The Iraq War

Rating:
Summary: Important and crucial read for all doudters of the war
Review: Bravo, John Keegan.
The author, a truly great historian, once again, provides the readers with a truly remarkable account of the truth behind the policies of the war in Iraq. Unlike all the deranged arguments from the liberals, John Keegan tells us all the historical and real reasons why the U.S and Great Britain took the courageous path to liberate and change the course of history in Iraq.
He allows us to understand the historical, political, and cultural aspects of the importance of our current policies.
As you read his book, is it easy to understand how our sacrifice will help reshape the future of the region. Too many people have suffered under the dictator, and too many people have been lied to by the Hussein government.
As you get to the final chapters of the book, one will also understand how successful this campaign has been, and how the military has conducted itself in a great manner to bring a fast and secure victory for the people of the region. Much still has to be accomplished to bring stability and peace to Iraq, however unlike the liberal press's view point and final analysis, Iraq is truly a better place then it once was.
The final phrase of the book defines this campaign beautifully.
"The reality of the Iraq campaign of March-April 2003 is, however, a better guide to what needs to be done to secure the safety of our world than any amount of law-making or treaty-writing can offer".
Music to our ears.
Bravo !!
Senator John Kerry, John Edwards and Democatric Party, please read this book and stop making stupid remarks.

Rating:
Summary: Good Background, Not Much War
Review: John Keegan is an excellent historian, so I expected a good overview of the war that was not provided in other books written by embedded journalists. Unfortunately, Keegan did not have enough material to deliver the complete war story.

Keegan starts off with a short but excellent summary of the reasons for the war and his early and balanced analysis of them. The book then turns into a history lesson on Iraq, Saddam, and the political lead-up to the war. This background material takes up over HALF of the books 220 pages of text. Keegan's historical expertise shows through, as the various segments of Iraq's history are covered in a very complete and readable text. However, given that the book is on the Iraq WAR, the background material seems like padding for a lack of war coverage.

The actual war is covered in only 80 pages, split between the American drive-up, the British capture of Basra, and the capture of Bagdad. Here is where the historian suffers a lack of material which will come available in the coming years. The result is far too general. Much better material is found in "The March Up" and "In the Company of Soldiers", though the latter includes annoying political commentary. However, Keegan's British background makes for a more complete coverage of the British experience and gives a different perspective from American embedded journalists.

Given that the insurgency continues, the conclusion in the final section on the war's aftermath are premature, but Keegan's fine historical instincts and knowledge make for some interesting insights.

In summary, it is too early to develop an in-depth review of the war, without the help of the top commanders (Keegan had only a 2 hour interview with General Franks) and/or more material from army/marine sources. While the historical context and Keegan's insights are strong, the lack of material on the war is dissapointing.

Rating:
Summary: Iraq Book Saturation
Review: There are a few similarities here with the Ollie North book and others, which is okay but we do have or are approaching book saturation on Iraq. The author makes the assertion that the war is okay and then makes a nice book as part of the justification - a book that is far too short - just 275 pages, about the mechanics of the war, the troops, with some politics thrown in.

There was zero legal basis to invade Iraq as there was no legal basis to kill millions of Vietnamese, and of the 200 countries at the UN only a small number, maybe 50, or anything like true democracies. One can start your non democracies with most Muslim countries such as Pakistan, most of Africa, China, and Russia for starters - about 1.5 to 2.0 billion people. So what countries deserve to be liberated? Where does the liberation start and where does it stop? Why just Iraq? Why not Iran a country that is developing WMD's today and is hosting terrorists. Iraq peaked in power in 1991. Most polls in Iraq of their citizens clearly reflect a hatred and wariness of the US invasion about equal to Saddam. So let us keep it all fair, rational, and accurate.

Of course the soldiers are heroes (and I am conservative and served in the armed services) but lets keep the military bravery separate from the politics that decided that the "war on terror" was an invasion of Iraq. This doubly true when we now have a zillion Iraq books. I made a Listmania list of my favorite 25. This is not on it. So just 3.5 stars.

Jack in Toronto