two snipers fall in combat and Durant is taken hostage, but because of the snipers bravery, they both win Medals of Honor.

The American soldiers are forced to fight through the night with ammo running out and no water. U.S. forces send air support and helicopters continue strafing runs support but this only buys time. The U.S. soldiers around the crash site needed to be evacuated. It is well past midnight before an armored column, which should have been sent originally, could be brought together. The armor units, supported by elements of the 10th Mountain Division, began the rescue, starting with the trapped Americans. Operating in heavy fire, the column finally extracted the pinned-down forces and their captives.

When images of American corpses being dragged through the streets of Somilia and Michael Durant looking bloodied and battered surface, all of Washington is asking what went wrong. A lot of blame was directed about having American troops under United Nations command, but the majority of the blame focused on the Secretary of Defense Les Aspin, which ultimately caused him to lose his job. Les Aspin repeatedly refused to send armor personal carriers and tanks into region.

The lost of American military life forced President Bill Clinton to terminate the hunt for Aidid and pull Task Force Ranger out quickly. A few months later, all US forces withdrew completely from Somalia and UN nation-building effort collapsed. Mark Bowden makes it clear that the failed mission in Somalia had a “profound cautionary influence” on American military policy for years to come. The United States would refuse to send ground troops and conduct. Mark Bowden has taken his award winning series of newspaper articles written for the Philadelphia Inquirer and made it a truly great book about the spirit, professionalism, valor, skill, and nobility of the American fighting forces involved in this conflict. Bowden’s research of first hand source material, documentation of his sources, and reliance on first hand interviews is first rate and qualifies this book as an excellent work of history, not merely a piece of investigative journalism.

Book Review: Dower, John. War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War

By: Brian Freeman

Dower, John. War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.

Introduction

John Dower writer of War Without Mercy is a book that elaborates on the power and impact of racism in the Pacific theater of World War II. John Dower's War Without Mercy describes the ugly racial issues on both the Western Allies and Japanese sides of the conflict in the Pacific Theater as well as all of Asia before, during, and after World War II and the consequences of these issues on both militaries. Dower asserts that the war in the Pacific, on both the American and Japanese ends, was far more savage and violent than the European theater because racism in the American and Japanese culture left no room for mercy. Dower supports his thesis by effectively and exhaustively researching his topic. Dower creatively integrates and combines sources from almost every period of daily life and drawing on numerous unconventional sources like political cartoons, documentary propaganda films, manga animation, popular song lyrics and more. Dower, through his sources, convincingly demonstrates that both American and Japanese cultures were given false feelings of racial superiority. It is this racial superiority in the author's opinion that played a role in the development of atrocious behaviors seen in the Pacific of Theater.

John Dower who is a professor of Japanese Studies at the Michigan Institute of Technology and Pulitzer Prize winning author is considered an expert in the field of modern Japanese history and US-Japan relations. Dower’s book War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War has won a number of awards including the National Book Critics Award. In War without Mercy, Dower organizes the book into two main sections. The first section begins with the introduction to the materials and racial themes that will be used throughout the book and is by far the most interesting. The major theme is race and how it is a weapon of convenience for propagandists. Both sides for awhile claimed righteousness, but under close scrutiny both sides had serious social problems the other side could exploit. The United States during the 1940’s maintained a level of white supremacy evidenced in the way the Americans treated blacks and over a hundred thousand Asians who were placed in internment camps after Pearl Harbor. These facts assisted both the Germans and the Japanese in their respective propaganda campaigns. However, the Japanese had similar racist views portraying Europeans and Americans as decadent, impure, and downright demonic. They also viewed their Asian neighbors in much the same contemptuous way as did Western imperialists The Japanese were fanatically racist to other Asian race groups. The Japanese believed all other races to be inferior to the divinely descended Japanese race. This Japanese racism led to devastating exploitation of their Asian neighbors, who may have been racially related, but not divinely descended.

One of the most interesting finds that Dower discovers in his research is the influence of European, American, Japanese scientists who worked tirelessly to find significant advantages or disadvantages compared between races. The American research of races was the most influential of the studies which helped spark racist views. American scientist made the assumption due to Japanese head, ears, and eye development that the Japanese were an inferior race. Because of the scientific view the Japanese were perceived as a species apart referred to as apes. American media images would develop the Asian enemy as apes, primitives, or inhuman. However, it is interesting to find that the perception of the Japanese being an inferior race would soon disappear due to Japanese success in the battle. The Japanese ability to fight furiously gave them a perception of being superhuman. This gaining of American respect would be crucial in the peace process of the postwar.

