Wrong War, Wrong Policy, or Wrong Tactics?
Wrong War, Wrong Policy, or Wrong Tactics?
Book Review by F. G. Hoffman
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Bing West, The Wrong War, Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan, New York: Random House, 2011, 307 pg, $27.95. (maps and photographs)
The Long War against extremism has spawned an explosion in books on global terrorism and America’s interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. While Operation Enduring Freedom was the first counter-blow, following quickly on the heels of 9/11, it has not garnered as much attention as the larger Iraqi conflict. In contrast, the protracted contest in Mesopotamia generated George Packer’s Assassin’s Gate, Tom Ricks’ superlative Fiasco and The Gamble, and Linda Robinson’s Tell Me How This Ends among others.
Afghanistan has produced some notable exceptions. Sean Naylor’s Not a Good Day to Die topped the field until Sebastian Junger’s War was issued last year. The former was an operational history of the ferocious fight against Al Qaeda in the Shahikot Valley during Operation Anaconda in March 2002. Junger’s micro-epic focused more narrowly on a small unit over a longer period of time in 2008 in the Korengal Valley.
The imbalance in our bookshelves is starting to become rectified, and Bing West’s latest book tops the list. Mr. West, a former Marine, Pentagon policy official and noted author, brings much insight and no small amount of prior experience to this particular subject. During the Vietnam War, he had the opportunity to closely examine creative approaches and political complications of modern conflict. His first book, the renowned The Village, captured the complexity of American efforts to provide local security assistance to a foreign population beleaguered by a fierce conflict.
Download the Full Article: Wrong War, Wrong Policy,or Wrong Tactics?
Mr. Hoffman is a retired Marine Reservist and frequent contributor to Small Wars Journal.
