Reviewing Tom Odom...

Eddie at Live from the FDNF has a post up:

"Tom Odom's "Journey Into Darkness"

"Surveying the transformation of the Rwandan Patriotic Front from “insurgent to counter-insurgent” in the second half of the narrative, Odom shares intriguing insights into the challenges of a rebel group that only intended to fight its way into the system (i.e. for better rights, fair opportunity, security and representation) , not assume outright control of it, as happened in their case (the RPF ended the Hutu Power genocide of minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus by defeating the government/interahamwe forces who led and helped spur on the genocide). Arguably, broad but helpful lessons from this experience can be applied to the mentality and operations of forces with similar tracks, i.e. the Tamil Tigers, Hezbollah and the myriad of rebel groups in southern Sudan"

Mark,

Thanks for the pointer to this review of Tom's book. Great job on a great book.

For those that would like to read a chapter of Journey into Darkness go here - Chapter 5 - Operation Support Hope.

Dave

Just an humble thank you for that review...

it is appreciated more than I can say

Best

Tom

Ah, I simply found it. Thank Eddie - he somehow finds the time to read good books in the wee hours and squeeze in some blogging despite the best attempts of the U.S. Navy to make either activity impossible.

Greetings from Estonia !
Colonel, it took some time, but well worth the wait. I ordered the book and look forward to reading more. You managed to bring back memories that I thought as a senior NCO were not possible. The Army kept most of us from feeling anything, and that almost always agreed with me.

I have to admit, there were days I reflected and had some very sad moments that I fortunately got to spend alone.

These days, my work with the Estonian EOD and humanitarian Demining is to say the least harsh and we often see remnants similar to Central Africa, but obviously not the same scale. The Russians are a tad easier to understand :rolleyes:

Your book - Good on ya Tom.
Ride Safe, Race Fast ! Take care Ranger !