The second section explores the transition from war to peace, and the ways in which images and symbols were transformed. The apes became pets while on the other side the western demons shared their secret knowledge. At the same time the negative racist images used during the war were transferred to the Soviet Union and Maoist China. Finally, Dower's book powerfully and persuasively describes how the racial stereotypes that fueled the Pacific conflict did not disappear but rather adapted to peacetime life. Victory confirmed the Allies' assumption of superiority but due the incredible fighting ability of the Japanese the Allies never gained racial superiority. This level of racial equality allowed for proper Japanese growth and peace postwar.

Criticism

The main criticism of War Without Mercy is that Dower overplays his hand and puts far too much emphasis on the role of racism portraying it as the primary cause of the war and of the evils that transpired during its execution. Ultimately, Dower must concede that race did not cause the war. One must consider the Japanese imperial rivalry over the Pacific, alliances in Europe, and Japanese aggression led to US combat in the Pacific. Unlike the war in Europe, however, the war between Japan and the USA was a ‘war without mercy’ because racial prejudice dehumanized both opponents.

Despite Dower’s main fault the War Without Mercy is an excellent book about the Pacific War in general or even about atrocities and war crimes themselves. The book focuses on racial aspects of the war between Japan and the United States. The book especially emphasizes the images each side used to describe the other and the war itself along with some study of how they evolved after the fighting stopped makes it a must read for anyone trying to understand the Pacific War of WWII.

Conclusion

Overall this book presents a side of the Second World War with which most Americans are unfamiliar and may find shocking. It does a valuable service in exposing many of the prejudices of the time and especially in showing how those prejudices were at least partly responsible for the string of debacles endured by U.S. and other allied forces in the war's opening stages. It also does a very good job of giving the reader a glimpse of the kind of thinking that was prevalent in Japanese society prior to and during the war. Dower broke new ground through his scholarly use of visual materials and other expressions of popular culture in reexamining Japanese and US-Asian history. “Despite such differences, however," notes Dower, "the end results of racial thinking on both sides were virtually identical being hierarchy, arrogance, viciousness, atrocity, and death." (180)

Book Review: Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz

By: Brian Freeman

Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, 1995. p.192

In the History of the world there have been few incidences of atrocities that equal to the treatment of the Jews in Europe during World War II. The Holocaust is one of the most important and horrific incidences in the history of mankind. Sixty years later we still ask how and why? We try to find some understanding but it is difficult for us to accept the levels of systematic cruelty and terror experienced by Jews during this period. There are many great authors of Holocaust Literature that give understanding or a glimpse into that world. We have been blessed with great works of literature by Elie Wiesel with his trilogy of books Night, Dawn, and Day. The Diary of Anne Frank and the poetry of Nelly Sachs help paint pictures of understanding. All these authors and their works are great in their own ways. However, there is one author who stands out. Primo Levi and his memoir, Survival in Auschwitz, is a true masterpiece of Holocaust literature. It is not simply a recounting of personal tragedies and historical atrocities, but a clear-eyed and highly detailed story of the fragile nature of human personality.

Primo Levi’s story begins July 31, 1919 when he was born to a Jewish middle class family in Turin, Italy. His family had long been assimilated into Italian life. Levy never discovered his Jewish ness until he came up against the racial laws enacted in 1938 by Mussolini Fascist Regime. Levi continued with life and graduated first in his class as a chemist from the University of Turin in 1941. Active in the resistance against the Fascist cause, Levi was captured in northern Italy. He was imprisoned in an Italian transit camp, from which he transferred to Auschwitz. One of the most compelling chapters in Survival in Auschwitz is The Journey. The Journey describes his arrest, transportation, and arrival to Auschwitz. Primo with 650 others was loaded into a freight train for a four day journey without food or water. Primo says,” In less than ten minutes all the fit men had been collected together in a group. What happened to the others, to the women, to the children, to the old men, we could establish neither then nor later: the night swallowed them up, purely and simply.” The German SS Soldiers separated those they deemed capable of work from those they deemed incapable, such as women, children and elderly. Only 135 of the 650 from Levi’s train were admitted into Auschwitz, the other 515 went immediately to the gas chambers.

He was herded with the others into the camp and after being stripped naked and having his head shaved. He was given an old striped uniform and the identification numbers 174517 were tattooed on his arm. Levi describes his experience as “Becoming a mindless slave one would soon forget the point of life itself almost not caring whether you live or whether you die is the most inhuman trait imaginable.” Levi uses this kind of depiction as a prisoner with almost unemotional tone that often disguises the horror of what he is describing. As a prisoner of Auschwitz he was forced to work seven days a week with two Sundays off a month which were filled with tedious, exhausting tasks and were often the only opportunity available to attend to personal hygiene needs. The bulk of their time was spent working sixteen hour days in factories and around the camp and making supplies for the war and other items for the Germans. With little food and inadequate clothing, it was easy to fall ill or die from exhaustion while working in the snow and rain. Levi was lucky enough to be sent to the Ka-be or the infirmary to recover from an injury to his Achilles tendon. The Ka-be was overcrowded, and it was populated by individuals with deadly, communicable diseases such as typhus and dysentery. There were no medicines available to relieve the symptoms or the pain and suffering was widespread. Despite the pain and suffering, he was able to rest and build up some strength before returning back to work. Much of the work assigned to them was needless. If not for his degree in chemistry, which earned him a place in the Chemistry Command working indoors during the last winter, Primo would have probably suffered the same fate as about eleven million other people did. Of the eleven million, six million of them were Jews who died during the war.

