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Title: The Generals' War : The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf by Michael R. Gordon, General Bernard E. Trainor ISBN: 0-316-32100-1 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 09 November, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.38 (16 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Very good book, horribly edited
Comment: Gordon and Trainor have written what is mostly a very readable and very well put together book about the first Gulf War. Students of history should be so lucky to get a book like this on the most recent conflict in the Gulf in a few years time.
The book weaves political and military decisions together seemlessly, and discusses how political considerations did hamper the war effort, in contrast to the line from Washington that the civilians let the generals do all the planning.
Colin Powell does not come out well in this book at all, nor does Gen. Schwartzkopf. The two authors prove that Powell in contrast to his media image at the time, was an extremely reluctant warrior and then wanted to make sure that the US forces did whatever it took to not sustain casualties. Reading this after the second Gulf conflict, one gets a sense of why Powell is Secretary of State and not Secretary of Defense, he seems to have a much better grasp of politics than he does of war. In the book, Schwartzkopf remarks bluntly that Powell does not have the stomach for war, and from what Trainor and Gordon detail, it looks like he is right.
The current value for students of history and not just students of military history and tactics, however, lies in the fact that the Air Force wanted all along in the first Gulf war to topple the Hussein regime and made that a priority, only to have the other services and the civilians in the Bush administration such as Powell and Baker, push that consideration aside. The end of the book details war plans that were even drawn up and immediately classified by an outraged Washington that the field commanders even thought of this, to go to Baghdahd and topple Hussein.
The book is also remarkably instructive on how the US managed to get hoodwinked by Hussein into letting him fly helos anywhere he wanted in Iraq and also not using the occupied oil fields as a bargaining chip because Powell and Schwartzkopf wanted to get out so quickly. Schwartzkopf's failures as a commander in decentralizing his command so much also led to the military not ever understanding the significance of the Battle of Kafji and the Iraqi army's horrible state. If Schwartzkopf had understood the battle's significance, the US and its allies could have possibly destroyed much of the Iraqi Republican Guard much more thoroughly and faster.
Things were so disorganized at the end of the war, the Bush administration failed to even give Schwartzkopf guidance on the terms of the cease fire. All of these mistakes leaving Hussein in power with a military able to suppress internal dissent, and the US to get into a long running needless battle over sanctions and inspections that culminated in the most recent Gulf conflict. If the Bush administration and CENTCOM had done their jobs in the first Gulf war, Hussein would have been gone over a decade ago and Iraq rebuilt.
This is a great book, however, it's horribly edited. There are several misspelled words with many of the chapters having the same passages repeated a few pages apart, especially in the conclusion of each chapter. A better editor should have caught those mistakes and told the authors that the reader didn't need to have something defined to them twice in three pages, and didn't need passages repeated verbatim in the conclusion.
Rating: 5
Summary: MUST READ for GULF WAR HISTORIANS
Comment: The General's War is an excellent account of the planning and implementation of the Gulf War. In short, it shows why the United States is a great nation. One of the main reasons we were so successful was because we DID argue on how to fight this war. Both the Military and Washington worked together to come up w/ the best possible plan. No war is ever conducted perfectly, but the Gulf War comes pretty close. Don't forget...it is the men and women who fought the war that won it, but the planning phases were crucial to putting our soldiers in the position to win. A little luck in some area never hurts as well. The best part of tis book is that it questions specific decisions from the war. This critcal analysis not only brings awareness, but helps our military and polititians plan future military operations.
Don't forget to read "Bravo Two Zero" about the British SAS in the Gulf. Great book!
Rating: 5
Summary: Not the same Gen Franks
Comment: To those reviewers who have pointed out that the Gen Franks who comes off as incompetent in "The Generals' War" is ironically the same Gen Franks who led the recent war against Iraq, please read the book again. The Gen Franks in "The Generals' War" is Gen Frederick Franks, while the CENTCOM Commander who led the military forces in the most recent war with Iraq is Gen Tommy Franks. They are NOT the same person.
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Title: Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age by Peter Paret, Gordon A. Craig ISBN: 0691027641 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 March, 1986 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy by Russell Frank Weigley ISBN: 025328029X Publisher: Indiana University Press Pub. Date: January, 1978 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: European Armies and the Conduct of War ISBN: 0049400703 Publisher: Unwin Hyman Pub. Date: October, 1983 |
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Title: On War by Karl Von Clausewitz, Carl Von Clausewitz, Carl Von Clausewitz, Anatol Rapoport ISBN: 0140444270 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: November, 1982 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Some Principles of Maritime Strategy (Classics of Sea Power Series) by Julian Stafford, Sir Corbett, Wayne P. Hughes, Eric J. Grove ISBN: 0870218808 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: April, 1988 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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