The Good Soldiers

Another recent good read was David Finkel’s book called The Good Soldiers.

This book tells the story of a battalion of soldiers sent to Baghdad during the early stages of the surge. It illustrates the horror and futility of war. Most of the soldiers were not killed or injured in actual battle, but by IEDs that destroyed their Humvees while out on patrol. Injuries were often horrendous and permanent. It all seemed a bit pointless, but most believed they were serving their nation.

The soldiers did not see to have a clue who their enemy was or what they were fighting for. Their commanders did not understand the various factions operating in Iraq, so they did not know whether they were fighting against Sunni insurgents opposing the Iraqi government or Shia militia ethnically cleansing the city, or both.

This is not way to run an empire.