Primo Levi’s life and writings are marked by his wartime experience and by the guilt of having survived when so many others perished in the German Concentration Camps. In 1987 Primo could no longer withstand the guilt and committed suicide. Levi's haunting memoir about his ten months in the German death camp Auschwitz is an unforgettable chronicle of systematic cruelty and miraculous survival. When reading Levi’s tale of survival and lengthy repatriation, we come to understand the need for telling this extraordinary experience.

Jeannette BaxterAuthor’s, “Primo Levi (1919-1987)” October 12,2007.http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2709.

David Damrosch and David L. Pike, The Longman Anthology World Literature Compact, Compact ed.,(Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), 2680-2691.

Book Review: Elie Wiesel Night

By: Brian Freeman

The Holocaust is one of the most important and horrific times in the history of mankind. Never has the world seen a group of people singled out from society and executed with mass precision as seen during the Holocaust. The shock and terror which the Jewish people faced under Nazi rule can never truly be understood. The survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust have made countless efforts to try to give the world some kind of description of what they experienced. Millions of testimonies and literary works have emerged trying to describe the Holocaust to mankind. One piece of literature that stands out as one of the bedrocks of Holocaust literature is Elie Wiesel’s Night. The story ranks alongside Primo Levi’s If This is a Man and Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl as one of the best in Holocaust literature. The one hundred nine page story is a simple but devastating account based on Wiesel’s personal Holocaust experience.

Elie Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928, in Sighet, a village in the Carpathian Mountains in northern Transylvania. Elie Wiesel is the author of more than forty celebrated works of fiction and nonfiction. He has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America Congressional Gold Medal, the French Legion of Honor, and in 1986 was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Night is the first book in the trilogy Night, Dawn, and Day. The books reflect Wiesel’s state of mind during and after the Holocausts. Wiesel was only fifteen when the tragic story of Night unfolded. In order to describe this journey, Wiesel uses a sparse and fragmented narrative style with frequent shifts in point of view. This style of writing really allows the reader to almost feel the emotional and physical pain Wiesel describes.

Northern Transylvania, where Wiesel had been born and raised, was annexed by Hungary in 1940. Wiesel lived there with his Father Shlomo, his mother Sarah, and his three sisters Hilda, Beatrice, and seven year old Tzipora. He was raised in a close knit community of 10,000 to 20,000 mostly Orthodox Jews. Wiesel was a deeply observant, studied Talmud and yearned to learn all the religious Jewish books. Moshe the Beadle is one of the major characters in Night and sets up two major recurring themes. Moshe is the caretaker in the synagogue and teaches the Kabbalah and the mysteries of the universe in secret to Elie. The first theme Moshe introduces in Night is that spiritual faith is sustained not by answers, but by questions. One day all the foreign Jews are gathered and deported, and Moshe is sent away. Time passes and Moshe returns no longer the same. He runs from Jewish household to household begging for them to listen. Moshe tells them how Gestapo made them dig their own graves and murdered all the Jewish men, women, and children. Time passes on and Moshe’s words are forgotten, which leads to the second theme Moshe introduces. The second them introduced is that the Jews of Sighet and Eliezer were given many warnings and many opportunities to escape the hell.

Even when Germany invaded Hungary at midnight on March 18, 1944, few believed they were in danger. At first the Germans seemed polite and hospitable. On the seventh day of Passover the curtain of hatred was lifted and restrictions on Jews gradually increased. Gold, sliver, and valuables were no longer allowed to be kept by Jews. They were not allowed to visit restaurants, attend the synagogue, or leave home after six in the evening. Eventually they would be forced to distinguish themselves from society by wearing the yellow star of David at all times. Elie’s father makes light of this when he states, “The yellow star? Oh what of it? You don’t die of it…(Poor Father! Of what then did you die?)” (11).

