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The Gulf War 1991 (Essential Histories) Review

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(More customer reviews)In order to have a good grasp on what's happening in Iraq today, an understanding of the war in 1991 is essential. There's a fair amount of literature on the "first" gulf war, but Finlan's book would be a great place to start if you're not already familiar with the subject.
The Essential Histories series is aimed towards the beginner, with the goal of providing a short and readable account of the main issues surrounding a particular conflict. Finlan's book does a very good job at providing context to the war by covering most of the relevant angles. If the book is to be faulted for anything, it would be that it's heavily skewed towards the military aspect of the war at the expense of the political details. The political background to the war was just as important as the military one and should have been given more attention.
Finlan's treatment of the subject is objective and fair for the most part. While the book is quite short (only 84 pages of text) the purpose of the book is to be introductory, not all inclusive. The only factual innacuracy is that he attributed the 1996 Khobar Towers attack to Saudi dissidents, but it is widely known that Hezbollah, working with Iran, were responsible for the attack.
Anyone desiring a greater understanding of Iraq that doesn't know quite where to start would most likely benefit from this book. For those already familiar with Iraq and its history, this book will not provide anything new.

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The Gulf War of 1991 heralded a new type of warfare - one dominated by speed and high technology, that yielded a remarkably low level of casualties among the Allied forces. Just under a million Allied troops were deployed to the Gulf region, where they faced not only the extreme heat, but also biological, chemical and suspected nuclear threats. This book assesses both Operation Desert Storm and OperationDesert Shield, examining each forces strategies, and the political and military figures who were involved on both sides. The operational side of Desert Shield is also detailed in full.

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Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse in America's Military Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a timely topic. Despite publicized campaigns against sexual assault in the military, the problem is not going away. Women soldiers are especially in danger in Iraq. Commanders routinely warn them not to visit the latrine without another woman for protection; three women who died from dehydration had reportedly stopped drinking fluids in the afternoons out of fear of being raped while walking to the latrine. As a young female soldier who carried a knife for protection from fellow soldiers told an interviewer: "There are only three kinds of female the men let you be in the military: a bitch, a ho or a dyke.... In Vietnam they had prostitutes to keep them from going crazy, but they don't have those in Iraq. So they have women soldiers instead." (The full article is available at Salon's website.)
In this volume, Mic Hunter has synopsized an impressive volume of research literature spanning many decades on the topics of rape, sexual harassment, hazing, homophobia, hypermasculinity, domestic violence, and their interconnections. The book offers a helpful introduction to readers who are ignorant about these topics. Unfortunately, Dr. Hunter's treatment of the current situation in the U.S. military is poorly grounded, offering a simplistic analysis and broad generalities. He often lumps together all time periods and all branches of the military. More seriously, he fails to address recent efforts to curtail military sexual assault. What are these efforts? Are they having any positive impact? Are they mere window dressing? Dr. Hunter is silent on these questions. Nor does he seem aware of some of the practical limitations inherent in efforts to court martial suspected sexual abusers. With just a few exceptions, such as his recommendation of eliminating the "Feres Doctrine" that prohibits soldiers from suing the government, he gives little in the way of practical advice.
As a researcher, I found his loose use of data troubling. For example, he cites an unpublished web source to claim that 45% of untreated sex offenders reoffend - a substantially higher proportion than that found in authoritative, published studies. Without adequately referencing such in the text, he cites data that are sometimes many decades old to support his contentions about today's situation. He also uses seemingly discrepant statistics to make different arguments in different sections. For example, on p. 168 he states that "in civilian courts, only 2% of those charged with sexual assault are convicted and imprisoned." Just 20 pages later he asserts that "in the civilian criminal justice system, four out of five of those arrested for sexual assault are prosecuted." While both claims could be technically accurate, his purpose in introducing these statistics seems blatantly polemical. The book contains no index and the referencing system is laborious, so it takes a great deal of effort to figure out where he is getting his information, in order to evaluate the validity of the sources.
As important as this topic is, I fear that some of these weaknesses will make the book ring false to the very audience that most needs it - those who are intimately involved with the military and who are working to reduce sexual abuse within its ranks.

