Bummer.
In "Generation Kill" (an over-the-top title) we meet the middle-class professionals who make up much of the non-commissioned officer corps and the assortment of Latino gang-bangers, disenfranchised lower-middle class whites (the NASCAR army as some have taken to calling it) and general thrill-seekers who duck in and out of the combat branches of the military for a two- to three-year adventure.
Wright takes us into combat with them and shows America what an interesting lot is out there fighting for the country. Smart, tough, profane, funny, loyal and utterly cynical — this generation of enlisted combat warriors has its first — if brief and incomplete — chronicle.
Some veterans will be surprised by the new complexion of the combat force — but others will note that the small handful of men who fight in close combat are always the same — generation after generation — from the Spartans at Thermopylae to the English yeoman at Agincourt to the battle for Al Kut 2003.
All readers will recognize the timeless themes of war: The scorn for rear-echelon non-combat troops, incompetent leaders who get worked around, the "hurry up and wait" rhythm of combat, general confusion and the unbreakable camaraderie of brothers in arms.
Wright unfortunately gives the impression that everything in the war was confused and muddled, except down at the squad level. In that sense, he came to think like a true Marine — and while his broader observations touch on important points, in general his talents for reflection on the broader picture don't go much further than looking down a rifle sight.
In fact, Wright presents such a picture of battlefield chaos and confusion in his campaign with the recon Marines, that we need to circle back to Keegan to appreciate the true genius of the campaign to capture Baghdad. The brilliance of this operation was in harnessing the individual efforts of those units such as Wright's to a strategic end that few thought was possible at such a low cost.
Note: Some of this was in the original post.