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Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq
Peter R. Mansoor. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. 416 pp. Illus. App. Notes. $28.
This volume gives us a stirring account of events that occurred after U.S. forces seized Baghdad in the spring of 2003. Colonel Mansoor, then-commander of the 1st Brigade of the Army's 1st Armored Division, describes his unit's first year in Iraq, from the defeat of the Ba'athists and the transfer of authority to the formation of an interim Iraqi government.
Mansoor presents his own detailed combat journal and stories from a wealth of other sources, including the observations of embedded reporters, archived e-mails, and combat logs, to tell his tale. He covers the highs and lows that U.S. troops endured during their counterinsurgency operations in the midst of this extremely complex scenario. Readers will get a taste of the difficulties and dangers the 1st Brigade faced in its efforts to thwart the enemy while seeking to reassure and gain the trust of frightened civilian noncombatants.
In a chapter titled, "Reflections," Mansoor articulates several crucial asymmetric warfare principles. "Counterinsurgency warfare can be won only on the ground and only by applying all elements of national power to the struggle. . . The insurgents live among the people. To fight for the people's allegiance, the counterinsurgents must do the same," he writes, adding, "Intelligence structures must change or risk irrelevance in the counterinsurgency wars of this century."
Baghdad at Sunrise candidly portrays his division's failures as well as its successes. The book already has won positive attention from military leaders, newspaper columnists, and foreign policy specialists.
Arabian Knight: Colonel Bill Eddy, USMC and the Rise of American Power in the Middle East
Thomas W. Lippman. Vista, CA: Selwa Press, 2008. 352 pp. Illus. Notes. Bib. Index. $25.95
This is the story of William Eddy—war hero, spymaster, and diplomat, whom State Department historian Phillip Baram describes as "probably the nearest thing the United States has had to a Lawrence of Arabia."
Born to Presbyterian missionaries serving in the Middle East in what is now Lebanon, Bill Eddy grew up speaking Arabic as well as English. After attending high school in Ohio, he graduated from Princeton University and became a Marine Corps second lieutenant. During World War I, Eddy received the Navy Cross and other awards for bravery as an intelligence officer. Following his discharge in 1919, he earned a doctorate from Princeton and pursued academic life.
Eddy rejoined the Corps just before the United States entered World War II. With his intelligence experience and foreign language skills, Major Eddy was well-suited to an initial assignment as a naval attaché and quickly found himself in Cairo. As Lippman's intriguing book tells us, one incredible thing led to another, and Eddy was soon working for General William Donovan, who at the time was organizing the Office of Strategic Services—the forerunner of today's CIA.
In January 1942 Lieutenant Colonel Eddy was posted to French North Africa.
In keeping with General Donovan's loose standards, Bill dealt with contacts of every political persuasion to help verify the feasibility of an Allied invasion. Much of the success of the landings owed to "his vital duties," and he was subsequently instrumental in delicate high-level negotiations that led to "an improbable" U.S.-Saudi Arabian alliance.
Thomas Lippman, an accomplished journalist and author on Middle Eastern affairs, gives us a fascinating book on a little-known officer that should prove useful to U.S. diplomats and military leaders in the daunting years ahead.
Making Waves: Navy Women of World War II
Evan Bachner. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2008. 160 pp. Illus. $35.
Evan Bachner spent years gathering and cataloging official Navy photos for this pictorial study of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), an organization that was established in 1942, two months after the birth of the Women's Army Corps (WAC). Both of these military branches were disbanded in 1948, when Congress authorized females to serve in the armed forces during peacetime as well as during war.
Bachner writes that his project drew from "a group of some the finest photographers of their day, or any day." His extensive research yielded more than a thousand images on everything from combat, rest and recreation, war orphans, and factory workers. With respect to the WAVES, it's interesting that he did not find a single photo broadcasting the notion that "women were out of their depth or an object of fun."
Because WAVES were prohibited from deploying abroad, all the photos in this book were taken in the United States. Nonetheless, despite the restrictive mores of the day, some 86,000 women had joined up by the time the war ended—including Bachner's aunt.
The book features four categories of images: training, transportation, work, and relaxation. My favorites show a huge line of WAVE inductees at Hunter College (p. 14) and WAVE aircraft mechanics working on the engines of a Navy SNJ Basic Trainer (p. 107) and PBY Catalina (p.115)
Making Waves admirably conveys the remarkable spirit of a time when every American was expected to serve.
Legerdemain: The President's Secret Plan, the Bomb, and what the French Never Knew. . .
James J. Heaphey. Palisades, NY: History Publishing Company, 2008. 297 pp. Illus. Index. $24.95.
James Heaphey calls his tale "a story of deceit" involving once-major powers fading from the international scene and new powers that emerged from World War II. It's set in Morocco and features him in secret operations aimed at extending U.S. influence in the Mediterranean at the expense of France.
In the early years of the Cold War, Morocco became a key location. Young Heaphey was stationed at Nouasseur Air Base, a U.S.-run facility flying the NATO flag. While the United States had vowed to respond dramatically if the Soviets used nuclear weapons, Mother Russia was well outside the range of its aircraft. Thus the Truman administration decided to store atomic weaponry at Nouasseur—unbeknownst to France, the Moroccans, or NATO.
Obviously, establishing the storage site in 1952 required the highest security classification. Another key concern was Morocco's uneasy political climate, where nationalists struggled to rid themselves of French colonial rule. As editor of the base newspaper at the time, the author was assigned to work with various sects and even Israeli intelligence agents.
According to Heaphey, in addition to stockpiling atomic weapons two years earlier than claimed by most historical accounts, U.S. authorities surreptitiously supported the rebels to ensure control of Moroccan bases and prevent eviction if France departed. In 1956, France formally relinquished control of the colony and restored Moroccan independence.
Legerdemain adds yet another intricate episode to the history of the Cold War and deterrence of Soviet expansionist goals. As a young Air Force officer, James Heaphey was a leading character in that strategic drama. He deserves our thanks for his service—and for providing us a most engaging tale of it.