The wearing of the star was just the beginning of the cruel injustices placed on the Jews during the Holocaust. Night goes on to tell how Elie, his family, and the rest of the town were placed in one of the two ghettos created in Sighet. “The people thought this was a good thing. That they would no longer have to look at all those hostile faces, endure those hate-filled stares. No more fear. No more anguish. We would live among Jews among brothers…” (12). Two weeks later the German secret could no longer be kept. All the Jews in the Sighet would be deported. The forced Jews marched to a train station where a convoy of cattle cars awaited them. With eighty people to a car, little bread, and a few pales of water, the journey to hell began.

Elie arrives with his parents and sisters in Poland at Auschwitz Birkenau, known as Auschwitz II. Men and women are separated on arrival -- Elie and his father to the left; his mother and sisters to the right. Elie would learn that his mother and Tzipora had been sent straight to the gas chamber. The remainder of Night describes Wiesel’s desperate efforts not to be parted from his father and to survive. Wiesel’s attempt to stay close to his father causes him grief and shame at witnessing his father’s slow decline into helplessness. He becomes his father’s caregiver, but his father’s existence threatens his own existence. It is through this struggle that Elie loses his innocence and faith in God.

He managed to remain with his father as they were forced to work under appalling conditions and shuffled between concentration camps in the closing days of the war. Just a few weeks after the two marched to Buchenwald and before the camp was liberated by Allied forces, Wiesel’s father suffered from dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion. The last word his father spoke was “Eliezer” (111). His father was taken away to the crematory in the middle night of the without him even knowing.

Wiesel’s story of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp paints a picture of such horror that at the end the reader asks, “Why?” Elie Wiesel wanted the world to know what he saw and experienced as a young boy and how it colored his world forever. He lost his entire family to the Nazis and came away from the concentration camps a survivor but a bitter and disenchanted one. Throughout the book, there is a dark feeling of hopelessness and unreality. It seems difficult to believe that anyone could be so vile and utterly devoid of conscience to send millions of Jews to their deaths. The Holocaust tested those who survived and left them with questions that cannot be answered. Elie Wiesel does not give us the answers, but gives a story of one man’s witness to the death of God, children, innocence, and self.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang, 1958.

Book Review:Oren, Michael. Six Days of War June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East

By: Brian Freeman

Michael Oren’s Six Days of War June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East is a riveting account and thoroughgoing analysis of the events leading up to the Six Days War. In his work, Oren skillfully captures the geographic, social, cultural, and political effect the war had on the Middle East. Six Days of War June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East is arguably one of the most comprehensive history books ever published on the Six Day War. Oren provides incredible details, offering background information for the causes and the major political leaders. Oren draws from a number of American, Russian, and Israeli archives, along with Syrian and Jordanian sources to provide political insight into the thoughts and actions of most of the major players before, during, and after the war. In some instances, Oren uses these sources to give an hour-by-hour description of events during the war. Unfortunately, however, Oren’s use of detail causes the book to become dry and boring descriptions of battles and battlefield decisions in some places.

In the first four chapters, Oren explains the roots of Zionism and sets the stage for the war in terms of culture, politics, and religion. Oren main argument is that the Six Day war is about water rather than Jewish state. Oren presents solid evidence that the Arab states, in a gross miscalculation, ratcheted pressure to the point where Israel was forced to act preemptively in order to assure its survival. Oren made extensive use of sources to give insight to what the major actors were thinking during the entire saga. Each of the figures that play a significant role in the coming conflict is described in great detail. Oren allows us to see both their flaws and their courage, regardless of which side they were on. Most important, however, is that historical facts are marshaled effectively in between the political intrigue of the situation.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is the dynamic relationship between the United States and Israel. Oren chronicles Israel's political struggle with the United States and the Soviet Union to permit an appropriate military response to Egypt's provocations. Israeli leaders then as now, tried to strike balances between competing pressures and goals, while attaining both security and international approval, and showing willingness for peace without appearing militarily weak. The strength of Israel’s military was best exemplified by the fact that even though the Soviet influence was extremely powerful in the Middle East region, the Muslim leaders could not join together to defeat the Israeli threat. The Israeli victory in the Six Day War contained an amazingly high number of fateful decisions, meticulous planning, and overall dumb luck. The dumb luck of Israel was the absence of unity among the Arab nations and the fact that the Arab troops were completely unprepared. The tactical atrocities of Syria that involve the refusal to send in reinforcements still remain unexplained, however.

