Posted on 08/19/2004 5:22:44 PM PDT by LS
I just finished "American Soldier" by Gen. Tommy Franks, and thought I'd share what I noticed. Overall, this is one of the better memoirs I've read. His ghostwriter, Malcolm McConnell, did an excellent job of letting Franks "talk" through the narrative. I forgot I wasn't reading Franks' own writing, which is the greatest compliment you can pay a ghostwriter.
The book is well balanced, with about 1/3 going to the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Even so, you don't hurry through his boot camp or Vietnam experiences. Although Franks doesn't toot his own horn too loudly, he makes it clear that from an early point he saw great value in mobility and communication between units---to the point that he even paid for CB radios for his artillery battery in Germany. As an artillery commander in Vietnam (he didn't see Kerry, by the way), Franks started to appreciate the inter-connectedness of air, artillery, and ground units, frequently going up in a Piper-Cub-type plane to spot artillery.
He never meant to be a career soldier. He enlisted as a way to go to college, then stayed on for Officer Training School, then re-upped again, and before you know it, Donald Rumsfeld was trying to get him to head the JCS.
Among the personalities that Franks comments on:
*Richard Clarke was an ass. "He talked for a while without advancing any meaningful options," Franks says of one meeting. "I never received a singler operational recommendation, or a single page of actionable intelligence, from Richard Clarke." There are other digs, but you get the point. Franks thought Clarke was smart, but totally disconnected from the real world.
*Don Rumsfeld was brilliant---he constantly challenged Franks to think "outside the box." Indeed, Rummy "didn't want you to walk into his office with a neat stack of briefing charts . . . because he would redirect the briefing after the first chart . . . . He didn't recognize that the box existed." and in his first meeting with Franks Rumsfeld spent most of the time listening. Franks came out thinking Rummy "had been more interested in learning about us . . . than in having us learn anything about him." Although Rummy could be abrupt, he always asked the right questions and didn't put up with crap from the JCS. They had to get on board.
*Douglas Feith. This guy must have really done something to Franks, because he mentions him 3-4 times in a critical sense, but you don't really see what was causing the tension.
*Condi Rice. Franks greatly respected her ability to ask the incisive question. He didn't say much about her, though.
*Colin Powell disagreed with Franks' military plan, wanting more of a Gulf War I. Franks thought that, in so many words, stupid, but he appreciated Powell's honesty in criticizing him personally, in private, as a "heads up" for what he would say later in public. Franks nevertheless thought Powell was out of touch with military doctrine since 1991.
*Norman Schwartzkopf. Franks greatly admires and respects "the bear," but makes clear he has different ideas of how to defeat an enemy. For one thing, Schartzkopf was unwilling to include Special Ops in his overall war plan, while Franks wanted to incorporate all elements of the battlefield.
*G. W. Bush. No question Franks loves Bush as a wartime leader. Bush supported him on every issue, was insightful, and on top of every briefing (contrary to the idiot Dems' claims). Moreover, he and Bush got along well because they were both from Midland. However, in one instance, Bush had Franks fly (without Rumsfeld, Franks' "security blanket," as he called him) to Crawford ostensibly to talk about Afghanistan. In reality, Franks had secretly worked up the Iraq War plan. Of Bush's decision to go to war, Franks said "In my thirty-six-year career, I had seen examples of confident leadership. But this was one of the most direct and decisive statements of policy I had ever heard." (Take that, Frenchurian Candidate!)
Franks exlaimed "Osama bin Laden" when he saw the towers hit, and knew that in the 1990s we had not taken him seriously enough. He dances around this, and refuses to blame Clinton, but it is abundantly clear to anyone with eyes that he thinks Clinton was a wussie when it came to fighting terrorists.
In a brilliant analysis of a misunderstood event, Franks claims that the assassination of Afghan leader Masood was a "pre-emptive strike" by OBL who knew that full ground retaliation might be coming after 9/11. Franks thinks OBL killed Masood to destoy any chance of using the Northern Alliance, and didn't realize the resiliancy of the U.S. or our allies in the region.
Franks fought hard to keep troops in Afghanistan to a minimum and to fight a "new kind of war." He said "we should not flood the country with large formations of conventional troops. . . . We don't want to repeat the Soviets' mistakes."
Franks designed a war plan for Iraq ON HIS OWN, as per normal planning purposes, in December 2001. At that time, he wrote down the two "ENDSTATE" goals of a campaign: "REGIME CHANGE" and "WMD Removal."
Franks was convinced, both by direct warnings from Egpyt. Pres. Hosni Mubarak and from Jordan's King Hussen that Saddam had WMDs; further, all his own spies told him the same thing; further, as they got in the country, they found the (now-forgotten) depot of chem/bio suits and the hundreds of atropine injectors. Clearly, he said, this was for use against us. At any rate, his book debunks notions that Bush had already started thinking about Iraq. Franks brought up Iraq to Bush as a normal "threat" briefing.
To me, the best part of the book was the Iraq War section, mainly because it showed what asses the media was. Among other things Franks points out:
*There was NEVER, EVER, a "shock and awe" campaign. Franks never used the word, except twice to describe what the JOURNALISTS were saying. There was NEVER a sustained bombing attack that was to precede ground operations. Planning in 2001 estimated a 16 day bombing preparation, but by 2003, that was cut to "simultaneous." Astoundingly, even after it was clear the press had been hoodwinked (just as they were in 1991 by the "amphibious invasion" of Kuwait) they continued to try to make routine bombing fit into "shock and awe" templates.