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In Honor Betrayed, Dr. Mic Hunter probes beyond the headlines to reveal the reality of sexual abuse in the military. The culture of the military's training is to turn recruits into those who follow orders without question.Honor Betrayed describes in detail the gross realities of the hostile, uber-masculine, dehumanizing environment our young men and women confront. Most vulnerable to sexual abuse are minorities-particularly women and homosexuals. Included are first-person accounts from American servicewomen and men who were sexually abused by their comrades, including one woman whose case was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hunter also explores the tacit acceptance of these incidents in the military to the recent prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.

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For Love of Country: Confronting Rape and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military Review

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(More customer reviews)It is right for men and women to want to serve their country.
It is right for men and women to volunteer to train and support the interests of their leaders.
It is right for subordinates to respectfully obey their commanders.
It is logical to assume that I need only fear the external enemy. Yet, in this respect Ms. Nelson tells the truth.
By outlining military standards of conduct and defining the perception that the enemy lies outside of the American chain of command, Ms. Nelson honestly describes the situation of patiotic soldiers who believe they are safe in a very imperfect system.
In the context of presenting truth about the frequency of abuse, culture of the military that perpetuates the abuse, and the consequences of abuse to individuals and to units, Ms. Nelson offers logical solutions to a historical problem.
Ms. Nelson's book is worded in such a way as to offer hope to mature leadership in their ability to address these issues. The book honors soliers who committed their lives and security to the Armed Services only to be betrayed by a comrad and dismissed by their division. Ms. Nelson obviously cares about her country and cares about service men and women.
I would recommend this book as standard training for all officer candidates. This book is so well written and true that it would behoove us to dissolve all current sexual harrassement/abuse training and instead assign this book correspondence to each Commander thus establishing a new individual standard outside of the communal culture. The standard needs to raised. Ms. Nelson, with candor and grace, says how high.

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A compelling exploration of sexual victimization in the United States military!This incisive book offers a unique perspective on rape and sexual harassment in the United States military. Drawn from the experiences of military personnel and presented in their own words, For Love of Country: Confronting Rape and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military takes an honest and heartfelt look at a pervasive problem. Service veterans speak candidly about a breakdown of values and leadership failure which has perpetrated a culture of abuse. Male and female rape victims reflect on their efforts to serve their country with honor. Author Terri Spahr Nelson, a decorated United States Army veteran and psychotherapist specializing in sexual trauma recovery, has mixed a compelling chorus of hundreds of personal accounts into a single voice calling for reform. She presents emotional retellings from victims of rape and sexual harassment, with responses from military and congressional leaders. Ms. Nelson offers statistics released from the Pentagon about sexual assault reports, convictions, and the General Accounting Office, and current field research.For Love of Country: Confronting Rape and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military presents:
personal accounts from survivors
unique, inside perspectives from military personnel and veterans
commentary from military and congressional leaders
Pentagon statistics on sexual assault with conviction and sentencing rates
findings and recommendations from the Department of Defense
clinical information on issues facing military trauma survivors
For Love of Country: Confronting Rape and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military serves as a one-of-a-kind resource for professionals, an educational must for military personnel, and a compelling eye-opener to anyone concerned with the preservation of integrity and honor in the United States armed services.

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When Janey Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans Review

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(More customer reviews)I think it's important for readers to gain greater insight into the valor and service of military women. I appreciate the book and its depiction of women combat veterans. The book now rests on my coffee table; serving as a memoir and important conversational piece. Thank you!

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Desert Shield at Sea: What the Navy Really Did (Contributions in Military Studies) Review

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(More customer reviews)I guess he really doesn't want anyone to read it. $92 bucks? Get real. If I could afford to actually read this work I might rate it higher.

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Seals: The US Navy's Elite Fighting Force (General Military) Review

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(More customer reviews)Not the same old history lesson and file photos we're used to seeing, this book is a fresh report on the activities, accomplishments, and equipment of Naval Special Warfare in recent times.
Using the words of the authors, along with the first-person accounts and photos of other veteran SEAL Operators, these writings bring us up to date on an elite fighting force brought into the public's consciousness just in the last two decades. The authors were very careful to preserve the honor of the mission and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in its pursuit.
This is a must-have for any SpecOps, military history, and GWOT buff. It's an especially powerful read for any aspiring Navy SEAL.
God bless ALL of those who sacrifice to preserve our freedoms.