One of the most ironic sections of the book involves the Arab lies about how the war was being won. Arab media was reporting to the people that the Arab armies were smashing the Israelis even as those armies were being pummeled into near non-existence. Once the truth was finally revealed, people’s disappointment grew and became even more tragic and difficult to take. Oren’s crowing achievement is the use of massive detail explaining the Israel battle strategy and political thought. Covering the battles minute by minute and with Oren commentary is one of the most interesting parts of the book. Oren is able to capture the incredible one-sided victory and comment that even Israel's generals found it difficult to believe it was happening. Israel, having proved it could not be defeated militarily as well as possessing something to trade, hoped for comprehensive peace. Tragically, that peace would never be found though. The Israeli victory of the Six Days War would have massive implications for creation of the modern tensions of the Middle East

Oren’s extraordinary research provides him with the ability to give detailed descriptions of all the participants. The Arabs, Israelis, Soviets, and Americans make the Six Days of War June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East an essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the history of the troubled region. Oren’s detailed storytelling of how the war broke out and the shocking ways it unfolded make it a compelling read. On the other hand, because of Oren’s use of intense detail, the pace of the book slows down considerably. Oren makes up for this however, by tracing the military course of the war and its political aftermath, including lingering tensions in the Middle East. The Six Day War was in many ways the most pivotal event for the creation of the modern Middle East, and Oren’s narrative storytelling truly captures the event. Ultimately, Six Days of War June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East paints a fascinating portrait of the war that still dictates Mid-East negotiations.

Oren, Michael. Six Days of War June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Book Review: Wright, Evan. Generation Kill

By: Brian Freeman

Wright, Evan. Generation Kill. Berkley Publishing Group, 2008.

During the second Gulf War for Operation Iraqi Freedom the Pentagon placed over 775 reporters and photographers as embedded journalists. The U.S. invasion of Iraq is the most widely and closely reported wars in military history. Generation Kill tells the uncensored no hold bars story of the First Recon Marine Battalion in the early days of the invasion in Iraq.

The majority of journalists reported on heroic battles, brave men, and respectable soldiers. Rolling Stone writer Evan Wright spent the first two months of the invasion with the First Reconnaissance Marine Battalion‎ and reported on uncensored soldiers who had been desensitized to violence by videogames and Hollywood movies. Wright asked to join a front-line, first-in unit of the Operation Iraqi Freedom during the initial invasion of 2003. He rode into Iraq with the First Reconnaissance Battalion Marines—the Marine Corps' special operations unit whose motto is "Swift, Silent, Deadly."

Wright’s original account of life with the marines, The Killer Elite, was published as a three-part series in the Rolling Stone. The article won Wright a National Magazine Award for Excellence in Reporting in 2004. In the beginning, he was ignored by the Marines, who refused to be interviewed or even speak to the reporter. However, many of the Marine soldiers were familiar with Wright’s previous work with Hustler magazine, and he soon gained popularity among the soldiers.

Wright found that pop culture influenced Marine soldiers, who were focused on killing as many Hajji’s as possible. (Hajji is the Marine slang term for Iraqi military or insurgent personnel.) The Marines quickly explain to Wright the First Marine Recon objective which is to drive ahead and create chaos on the battlefield ahead of the main force. The Marines know Wright is terrified, so they made him ride in the lead vehicle.

Much to the dismay of the Marines and Wright, the commander of First Recon nicknamed Stephen “Godfather” Ferrando, was anxious to earn his battle stripes. Ferrando often volunteered the entire unit for various tasks, even if they were not specially trained or equipped for the mission. Stephen “Godfather” Ferrando earned the nickname because his vocal chords were removed after a bout with cancer, causing him to speak like Marlon Brando in the noted film.

Wright depicts First Recon Marines once being volunteered by Ferrando to invade entire villages with open top hummers, and another time to capture heavily fortified airfield that luckily had been deserted before operation started.

Many of the Marines of First Recon do not even have Hummer licenses, and the vehicles themselves lack not only armor, but roofs, doors and windscreens. Also a majority of Hummers battle turrets do not turn and often jam on firing. Before every military action the Marines are forced to pillage villages for parts or steal from other units to keep the vehicles running.

The entire command leadership would be criticized throughout the entire book by Wright and the Marines. They often complain to Wright about certain officers and about decisions made at the higher levels. According to Wright, the soldiers had the right to complain about the often incompetent command leadership.

Most notably, the soldiers complained of any command from Captain Craig “Encino Man” Schwetje, whose orders were ignored on numerous occasions. Two of the most critical mistakes Schwetje makes were attempting to call an airstrike on his location and leaving a supply truck filled with thousands of pounds C4 explosive and food unguarded. Schwetje assumed the Iraqis would be happy for the Marines liberating the country and that they would have no need for thousands of pounds of C4.

Wright not only shows writes about Schwetje’s ineptitude, but he quotes him saying, “Check it out, I taped my windows so I could turn my laptop on without enemies seeing the light. Cool, huh?” This action causes his Humvee driver to run off the road several times and miss important roads junctions. It is only a brief description of the number of mistakes by commanders of the recon unit, all of which are well documented throughout the book.