*Franks NEVER intended to have a larger force do the actual invasion. Troops were to "roll off" in sequence only to relive, but the actual combat units were the ones we began the war with. After Turkey refused to let 4th ID through, Franks kept them in the region for an extended time to continue to fool the Iraqis into thinking we'd rapidly re-deploy them through Turkey. It worked: Saddam kept 13 divisions tied up in the north, waiting for an attack that didn't come.
*When the advance was having its "operational pause" and the press was going nuts, Franks' commanders begged him to set them straight. He refused, saying they were doing a better job of feeding disinformation to Saddam than Baghdad Bob. At the very time the "embedded generals" had us bogged down, BLUE FORCE TRACKER showed almost every American and British unit at or ahead of schedule!!
The "embeds" tended to get the right info, but on a micro level, and the idiot generals in the studios bungled their analysis. Franks quips that we had generals analyzing squad-level tactics and colonels commenting on strategy. Franks reiterated that more men would have meant MORE SUPPLY and SLOWED DOWN THE ADVANCE.
This was a "joint" like nothing ever seen. Command, control, communication and computers were used in a fully integrated way for the first time. On the "Thunder Run" into Baghdad, Franks' old innovations in the artillery could easily be seen, as artillery laid down fire just a few hundred yards in front of moving, advancing armored columns with deadly precision.
Looking back at the "lessons learned," and comparing them with his pre-war notes, he found he had said to the President, "Coalition strength during decisive combat will derive from the mass of effective firepower, not simply the number of boots or tank tracks on the ground." This was the epitome of the Army's "Future Force" transformation, which resembles a karate fighter who focuses his entire bodily energy into one blow. He doesn't need to be big---just accurate.
*It was Franks' idea to have some "closure" to the combat operations, and hence HIS recommendation that the President make some statement. That, of course, led to the (hated by Dems) landing on the Abraham Lincoln and the "Mission Accomplished." Anyone with one of those stupid "Mission NOT Accomplished" bumper stickers is calling Franks a liar!
*Repeatedly, Franks used speed to get ahead of the enemy's "decision loop." By the time the Iraqis had reacted to one situation, it no longer existed. This was all possible ONLY by a thoroughly trained military in which INDIVIDUAL COMMANDERS had tremendous autonomy. The second "Thunder Run" decision to stay in Baghdad was essentially that of the Brigade commander! Likewise, the Marines, according to the plan, were to hit and run, but they decided ON THEIR OWN that they could stay, and did.
There is much more, but read this book. It's enjoyable from page one!
"*Colin Powell disagreed with Franks' military plan, wanting more of a Gulf War I. Franks thought that, in so many words, stupid, but he appreciated Powell's honesty in criticizing him personally, in private, as a "heads up" for what he would say later in public. Franks nevertheless thought Powell was out of touch with military doctrine since 1991."
I saw a show on the History channel today that mentioned Powell. It said that "A young Captain Powell" had been wonded by some type of Booby trap in Vietnam. Kinda wonder if he got a purple heart for it.
Drudge has reported that Gen. Tommy Franks book is not selling well. It has sold just about 100,000 copies. I have a hint for the good General, whom I like and admire greatly. Just annouce that you are supporting GW Bush and will be addressing the RNC on the smae topic and your book sales will go through the roof. You can bet the "Kerry" folks will never buy your book. They hate you and all you stand for. Your act of being neutral serves no useful purpose. Backing Bush is the right political thing to do for you and, it makes real good business sense also IMHO!
I read his book...it is very well written. It is long, but my only blessing is being a speed reader so I couldn't put it down, read it in 2 days!
He said he had not been invited to the RNC. That may change. His book IS big, and it IS expensive.
General IS speaking at the RNC, I saw an interview with him on CNN, PLUS he said he is supporting Bush his only thinking is if he will go CAMPAIGNING WITH BUSH, not if he supports him!!!!
Try eBay, got mine for $17 incl postage and yes, it's brand new.
I just won a free copy from Foxnews-- thanks for the review-- can't wait to tear into it.
The book sells at Sam's Club for $17.00.
Now I'm really chomping at the bit for mine (as well as UNFIT for Command) to arrive from Amazon.com!
I bought this book for my son and am waiting for his commentary.
He did. It was a punji stick, IIRC.
He mentioned it in his memoirs, but didn't try to make himself a hero over it.
I bought this book for my husband and he's loving it and reading many sections out loud to me.
http://www.tommyfranks.com/Shop.asp
"Drudge has reported that Gen. Tommy Franks book is not selling well. It has sold just about 100,000 copies"
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm -- It's NUMBER ONE on the NYTimes bestseller list?!
[I agree that he should stop equivocating and just endorse President Bush already -- fence sitting behavior is 'unbecoming' for a general!!!!]
I'm reading it now and think it's very interesting. His story is amazing-------the fact that he flunked out of college and ended up a GENERAL.
"I forgot I wasn't reading Franks' own writing, which is the greatest compliment you can pay a ghostwriter."
My feeling as well -- it's well done.
Costco in Burbank...$15.39
You are correct. Big difference: Patton married into money. Franks was dirt poor. Franks took out a loan to buy the CBs :)
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