Now that I finished my book on Iraq I am taking a look at some others ... I am almost finished Assassin's Gate ... I ran across this guy and the charachters in that book so many times its like reading my own Iraq bio!Excellent book in my very biased estimation.
Putting Foot to Al Qaeda Ass Since 1993
How about come over here and finish *my* Iraq book then! I've got 300 pages and am waiting to hear if Potomac Press wants to sign it.Originally Posted by Abu Buckwheat
Now that I finished my book on Iraq I am taking a look at some others ... I am almost finished Assassin's Gate ... I ran across this guy and the charachters in that book so many times its like reading my own Iraq bio!
I sat next to Packer at the Chilis in Leavenworth during the famous February 2006 meeting to vet 3-24. Brilliant guy. I loved his piece on Kilcullen in last December 18th New Yorker. And I even made brownie points with my teenager who was impressed that I had dinner with someone who had been on the Daily Show a few weeks earlier.
If you haven't read it, I think Ron Suskind's The One Percent Doctrine is one of the most important books to come out over the past few years.
Good luck with Potomac. I got told that no one wanted to read a book on the insurgents... by nine publishers over two years. Said Iraq was unmarketable and not likely to last as a political subject! However they all wanted a personal narrative story of my time in the Palace!
I loved the sourcing in the One Percent Doctrine but hated his writing ... terrible prose.
Putting Foot to Al Qaeda Ass Since 1993
The project Potomac is looking at isn't really about the insurgency per se. It's called Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy and looks at the way we used our conflict with Iraq as a lesson and a model from at least 1991 on. In other words, it first drove RMA thinking and transformation in the Cebrowski/Owens mode, then drove a revised version of transformation that we're in the midst of today.Good luck with Potomac. I got told that no one wanted to read a book on the insurgents... by nine publishers over two years. Said Iraq was unmarketable and not likely to last as a political subject! However they all wanted a personal narrative story of my time in the Palace!
I loved the sourcing in the One Percent Doctrine but hated his writing ... terrible prose.
My Learning From Iraq will be one chapter.
Since March I have managed to find time to read "God's Terrorists" by Charles Allen, a biography on Orde Wingate titled "Fire in the Night", "Banker to the Poor" by Muhammad Yunus, a biography of Mike Calvert titled "Mad Mike," Farwell's "Mr. Kipling's Army," and Chuck Palahniuk's "Survivor." I also read a smattering of articles and essays from various authors from sources such as Foreign Policy and The Atlantic to include Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" essay from Foreign Affairs and Fukayama's essay "The End of History."
Right now I am taking a break from military history and working my way through Lord of the Rings for the first time. I should finish the Two Towers today or tomorrow and then move right along into the Return of the King. Next is either going to be Charles Allen's "Soldier Sahibs" or "Brave New War" if it finally gets here.
I highly recommend both "God's Terrorists" and "Fire in the Night." "God's Terrorists" centers on the origins, development, and history of militant Sunni Islam in the Indian subcontinent and the development of Wahabism in Saudi Arabia and its spread and impact on the Indian subcontinent and the rest of the world. The book ends in modern times with the rise of the Taliban and AQ in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
As mentioned above, "Fire in the Night" is a biography of Orde Wingate. It chronicles his entire life but specifically centers on his service in Palestine, Ethopia, and finally Burma. While his service and accomplishments in those three theaters were very interesting and remarkable. However, also interesting are the authors' coverage of Wingate as an individual including his eccentricities, some of which made me laugh out loud a number of times and also lead me wonder how an officer like Wingate would fare in the US Army today. One especially humorous, but not atypical, incident involved Wingate's packing list on a reconnaissance flight of Italian controlled Ethopia which consisted of nothing but "a large piece of cheese, an onion, and an old-fashioned alarm clock with a bell and carrying handle." Following the completion of the recon, when asked why he carried the alarm clock, Wingate responded by announcing "Because wrist watches are no damned good - they never work."
"In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." - Eric Hoffer
Thanks for the reqs. I have to take seriously the recommendations of anyone who cites the Dropkick Murphys in his sig line.
Just finished reading Cobra II and Imperial Grunts. Just started one from Tom Odom's reading list...The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. So far a very interesting read. Next up is Shake Hands with the Devil by Dallaire, also from Tom's list.
Not a book, but extremely good (and from Tom's list) I also read T.E. Lawrence's The Evolution of a Revolt.
Brian
Currently re-reading Patrick Seale's The Struggle for Syria. Last read it over a decade ago and its been sitting on the shelf. I picked it up again because I just finished reading The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism by Michael Provenance. Seale's book covers the period following that covered in Provenance's, so I figured I'd go through it again to tie the threads together....
"But suppose everybody on our side felt that way?"
"Then I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way. Wouldn't I?"
I really enjoyed Packer's insights on the evolution of the neo-cons and their rise to influence. Pages 30-31 are especially interesting.
His writings on Chalabi are on the mark; funny that we dismissed pretty much out of hand in the early 90s reports sourced to the "Iraqi resistance". Packer's book does much to explain how that all changed.
Tom
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