Despite the problems the Marines did their job, and did it well, with a strange kind of cynical patriotism. They suffer minor injuries while killing hundreds of Iraqis, and few enemy soldiers survive their attacks. Those who survive the Marines’ attack often stumble out of ruined buildings to surrender, some crying and defecating with fear. The elite Marines leave a trail of destruction and death in their tracks. They face almost no challenge they can not handle and as Wright shows the Marines main problem was trying to sort out civilians from enemy fighters.

While the author is clearly against the war, this does not interfere with his sympathy for and portrayal of the troops and his ear for brilliant quotes. Wright captures a number conversation and quotes which helps the reader bond and understand each man of the unit. Wright captures one of the best quotes from Cpl. Ray Person saying,

“Look at this shit. How come we can't ever invade a cool country, like chicks in bikinis, you know? How come counties like that don't ever need Marines? I'll tell you why, it's lack of pussy that fucks countries up, lack of pussy is the root fucking cause of all global instability. If more Hajis were getting quality pussy, there'd be no reason for us to come over and fuck em up like this, cause a nut-busting Haji, is a happy Haji…. No, Saddam is just part of the problem, if Saddam invested more in the pussy infrastructure of Iraq than he did in his fucking gay ass army, then this country would be no more fucked up than say, Mexico.”

Uncensored quotes like this, memorable and important, are found many times throughout Generation Kill give the reader a better understanding of each solider.

This book is not is a comprehensive overview of the run-up to the war or of the overall strategy employed by the U.S. military. Wright’s Generation Kill is about first hand experience of war and soldiers that fight it. Reading like a fiction book, he chronicles not just battlefield experiences, but each man both as an individual and as a part of the battalion.

Generation Kill is not for the faint of heart. Wright doesn't shy away from showing the sheer horror of war, such as the case of the civilian Iraqi driver who had been accidental shot by 50 caliber machine gun at road block. The Iraqi driver had the top of his head scooped out by a bullet, leaving him brain dead but technically alive, with a beating heart and working lungs as he sat at the wheel of his vehicle. He does not paper over Saddam's brutal regime, and there are several scenes in which he depicts cheering crowds lined the streets to joyously welcome the Marines.
Generation Kill reveals raw truth about how Operation Iraqi Freedom was fought and takes reader and places them on the streets with force that paved the way. The book is not a comprehensive study of the war but a personal experience. Because of the personal experience, it forces us to consider America's overall strategy and possibly self-defeating strategy.

Overall Generation Kill is a great a tale of the battle-forged camaraderie and brutality of war. Wright’s focus is on the elite group of highly trained troops, who were raised on hip-hop, violent video games, and often offensive and racist cartoons, such as South Park. They are a completely different generation of soldiers from the men who fought in World War II and Vietnam.

Write wrote in his prologue: “Culturally, these marines would be virtually unrecognizable to their forebears in the ‘Greatest Generation.”

Book Review: Turner, Thomas. Congo Wars Conflict Myth and Reality

By Brian Freeman

Turner, Thomas. Congo Wars Conflict Myth and Reality. New York: Zed Books, 2007.

During the late 20th Century the Congo went through a number of catastrophic wars, epidemic and economic hardship which would lead to the death of perhaps four million people. The events that occurred in the Congo which caused the massive loss of human life are generally misunderstood and scholarly research is very limited. Thomas Turner's Congo Wars Conflict Myth Reality is the one of few books which tries to not only to understand what happened in the Congo but sort out the explanations for the causes.

Author Thomas Turner is a professor at Victoria Commonwealth University and had previously taught in universities in the Congo, Kenya, Tunisia and Rwanda. Tuner writes Congo Wars Conflict Myth Reality for the people of Africa. Because it is written for the African nation the author hardly ever introduces or gives background information on a number of people and ethnic groups. Turner assumes the reader has prior knowledge of the event. If the average reader will find if they do not have pior background information on the Rwanda genocide or wars they will find themselves constantly referencing encyclopedias for more information. The main criticism of Congo Wars Conflict Myth Reality deals with Turner’s writing style and sources. When Turner gives an explanation it is very difficult to understand and takes multiple readings in order to discover what the author is trying to say. Readers will find Turner’s over explanation repetitive and very dry. Academic readers will question Turner’s use of a Wikipedia article as a source that references another website. Despite these problems Congo Wars Conflict Myth Reality gives the reader an African perspective and does not place the blame on particular group of people or country. Turner does an excellent job showing how a number of factors failed to stop the wars and genocide that occurred. Turner most notably blames, Belgium Colonization, neighboring African nations, and lack of international assistance United Nations failure to intervene.