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Since the US Navy SEALs came into existence, they have become famous for their daring missions, advanced and unconventional tactics, hard training and hard-fought successes.SEALs have taken part in numerous conflicts ranging from Grenada in 1983, the invasion of Panama and operations in Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Liberia. Most recently, SEAL units have participated in the ongoing missions of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. This book focuses primarily on modern combat operations between 1983 and 2006, as Mir Bahmanyar and Chris Osman examine various combat operations, the SEALs' intense training regimes, and the development of tactics and weapons. It includes first-hand accounts from SEALs on the ground - including revealing accounts from those currently involved in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is an eye-opening insight into the shadowy world of the SEALs.

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Down Range: Navy SEALs in the War on Terrorism Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book hoping to learn something new about Seals and their missions. What I ended up reading was a cheerleading manual on Seals and SOF in general. I will call that the "rah-rah-rah" factor. There was lots of "they (SOF,USMC,CCTs) are our brothers", "they are real professionals", "we are proud to work with them", and "we'd go to war with them anytime". I even caught a mistake: MOPP (military protective chemical suit) stands for Mission-Oriented Protective Posture. The author gave the wrong info for the acronym. I expect the author to have his facts straight. As usual I recommend the following books: C. Pfarrer's Warrior Soul, E. Haney's Delta Force, Walker's At the Hurricane's Eye, Orr's series on Navy Seals (I think there are 2 worth reading, but don't get the most recent one with all the interviews--uhhh), and Waller's The Commandos. I guess if you are new to the subject of Seals and other SOF this book is ok, but otherwise save yourself the money and get more in-depth info from the above books I mentioned.

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In America's battle against al-Qaeda and their allies, the goal of the Navy SEALs is to be the best guns in the fight—stealthy, effective, professional, and lethal. Here for the first time is a SEAL insider's battle history of these Special Operations warriors in the war on terrorism. "Down range" is what SEALs in Afghanistan and Iraq call their area of operations. In this new mode of warfare, "down range" can refer to anything from tracking roving bands of al-Qaeda on a remote mountain trail in Afghanistan to taking down an armed compound in Tikrit and rousting holdouts from Saddam Hussein's regime. It could mean interdicting insurgents smuggling car-bomb explosives over the Iraqi-Syrian border or silently boarding a freighter on the high seas at night to enforce an embargo. In other words, "down range" could be anywhere, anytime, under any conditions. In Down Range, author Dick Couch, himself a former Navy SEAL and CIA case officer, uses his unprecedented access to bring the reader firsthand accounts from the warriors in combat during key missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Couch creates a pulse-pounding, detailed narrative of the definitive engagements of this war, while painting an unusually intimate portrait of these warriors in the field. The performance of the SEALs in difficult, changing environments—in the heat of the Afghan desert, in the snow-packed Hindu Kush, on the high seas, and in the urban chaos of Baghdad—has been nothing short of extraordinary. The SEALs, coordinating with other American forces, the CIA, and foreign special operations units like the Polish GROM, have once more shown their genius for improvisation and capacity for courageous action in leading the fight against this new and vicious enemy. The first battle history of its kind, Down Range is a riveting close-up of some of America's finest warriors in action against a deadly foe. Also available as an eBook

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The Sheriff of Ramadi: Navy SEALs and the Winning of al-Anbar Review

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(More customer reviews)I just finished the reading of this book, and it was amazing! Although this book is not primarily focused on the hard battles won by the Navy SEALs but rather about their role in supporting the conventional forces in al-Anbar province and all of the ball busting work associated with it. It was interesting how Mr. Couch approached this topic with the notion that the war in Ramadi was being lost, but as he details throughout the writing, this was very untrue. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like a realistic point of view of what's really going on overthere as well as those who are interested in learning about the melding of conventional forces with SOF and their capability to target the bad guys and win the hearts of minds of the people.

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