Fiasco, the first draft of history

[Menning]

I read Tom Ricks' Fiasco some months ago already. I am seeking feedback from those who visit this site and comment. What do Small Wars Journal participants feel about Ricks' work? Are there any inaccuracies that those with experience in the field during OIF can refute? Are the allegations he made about 4th I.D.'s poor adaptation to COIN true? How will this work stand over time?

[Jimbo]

A pathetic piece of polemic journalism that is attempting to be passed off as historical record. Ricks' work is flawed, shortsighted, and specious. This work will not stand up over time. Cobra II is much better. i hope this helps.

[Granite_State]

Good thread. Can Jimbo (and others) elaborate?

[VinceC]

I've heard strong opinions against Ricks' book. It would be interesting to hear some examples of where he's off base.

[Jimbo]

An example of Ricks' doing poor work. The comaprison of 4th ID and 101AASLT. Ricks sums it up as one had it right and one had it wrong. Well, the situations in the two divisonal areas were very different. If tyou were to contrast 4th ID's AO around Kirkuk, and the 101st's around Mosul, you can see a lot of parallels and similarities, while also noting slight differences, Ricks didn't do this. He treats both divisions as as if they had the same problems on the same scale with the same population that handled their problems very differently. Ricks treats Iraq as a homogenous situation, when in actuality it is quite heterogenous as far as the population and thier motivators. As far as I know (and I have asked around) Tom Ricks never went to 4th ID's AO. I have been told that Ricks got his information on Army operations pretty much second hand from Marines assigned to units not even close to where 4th ID was operating. Ricks makes a lot of assertions in his book based on rumors and "the grapevine", many of these assertions are false.

[VinceC]

Jimbo, thanks for the insights. Many problems connected to Iraq seem to be related to over-generalizing the conditions there, so I can see why your criticisms/concerns make a lot of sense.