Posted on 11/25/2005 6:38:53 PM PST by LS
INteresting.
Thanks for the post. This is a must read book. And thank you for your excellent review.
Excellent summary of the book. I look forward to reading it.
The British sending in the Black Watch to replace the Marines south of Baghdad represents only one battalion. If the ability to launch the offensive depended on the arrival of one battalion - and there was not one more U.S. battalion available in the Army or Marines - it represents ammunition for the McCain/Kerry thesis that we didn't have enough troops in Iraq.
Great review, LS. There was much puzzlement when we backed off Fallujah. IT seemed pretty clear there had to be complications, but there was not enough coordinated information to figure it out. This book seems to do that. The dispersed communication lines are troublesome and, one hopes, have been resolved.
Methinks this book gives too-big of a wide-screen lens on the political mountain over the Marine's hil.
I also recommend reading Americas's Secret War by George "Stratfor" Friedman.
I read it a month ago after hearing the author Bing West on John Batchelor's radio show on WABC. Great book with greater insights into our dealings with Iraq and how screwed up of a situation it is. It's not as bad as the media makes it, but 100x more convoluted than it seems.
I am reading it now, it is an excellent book, mostly done aploitical, but slams libs a few times...I like it a lot!
I read it already. The Marines asked specifically for the Black Watch, there were other troops available. They also asked for a specific Army unit - the same unit also. This is unusual, but not unheard of. McCain was and is full of himself. The ability to mount the op was in no way limited by available troops. You have to understand Fallujah in relation to Hue City where the Marines were the defender, not the attacker. The Marines know their history. They knew it was going to be nasty, and asked for the the best to go in with them.
BTS. must get the book
Good example of the multiple things Bush has to deal with at once while those at home, especially on FR, are screaming close the borders, just do it!, give us a real conservative judge so we can go to battle with the Dems!, slap China down!, why haven't we caught bin Laden, eliminate the Patriot Act!, and on and on, while at the same time the Dems are trying to impeach him and accusing him of lying. Through it all, he just plods on doing the right thing.
bttt
Not having read the book yet and relying on memory, I believe that the Army unit was the 2nd of the 7th Cav.
Also, for those who want another perspective of the April assault, Robert Kaplan concludes his excellent Imperial Grunts with his on the spot report while with the 1st of the 5th during that assault.
Just finished it, an excellent read. These days it seems that the "Fog of War" envelops Washington more than the battlefield.
"The Marines asked specifically for the Black Watch, there were other troops available."
Wouldn't this operation have been planned at the level of CentCom or General Casey? They would have determined the order of battle, not the Marines.
The Black Watch was deployed south of Baghdad, not anywhere near Fallujah. It replaced a Marine unit sent to Fallujah.
Not really. I just didn't want to go door-to-door with the narrative. There is more than enough combat---but honestly, it gets way lost without proper maps, and I mean detailed maps of the blocks the Marines were operating in.
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