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Title: Operation Iraqi Freedom : What Went Right, What Went Wrong, and Why by Walter J. Boyne ISBN: 0-7653-1038-4 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 15 November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.83 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Publisher Weekly's childish review
Comment: This book is a fine work. Obviously, publisher weekly's reviewer must be one of those individuals (without much of a life experience) that cannot stand the recent successes of our military in Iraq and elsewhere. Shameful.
More and possibly better work will follow, but for those who need a preliminary record of the iraqi battle, this book will do just that.
Rating: 5
Summary: An interesting and worthwhile account
Comment: Walter Boyne's work in Operation Iraqi Freedom: What Went Right, What Went Wrong, and Why is on target. As some other reviewers here have detailed Boyne's qualifications (and they are extensive and appropriate), we'll simply agree that he is the right author to synthesize the information thus far available on the conflict.
Concerns expressed about writing such a history so soon after the dust has settled are valid but in this case, should be put into proper perspective. Boyne's book is a history of operations. It examines what went right and wrong between March 19 and May 1, a period commonly acknowledged as the conventional phase of the conflict. Boyne details the US military's new "unconventional" approach to conventional warfare during this phase. It does not attempt to deal with the subsequent insurgency campaign which continues.
The book is best viewed as a "first-look" overview of the operations leading to the dissolution of uniformed Iraqi armed forces. It is also a primer on the doctrinal and technological changes developed since the first Iraqi conflict which allowed the campaign to be prosecuted in a new way.
Boyne is to be commended for presenting a complex subject in an interesting, readable way. One of the book's advantages is that it reflects the contemporary wisdom of the many credible sources Boyne taps to tell the story. These include those who helped design the military that went into the conflict. In this respect, it is invaluable to future historians.
It is certain that military planners worldwide are energetically analyzing what the US miltary accomplished in the major combat operations Boyne's book covers. It is also likely that many will turn to Operation Iraqi Freedom: What Went Right, What Went Wrong, as an informed introduction to the subject.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must Buy Book
Comment: "Operation Iraqi Freedom: What Went Right, What Went Wrong, and Why" is really two books in one. First, as the title implies, it is a treatise on a specific conflict - an in-depth presentation of how it all worked and an insightful analysis of how well it worked. Second, by way of extensive appendices that take up more than a third of the entire volume, it is a very comprehensive compendium of what it took to conduct that war in terms of materiel, weapons, logistics, people, methodologies, etc.
If it were not so readable, this would make a great textbook. As it is, it should be required reading for anyone interested in studying wars and what makes them tick, especially one that was waged so recently and so much in the public eye. As one could imagine, the great majority of what we read in the print media and saw on the TV screen was, because of the nature of the beast, the parts of the conflict that included the action, the damage and the more sensational aspects of what was going on.
A concern often raised about a book produced shortly after an event is how credible it can be as an analysis considering the recency of what occurred. There usually is a suspicion that it is a quick-reaction book dashed off in hopes of a fast buck by an author "writing off the top of his head." That concern was put to rest in this case by a thorough reading of what many readers overlook in their rush to get to the main text - the front matter of the book. Here I found the a wealth of information that established the book's bona fide's for me - the acknowledgements, foreword and preface.
The acknowledgements pointed out the author's people sources, a host of knowledgeable top military and civilian thinkers who provide the book with authenticity and authority.
The foreword helps a book in two ways: first by what it says about the book and, second, by the credibility of who wrote it - in this case former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, retired Gen. Ronald R. Fogelman who stated that the book reflects the contributions of all the elements of the coalition and the new, higher level of cooperation and interdependence of the forces involved. Fogelman also stated, "The United States and its coalition partners can be proud of their work In Operation Iraqi Freedom, and this book offers the first best look at how well they did their job."
The preface then gives the author the opportunity to establish his objectives, in this case to examine the efficacy of U.S. and coalition strategy, tactics, operational methods, weapon systems, and personnel during the period of armed conflict from March 19 through May 1, 2003. This author, Walter J. Boyne, has the extensive background as a career Air Force pilot and former director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, and has generated the many contacts needed to successfully produce a comprehensive study like this.
The book then goes on to do just that in full, but readable, detail. The background of the how, who and what leading up to this war are followed by the actions taken to pursue it to a quick victory and by an explanation of the new type of warfare that made it possible. Interspersed are short, side articles such as the fascinating "How Nations Go To War" that put this one war into perspective with all other conflicts fought until then. The author inserts at appropriate places, as the book's title implies, discussions about what went right and why and what went wrong and why - and lessons learned.
Operation Iraqi Freedom is not light reading and you can't get anything from skimming it. Plan to spend some time - from beginning to end - and you will end up with a better understanding of the story behind what you read and watched in the popular press. Highly recommended.
Arthur H. Sanfelici
Editor
Aviation History Magazine
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Title: The Iraq War: A Military History by Williamson Murray, Robert H., Jr. Scales ISBN: 0674012801 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The March Up : Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division by Ray L. Smith, Bing West ISBN: 055380376X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 09 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: War Stories: Operation Iraqi Freedom (With DVD) by Oliver L. North ISBN: 0895260638 Publisher: Regnery Publishing Pub. Date: November, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Boots on the Ground: A Month with the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq by Karl Zinsmeister ISBN: 0312326637 Publisher: Truman Talley Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Influence of Air Power upon History by Walter J. Boyne ISBN: 1589800346 Publisher: Pelican Pub Co Pub. Date: July, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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