The End of Major Combat Operations

by Nick McDonell

This one hundred sixty-odd page book was included as a part of the 34th edition of McSweeney's, and contains McDonell's observations and ruminations, following a period of time being embedded with the 1st Cavalry Division in Mosul, Iraq.

McDonell examines life in Iraq as the Americans begin to wind down their presence (paradoxically through a surge), and the book is written in a choppy, almost fragmentary form, with chapters never lasting more than a couple of pages.  He never concerns himself with giving his readers the 'big picture', preferring instead to tell some individual stories or to explain isolated incidents he observed.

The picture is of an Iraq where no one really knows what's going on.  Most of the American soldiers, young and brash, don't much care about why they are there, and look only to serve.  Their commanders are often equally clueless.

While some Americans get a detailed portrait painted of themselves, the people in this book that stuck with me were the interpreters (or terps).  These people, who provide such an essential service, are in such danger, and seem to be equally vilified by Americans and Iraqis alike.  There are few options available to these men, and I found that I really felt for them.

This book has served as a nice counterpoint to some of the other Iraq war reading I've been doing lately, which has been more concerned with the early days of the war.  This is an interesting and quick read.  Recommended.

A Head for the Emir

by William T. Vollmann

William T. Vollmann is my favorite author, although searching back through my blog, it would seem I've never written about him before.  I believe that when I last finished one of his books, this blog did not yet exist, although it's hard to imagine going more than a year without reading something from him, seeing as he is so prolific.  I am currently reading his newest book, Imperial, but seeing as it is some 1500 pages long, it's going to be a while before I write about it on this site.

Anyway, it was with great pleasure that I discovered Vollmann had an article in this issue of Harper's.  In it, Vollmann writes about his travels in Kirkuk, Sulaimaniya, and other places in the Iraqi part of greater Kurdistan, a nation that exists in the hearts of its inhabitants, if not on any recognized map.  Kirkuk is too dangerous for an American journalist to stay in, so Vollmann repeatedly makes the journey there for the day, each time increasingly pushing his luck, especially as he continues to travel in the same car, and boldly, eat in the same restaurant.  His fixer and his interpreter become increasingly nervous, and probably rightly so, as they have more knowledge of the kidnappings that occur in that region than Vollmann does.

Vollmann paints an interesting portrait of a people who have come through hard times, and who are continuing to suffer under ethnic strife and the almost constant interference of their neighbouring nations, particularly Turkey, Syria, and Iran, none of whom are willing to concede the right to existence of a greater Kurdistan.

Vollmann does keep his prose much more under control than is typical for him.  This is a relatively objective and flat piece of reportage, almost lacking in his typical flourishes and stylistic foibles (for example, there is only one footnote).  The usual Vollmann does shine through on occasion though, such as when he describes a young machine-gun bearer guarding the Kirkuk Security Directorate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party: "all in all, he seemed dressed for the weather of Kirkuk, whose meterorologists must sometimes report light showers of lead, steel, or concrete fragments."

As usual, when reading Vollmann, it is a wonder that he stumbles his way through his surroundings intact.  His optimism and faith in the goodness of people often comes across as blindingly naive, yet he's still journeying through some of the most dangerous places on Earth, and living to tell us all about it.

Generation Kill

by Evan Wright

When I watched the HBO version of Generation Kill, I was immersed in the activities of the Recon Marines who basically led the way into Iraq for the American forces during their invasion. The thing was, I felt that the TV series didn't provide any context to the activities of the Marines, and I decided to seek out the original book, which is itself based on a series of articles Wright wrote for Rolling Stone.

The problem is, the book doesn't add much context or background either. It is definitely a page-turner - especially the first half - but the reader, like the Marines, never really get to see past the next corner, or over the next berm, as would be more appropriate. The different people that Wright travels with for the thirty-odd days he was embedded with First Recon rarely develop into more than just a character sketch. Even the soldiers that rode in the same Humvee as him remain mercurial and unknowable. There are plenty of details shared, but they don't seem to add up to full people.

Beyond that, this is a very readable book. The first half are full of Marine hijinks and command screw-ups. As the book progresses, and First Recon's role in the war becomes more and more unclear, it slowly changes into a mild condemnation of American policy. Wright never explicitly trashes the war or leadership himself, but he does allow his Marines to have their say, and he does provide a clear window into a tiny corner of the war effort.