One of the most interesting finds that Turner discovers in his research is how the influence of Belgium colonization attempts by Belgian King Leopold affected the Congo region. Turner states, Belgium drive for colonization in the Congo is based solely around exploiting African labor and natural resources. The Belgian colonist brutalized the local population to find and produce rubber until mining could be developed. This Belgian drive and need for rubber forced them into practice enforcing rubber quotas by cutting off the limbs of the natives. This practice set a number local African ethnic groups competing against one another for rubber which would set the foundation for future ethnic problems. The red rubber search would be the first of many problems that Belgium colonization brought to the Congo. Most importantly Turner, through his research, shows how Belgium colonial influence created cultures in the Congo which gave some groups the false feelings of racial superiority. It is this view racial superiority in the author's opinion that played a major role in the development of atrocious behaviors which would be seen in the Congo. The author shows us how Belgian colonization destroyed the countries culture. The native African people of Congo unlike other nation that have been colonized did not retain their original culture after independance. Turner shows the reader how Colonization separated the Congo in to regional regimes each fighting for power and natural resources.

Neighboring African nations wanting to exploit the rich natural resources of the Congo constantly disturbed the fragile balance of power in the Congo. The African neighbors constantly tried to steal the national resources of the people or influence the Congolese leaders. During the Civil Wars 1996- 1997 and 1998-2002 Turner points out neighboring African nation had serious consequences on stability of the fragmented country along with complete disregard of support of international help doomed the Congo region and its people. Turner does explain why American and the United Nation failed to act. Turner points blame at the Clinton administration suffering from ‘Somalia syndrome’ failed to recognize genocide, which would have required action. Turner also devotes an entire chapter to the failure or incompetence of the UN.

Overall this book presents an African perspective to the Congo conflicts which most reader are unfamiliar and may find shocking. Turner does a valuable service in exposing many of the prejudices and racial conflicts and especially in showing how those prejudices were at least partly responsible for the tremendous loss of life. It also does a very good job of giving the reader a general history and glimpse into the culture of the Congo region. Turner’s chapter on changes required for Congo leaders, neighboring African states and the international community to bring about lasting peace and security is insightful. However Turner admits even with these recommendations that it is up the Congolese to solve the daunting problems themselves. Despite Turners main fault the Congo Wars Conflict Myth Reality is an excellent book about the Congo in general or even about atrocities and war crimes themselves.

Book Review: Cobra II - The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

By Brian Freeman

Gordon, Michael, and Bernard Trainor. Cobra II- The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq. New York: Random House, 2007.


The 2003 Iraq War is a war that has taken thousands of Iraqis and American lives and continues until today with no end in sight for the foreseeable future. Cobra II- The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq is a book which takes its title from the Army name for the drive to Baghdad. Cobra II describes the entire political events and the war while emphasizing on the rushed and poor preparations for what to do after the invasion. It also focuses on the competing political relations between the major players inside the Bush administration. Ultimately Cobra II is the most comprehensive analysis and history of the Iraq written today. It will be several decades before millions of classified documents on the war will be released before historians can write a true history of the war, but Cobra II will be the measurement on how those books should be written.

Authors of Cobra II Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor bring together their knowledge to develop a factual, balanced, and comprehensive book. This is not the authors’ first collaboration. Their first book written in 1993 entitled the General's War is considered by many as the definitive history of the 1991 Iraq War. Bernard E. Trainor is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general and former New York Times chief military correspondent. He is now a noted academic his military intelligence, and his military ties can be seen throughout the book.

Michael R. Gordon is the chief military correspondent for the New York Times, and experienced the war while embedded in U.S.-dominated coalition's land command during the invasion. Authors Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor meticulously gather all available sources and interview a number of high ranking officials to give Cobra II a very comprehensive and dependable list of sources.

The authors’ present evidence that makes it is very clear that Bush administration had the invasion or the toppling of Saddam Hussein on the list of objectives early in the administration planning. The politicians battle over the planning are fascinating to read in Cobra II and is one of highest points of the book. A number of high ranking Bush administration officials from Colin Powell to Donald Rumsfeld argue over the planning. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld fought heavily with military planners and Joint Chiefs of Staff on how to invade and troop numbers. Donald Rumsfeld, who shared the idea along with Bush, did not see the need for lengthy peacekeeping and nation-building, such as the U.S. had undertaken in the Balkans under President Clinton. This viewpoint is shared by number individuals inside the higher cabinet of the administration. Many of the high ranking officials inside the administration believed in the hopelessly optimistic Central Intelligence Agency predictions that Iraq units would surrender ultimately embrace American liberators.

Because of this optimistic thinking, Rumsfeld wanted a smaller, streamlined invasion force like the one used in Afghanistan. U.S. Military leaders declared Afghanistan as a completely different war and recommended that close to 500,000 troops would be needed, especially for the post-war phase. Rumsfeld was irritated at the first presentation of such numbers, and believed 125,000, "and even that was probably too many," could do the job.

