No True Glory

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West, Bing 저자(글)

Bantam · 2006년 09월 26일

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BING WEST is the author of several books, including the award-winning The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the United States Marines and the Vietnam classic The Village. He served as a Marine in Vietnam and was assistant secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan. He lives in Rhode Island. Visit his website at www.westwrite.com. From the Hardcover edition.
1 "What kind of people loot dirt?" Throughout most of Iraq, the latter days of April, 2003 was a time of great joy. Saddam's murderous regime had collapsed; the shooting and bombing had stopped; and people could go anywhere they pleased and say anything they wanted. In Baghdad, the American forces were greeted with smiles, waves and shouts of joy. On the eastern bank of the Euphrates near the French embassy, wealthy Sunni suburbanitesanxious to win favorled American Marines to the estates of Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and high-level generals. When the giant Stalinesque statue of Saddam, arm raised and mustache bristling, fell in Firdos Square, Americans and Iraqis alike were pulling on the ropes. April 2003 was an interlude of good cheer, reminiscent of the liberation of Paris in 1944a moment in time when people forgot their wants and their fears and flocked to the streets to cheer the soldiers. In Fallujah, though, the residents did not cheer when paratroopers from the 82d Airborne Division drove into the city in late April. In Baghdad, looters as numerous as locusts had stripped every government building, even carting away bricks. In Fallujah, the windows and electric fixtures at the Baath headquarters at the Government Center remained intact. Most looting was confined to the industrial sector, and only the poor people who lived south of Highway 10 greeted the Americans with smiles. Across the Euphrates south of the city, the large estates of prominent Baathists and army officers stood empty but untouched, securely guarded by the curlicue Baathist symbol on the courtyard gates. Saddam's apparatchiks did not consider themselves defeated. They were in temporary hiding and Fallujah was still their bastion, untouched by the war and unbowed by the presence of a few hundred American soldiers. At dusk on April 28, 2003Saddam Hussein's birthdaya raucous mob of about a hundred men, women, and children pushed their way into the courtyard of the mayor's office, where the 82nd had set up headquarters. The paratroopers had no warning that an anti-American demonstration was planned and had no idea what the Iraqis were protesting or why. The mob accused the surprised American soldiers of spying on women with night-seeing binoculars and of showing pornography to children. Using translators and loudspeakers, a group of paratroopers warned away the mob. The crowd walked several blocks to another neighborhood, where they harassed another detachment of paratroopers. Several men in the crowd were firing AK-47s into the air, which the veteran paratroopers interpreted not as a threat but as bravado. They told them to move on. The mob then walked to a schoolhouse to harass another platoon of paratroopers, who were sleeping inside. It was well after nine and dark. The crowd had a new demand: the soldiers had to leave immediately so that the children could go to school the next day. As the mob pressed up to the schoolyard wall, three Iraqis on a nearby roof started shooting their rifles. Inside the schoolhouse a squad leader, convinced he was under fire, radioed his company commander for permission to return fire. At the same time another sergeant radioed the same request. Believing his men were under attack, the company commander gave the order, and the keyed-up paratroopers unleashed a fusillade of automatic weapons fire. In the next several minutes fifteen men, women, and children were killed and dozens were wounded. None of the paratroopers were injured. The next day seven major Western news outlets sent reporters from Baghdad to cover the story. Most filed similar stories about a terrible tragedy caused by a sudden flare-up in the dark. Several Iraqis had fired weapons, they reported, but while the Iraqis said they had been shooting in the air, the American soldiers said t
"There is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs." ----General Dwight D. Eisenhower For months author F. J. "Bing" West lived among the Marines who besieged the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, and interviewed members of the three US Army units that fought in that factious city before the Marines arrived. With access from frontline personnel to senior policymakers and negotiators, West's astonishing account takes us into strategy discussions between generals, on tense night patrols, and into fighting from rooftop to rooftop to tell the story that hasn't been told in the press or on the nightly news. The Marines originally planned to slip into Fallujah "as soft as fog." But in March 2004, after a mob killing and mutilating four American contractors was recorded in images that horrified the world, the Marines attacked. West recounts the ferocious street battles that followed, the stiff resistance and shocking violence that caught many in our military and government off guard, and the sweeping US counterattack that outraged the Arab world. We go behind the scenes to the intense negotiations to persuade Iraqis to take charge and hunt down terrorists like al-Zarqawi, who were using the city as a sanctuary-negotiations whose ramifications will impact Iraq for years to come. But the real focus is upon the heroic, everyday efforts of the American fighting soldier and Marine confronting the key paradox of the war: that the Iraqis both wanted and didn't want Americans in their country. No True Glory is a firsthand account of the gritty fighting, political maneuvering, and ongoing struggle in this crucial city-a microcosm of the confused and frustrating Iraqi war. "Fromthe Hardcover edition.
"This is the face of war as only those who have fought it can describe it."Senator John McCain Fallujah: Iraq's most dangerous city unexpectedly emerged as the major battleground of the Iraqi insurgency. For twenty months, one American battalion after another tried to quell the violence, culminating in a bloody, full-scale assault. Victory came at a terrible price: 151 Americans and thousands of Iraqis were left dead. The epic battle for Fallujah revealed the startling connections between policy and combat that are a part of the new reality of war. The Marines had planned to slip into Fallujah "as soft as fog." But after four American contractors were brutally murdered, President Bush ordered an attack on the cityagainst the advice of the Marines. The assault sparked a political firestorm, and the Marines were forced to withdraw amid controversy and confusiononly to be ordered a second time to take a city that had become an inferno of hate and the lair of the archterrorist al-Zarqawi. Based on months spent with the battalions in Fallujah and hundreds of interviews at every levelsenior policymakers, negotiators, generals, and soldiers and Marines on the front linesNo True Gloryis a testament to the bravery of the American soldier and a cautionary tale about the complexand often costlyinterconnected roles of policy, politics, and battle in the twenty-first century.