This book is at its best when it deals with the ineffective officers, from Captain America, Encino Man and Casey Kasem, right up to Godfather himself. I would like to think that this book would have resulted in at least some of these men being demoted, but as is shared in the afterward, they all advanced in their careers. This book won't survive as one of the classic pieces of literature of this war - I'm sure those are still to come - but it does stand as both a testament to the skills and heart of the men fighting it, and the lack of planning and forethought of the people who orchestrated it.

Generation Kill

by David Simon, Ed Burns, and Evan Wright

I started watching this mini-series with the following pre-conceived notions: i) that Simon and Burns have basically ruined all other television for me - their shows are just about the only things I enjoy now; ii) that the Iraq war was an absolute disaster of military planning and political will from the very beginning, with no real long-range strategy, exit plan, or purpose beyond showing how tough George W. Bush is; and iii) that the US military is one messed up group of organizations, and not really something to be proud of.

This series has completely changed my thinking about point three, while cementing points one and two in my mind forever. When the series starts, I found it very easy to identify with Lee Tergesen's character of Evan Wright, the reporter upon whose book the series is based. As the series progressed, I found that I really developed a respect, admiration, and awe of the different Marines portrayed. Sure some of them are severely damaged Whiskey Tango freaks, but for the most part, they are shown as highly intelligent, brave and determined individuals. The majority of the officers are a different matter however.

The series is about the actions of the Marine 1st Recon unit in the earliest days of the invasion of Iraq. It mostly centres on the Marines in Wright's Humvee, but it also encompasses their entire group (battalion?). We get to ride alongside these highly trained individuals as they move from pointless mission to being stuck behind trucks time and again.

At first, we see their frustration at not being at the tip of the spear to 'kill Hajiis', but as the show progresses, we see even more their frustration at how the war is being mis-managed. The Marines on view here are highly critical of their command, their support troops, and the entire effort. The beauty of this show is that it, while it deals with so much negativity, it also manages to elevate the individual soldiers, and to show them as remarkable people. I found that I started to really like them, and when I finished my week of watching these seven episodes, I found I missed them.

As with The Wire, the Simon/Burns masterpiece, the biggest draw for me was the dialogue. As expected, the Marines are a foul-mouthed, shit-talking group. At the same time, they are poets of a new breed - their rants and invectives flow with a terrible beauty and brutal honesty. Much of the dialogue, and the show itself, is darkly humorous and occassionally so funny that I found myself laughing out loud.

All in all, I think I preferred The Wire in terms of depth and breadth, but this was a highly entertaining series, which caused me to re-think some of my positions on the American military.

Shooting War

Written by Anthony Lappe
Art by Dan Goldman

This is a terrific read. Shooting War is about Jimmy Burns, a liberal video blogger who just happens to be filming a Starbucks when it explodes from a suicide bomb. Burns video propels him into media stardom, and soon he is hired by Global, a sensationalistic 24-hour cable news channel (not to be confused with our own Global TV here in Ontario) and sent to Iraq.

This is not the Iraq of today - this is Iraq in 2011, after two years of a McCain administration. Early into his time there, Burns meets Abu Adallah, the leader of The Sword of Mohammed, a jihadist organization that is trying to create a modernist, non-secular approach to killing Americans - mostly through the use of Iranian equipment.

What follows is an exploration of warfare, in which no side is innocent or noble. Americans shoot unarmed civilians, and use robotic weapons that kill indiscriminately. Journalists report what they are told to report. Iraqi children carry suicide bombs. Dan Rather is more than a little clueless. There is nothing in this book that is implausible really, and it makes no suggestions on how things can be improved. Instead, it's an entertaining and amusing look at where things might end up (and probably would have had McCain actually been elected).

The story moves quickly, and the characters are well developed. In a lot of ways, Jimmy Burns reminds me of Matty Roth in Brian Wood's excellent series 'DMZ'. They are similar in that they are tossed into a conflict they don't understand, and are often used for their fame to promote a certain message.

The art in the book is different. Most of the backgrounds are photographs, with the central characters digitally drawn over them. In more than a few places, the characters look stiff and out of place, but in others, this method is very effective. The American soldiers with their strangely glowing face masks look amazing and terrifying at the same time.

This book comes highly recommended, especially at the relatively inexpensive price of the softcover.