Cobra II

[Tom Odom]

To all,

I just finished reading Cobra II. The book is well written and flows from beginning to end. It starts logically with the post 9-11 planning environment and the Defense Department. The authors examine the planning evolution in detail; there is no doubt that the plan had the SecDef's thumb prints all over it. The chapters on the fight are both readable and coherent; something not easy to do when adressing a complex campaign plan.

One area I did find especially interesting was the discussion of Frank's view of the war versus those of McKiernan and Wallace. Franks saw the grounmd forces as hesitant and stationary--a view that Blue Force Tracker added to according to McKiernan. Wallace and McKiernan (and the Marines) saw the forces as actively engaged. This has of course been discussed here and in the press. What intrigued me about it was its resemblance to the very same tensions in 1991 between Schwartzkopf and Fred Franks. The former CENTCOM commander saw the situation in Kuwait as a rout and wanted Franks to begin "pursuit" operations before VII Corps had even reached the Republican Guard. the CFLCC in this one was specifically established to keep such disconnects from emerging.

Another point worth looking at is the book's contention that an absence of post-war planning was NOT the problem with the post-war aftermath. The authors doucument that senior Defense and admninistration officials did consider various plans and studies and rejected them all because they clashed with the plans underlying assumptions. Finally i would say the book is a tribute to those who fought the campaign in the ground or in the skies.

Get the book and read it.

Tom