"This is the face of war as only those who have fought it can describe it."Senator John McCain Fallujah: Iraq's most dangerous city unexpectedly emerged as the major battleground of the Iraqi insurgency. For twenty months, one American battalion after another tried to quell the violence, culminating in a bloody, full-scale assault. Victory came at a terrible price: 151 Americans and thousands of Iraqis were left dead. The epic battle for Fallujah revealed the startling connections between policy and combat that are a part of the new reality of war. The Marines had planned to slip into Fallujah "as soft as fog." But after four American contractors were brutally murdered, President Bush ordered an attack on the cityagainst the advice of the Marines. The assault sparked a political firestorm, and the Marines were forced to withdraw amid controversy and confusiononly to be ordered a second time to take a city that had become an inferno of hate and the lair of the archterrorist al-Zarqawi. Based on months spent with the battalions in Fallujah and hundreds of interviews at every levelsenior policymakers, negotiators, generals, and soldiers and Marines on the front lines No True Gloryis a testament to the bravery of the American soldier and a cautionary tale about the complexand often costlyinterconnected roles of policy, politics, and battle in the twenty-first century.
""No True Glory is the gripping account of the valor of the Marines in the fiercest urban combat since Hue. Yet, the even-handed description of the vacillation regarding policy will likely please neither some of our senior officers nor the White House." --Former Secretary of Defense, James R. Schlesinger ""No True Glory is the best book on the U.S. military in Iraq to emerge so far." --Tom Ricks of "The Washington Post "The finest chronicle of the strategy behind battle and the fighting during battle that I've ever read!" --General Carl E. Mundy, former Commandant of the Marine Corps "A remarkably detailed, vivid firsthand account of the American military experience.... West's focus is on the "frontline," putting the reader at the negotiating table with U.S. military commanders and Fallujan sheiks, imams, and rebel leaders; in the barracks; and on the street, fighting hand to hand, house to house, in some of the fiercest battles of the Fallujah campaign and the Iraq war." --"Booklist "West describes the fury of the fighting in Fallujah and Ramadi in a style that makes him part historian, part novelist -- the grunts' Homer." --"LA Times Book Review "West successfully brings the war back home in all its agonizing and illuminating detail. From the combat stories of those on the ground all the way up to the White House, West [is] uniquely placed to write a chronicle of the fight. The narrative truly shines." --"The Christian Science Monitor "Exhaustively reported...West paints a picture of highly capable Marines struggling to make the best of untenable political circumstances.""--Washington Post Book World
"While many other correspondents have ventured to the front lines in Iraq, few have stayed as long as West, or brought as much knowledge of military affairs to their work. The result is a book that ... features amazing accounts of heroism, brutality, perseverance, and gallows humor."Max Boot,The Weekly Standard "No True Gloryis the gripping account of the valor of the Marines in the fiercest urban combat since Hue. Yet, the even-handed description of the vacillation regarding policy will likely please neither some of our senior officers nor the White House."Former Secretary of Defense, James R. Schlesinger "No True Gloryis the best book on the U.S. military in Iraq to emerge so far."Tom Ricks ofThe Washington Post "The finest chronicle of the strategy behind battle and the fighting during battle that I've ever read!"General Carl E. Mundy, former Commandant of the Marine Corps "A remarkably detailed, vivid firsthand account of the American military experience.... West's focus is on the "frontline," putting the reader at the negotiating table with U.S. military commanders and Fallujan sheiks, imams, and rebel leaders; in the barracks; and on the street, fighting hand to hand, house to house, in some of the fiercest battles of the Fallujah campaign and the Iraq war."Booklist "West describes the fury of the fighting in Fallujah and Ramadi in a style that makes him part historian, part novelist the grunts' Homer."LA Times Book Review "West successfully brings the war back home in all its agonizing and illuminating detail. From the combat stories of those on the ground all the way up to the White House, West [is] uniquely placed to write a chronicle of the fight. The narrative truly shines."The Christian Science Monitor "Exhaustively reported...West paints a picture of highly capable Marines struggling to make the best of untenable political circumstances."Washington Post Book World
"While many other correspondents have ventured to the front lines in Iraq, few have stayed as long as West, or brought as much knowledge of military affairs to their work. The result is a book that ... features amazing accounts of heroism, brutality, perseverance, and gallows humor."Max Boot, The Weekly Standard " No True Gloryis the gripping account of the valor of the Marines in the fiercest urban combat since Hue. Yet, the even-handed description of the vacillation regarding policy will likely please neither some of our senior officers nor the White House."Former Secretary of Defense, James R. Schlesinger " No True Gloryis the best book on the U.S. military in Iraq to emerge so far."Tom Ricks of The Washington Post "The finest chronicle of the strategy behind battle and the fighting during battle that I've ever read!"General Carl E. Mundy, former Commandant of the Marine Corps "A remarkably detailed, vivid firsthand account of the American military experience.... West's focus is on the "frontline," putting the reader at the negotiating table with U.S. military commanders and Fallujan sheiks, imams, and rebel leaders; in the barracks; and on the street, fighting hand to hand, house to house, in some of the fiercest battles of the Fallujah campaign and the Iraq war." Booklist "West describes the fury of the fighting in Fallujah and Ramadi in a style that makes him part historian, part novelist the grunts' Homer." LA Times Book Review "West successfully brings the war back home in all its agonizing and illuminating detail. From the combat stories of those on the ground all the way up to the White House, West [is] uniquely placed to write a chronicle of the fight. The narrative truly shines." The Christian Science Monitor "Exhaustively reported...West paints a picture of highly capable Marines struggling to make the best of untenable political circumstances." Washington Post Book World
Here, in this singular book, is the unprecedented frontline look at the struggle in Iraq to replace American soldiers with Iraqis in the face of continued resistance. What unfolds is a vivid portrait from a veteran author who is in the line of fire right now.