Determined to reduce the number of troops for the invading force, Rumsfeld dismissed advice from experts inside and outside government who argued for a larger contingent troops sent into Iraq. Rumsfeld’s efforts reeked havoc with the military's preparations, according to the authors. The numerous planning changes and dependence on technology caused the military to become extremely disorganized for the war. Despite the disorganization from all the planning iterations the U.S. military attacked Iraq with the number of troops Rumsfeld initially wanted completed the objective of removing Saddam Hussein from power.

However because so much planning was focused on the invasion and numbers needed to invade Iraq meant that little attention was paid to what the military terms "Phase IV," or post-conflict operations. With inadequate troop numbers to contain the anarchy that followed the fall of the Hussein regime, the US military would be the owners of a country in pure chaos. The authors interview a number of the US military leaders in Cobra II and make it clear is that with the extremely poor post war planning, combined with the lack of enough troops to restore order, caused the United States to fail the objective of rebuilding a democratic Iraq and lose the initiative in the weeks following the invasion

The authors state that planning for the rebuilding of Iraq be given to the Defense Department by Secretary Rumsfeld. However General Franks, whose responsibility it was to ensure that the United States military was prepared for the occupation, "seemed content to leave the lion's share of the Phase IV planning to others in the government," the authors write. The authors make it clear as late as Feb. 20, 2003, barely a month before the invasion, "there was no plan" for the rebuilding of Iraq.

Cobra II provides a number fascinating accounts into what went wrong in the first weeks after the fall of Baghdad. Playing out like a cheap horror film, one of the most compelling moments is when General Garner is replaced by Ambassador Paul Bremer. Paul Bremer makes a number of critical errors which leads to Iraq disorder. Thousands of Iraq men became unemployed after Bremer’s first error of abolishing the Iraq Army, which was the largest employer of the country. Then Bremer only compounds the situation by preventing the United States military from holding local elections for fear that "the wrong guy" might win.

Consequently, once American forces seized Baghdad, U.S. troop deployments were curtailed and units were instructed to prepare for a rapid drawdown—even while the Iraq police and military forces that the administration expected to preserve order were being disbanded. This occurs while U.S. field commanders realize that their principal enemy is not the Iraq army but irregular forces many of them foreigners employing guerrilla tactics are the true enemy.

Cobra II does an excellent job no placing blame entirely on one person. The complete lack of planning for the rebuilding, number of critical errors and political misjudgments all contribute to the failure in Iraq.

A number of logistical problems would also cause problems for rebuilding Iraq. The military found that destroying communications was key to quickly taking over also greatly hinder post-war operation. The little bit of planning for rebuilding Iraq was to use oil revenues to help with reconstruction. However, the Iraq oil infrastructure was almost non-existent and was the target of constant insurgent attack. As for the Iraq police, the CIA assessment was that they were apolitical and well-trained. Yet the reality was they were poorly-trained and incapable of taking security roles for Iraq.

The authors show how a number of people were not alone in making major miscalculations. They place blame on number of players from Rumsfeld wanting smaller troop numbers to Tommy Franks who refused to politically battle Rumsfeld over troop numbers. The authors’ place present an abundant list of individuals who made mistakes in judgment. The book shows the failure at the highest levels of the command structure, effected the soldiers on the ground, and the overall strategic objective. The authors do a fine job making one of the most lop-sided campaigns in memory interesting, and do not focus on a particular unit.

In one’s opinion, following the troops invading Iraq is unnecessary in Cobra II and not following the troops could have possibly shortened the 600 page book greatly. However the war stories do help to tie into bigger picture and give Cobra II a human aspect. This book does a great job in showing how the surprises that the Americans encountered in resistance turn out to be compelling at times. It would be have interesting to see the authors focus more on what was going inside the administration during the heavy post war fighting hopefully in possibly a sequel to Cobra II it would be nice to see key policymakers such as Vice President Cheney and Rumsfeld who declined the authors' requests for interviews to be interviewed. It is one’s opinion that views of those at the center of the war politically should be captured. Still, Cobra II even with its fault stands as the best account of the war to date.

Cobra II is meticulous and properly planned which is completely opposite of the war that it covers. The narrative reading is authoritative, the human aspects of conflict give the reader brief insight of the war. Cobra II offers readers a real and instructive lesson on the consequences of inadequate strategic planning. Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, is by far the most factual, non bias, and comprehensive book written to date about the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Gordon and Trainer present the facts as they are currently known, and let the reader judge who is truly to blame for the blunder in Iraq. Cobra II is by far the best book on the subject and will likely remain so for years to come, and it will likely be the benchmark by which other histories of the Iraq invasion are measured.