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Michael Yon's 'Moment of Truth in Iraq '
is the right book at the right time.
Weaving first-hand accounts of firefights,
a macro view of Counter Insurgencey Strategy (COIN), the micro-tactics
implemented at the small unit and individual level and a deep understanding
the role the media plays in COIN, Yon's book is one of the few that
shows Iraq as it is now.
Spanning his time in Iraq from December
2004 to just a few months ago, it is not the typical 'expert' book chock
full of high level yet ultimately uselss analysis or an after the fact
memoir--it is Iraq as viewed from asphalt level in such diverse places
as Basra, Mosul, Baghdad, Hit and Diyala.
As someone who has actually been to some
of the same places as Yon and even some of the same units--I expected
to rush through a few of the chapters but found myself engrossed in
those chapters (Tuesdays with Mouyad in Chapter 16 is an example.)
COIN as Yon explains is fought at the
small unit level on the ground in Iraq and in the media battlespace.
At the small unit level, the officers and NCOs fighting the skirmishes
on the ground are outstanding. At the Brigade/Regiment level the
Public Affairs Officers operating in the media battlespace are quite
up to the task. But Yon and I have the same opinion of the Media
Operation at the MNFI level as he recounts his time in the Green Zone
getting a press credential:
"If after five years at war, a plastic
badge with a photo and fingerprint requires days of wasted time, what's
happening with the rest of the war?"
Luckily, as Yon shows again and again,
the combat units in Iraq operate with more dispatch. And the way
Yon has woven his dispatches from Iraq brings the immediacy of the events
unfolding now to the pages.
'Moment of Truth in Iraq' is a book that
could not be written by research assistants for a well known author,
or a ghost writer or, like so many books and documentaries--proposed,
sold, researched and written from the comfort of a home office.
The depth of understanding in every chapter
can only be gained by spending tens of months on the ground in Iraq.
My only complaint about the book is that
I wanted more of Yon's photography, the photo section is wonderful and
I eagerly await the companion coffee table book of his photography.
Amazon is currently sold out, but signed copies are available for order here .
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