작가정보

저자(글) West, Bing

목차

• 
  Major Characters xviii
  Introduction xx
  Prologue Lynching at the Brooklyn Bridge 1(8)
  PART I COUNTERINSURGENCY, April 2003 to March 2004 9(44)
  1. "What kind of people loot dirt?" 11(9)
  2. A Broken Chain of Command 20(6)
  3. "You work with the Americans, you die." 26(10)
  4. A Backwater Problem 36(9)
  5. Valentine's Day Massacre 45(8)
  PART II SIEGE, March to May 2004 53(168)
  6. "They can't do that to Americans." 55(10)
  7. Mutiny 65(9)
  8. The Tipping Point 74(15)
  9. Faint Echoes of Tet 89(5)
  10. Farmers or Shooters? 94(18)
  11. Avoiding the Perfect Storm 112(12)
  12. Many Die, They Are Gone 124(10)
  13. Easter with the Dark Side 134(10)
  14. "You wanna shoot at me? This ain't no picnic!" 144(12)
  15. Fallujah: A Symptom of Success 156(5)
  16. Two-Faced Sheikhs and Imams 161(11)
  17. Lalafallujah 172(12)
  18. Strategic Confusion 184(10)
  19. The Jolan Graveyard 194(14)
  20. A Deal with the Devil 208(13)
  PART III REVERSAL, May to October 2004 221(32)
  21. The Bomb Factory 223(10)
  22. "Keep the noise down." 233(11)
  23. All of This for Nothing? 244(9)
  PART IV ATTACK, November to December 2004 253(64)
  24. The Watchdogs 255(13)
  25. Merry-Go-Round at the Jolan 268(9)
  26. Phase Line Henry 277(16)
  27. The House from Hell 293(11)
  28. Five Corporals 304(13)
  Epilogue By Inches, Not Yards, January to May 2005 317(2)
  Conclusion No True Glory 319(6)
  Where Are They Now? 325(4)
  Order of Battle for Operation Phantom Fury 329(4)
  Notes 333(24)
  Bibliography 357(2)
  Acknowledgments 359(8)
  About the Author 367(2)
  Index 369

기본정보

ISBN	9780553383195 ( 0553383191 )
발행(출시)일자	2006년 09월 26일
쪽수	416쪽
크기	154 * 230 * 22 mm / 422 g
총권수	1권
언어	영어