America's Splendid Little Wars: A Short History of U.S. Military Engagements: 1975-2000

"America's Splendid Little Wars: A Short History of U.S. Engagements from the Fall of Saigon to Baghdad," by Peter Huchthausen, is a fascinating guide to a quarter century of American military actions. Starting with the S.S. _Mayaguez_ incident off the coast of Cambodia in 1975, Huchthausen tells the story of many missions: the failed 1980 attempt to rescue hostages in Iran, intervention in Lebanon in the 1980s, the 1983 Grenada invasion, the 1986 attack on Libya, activities in the Persian Gulf in the late 1980s, intervention in Panama in 1989, Operation Desert Shield (1990-91) and the 1991 Gulf War, the 1991 relief effort on behalf of the Kurds of northern Iraq, actions in Somalia in the early 1990s, intervention in Bosnia in the 1990s, and the 1999 Kosovo campaign. The book is full of good features: logical organization, more than a dozen clear and informative maps, several pages of black-and-white photographs, a comprehensive nine-page bibliography, and an index. Huchthausen's prose style is clear and to-the-point. A paragraph about the author notes that he is a retired U.S. Navy captain, and that he served as an analyst of the Soviet navy, a submarine expert, and a naval attache. In his introduction Huchthausen notes that the phrase "splendid little war" was used in 1898, by a U.S. ambassador, to describe the Spanish-American War (incidentally, Theodore Roosevelt's classic memoir of that war, "The Rough Riders," would make a great companion text for this book). Huchthausen notes the irony of his book's title: "The U.S. military encounters from 1975 to 1999 were neither splendid nor small." Huchthausen offers gripping descriptions of the unfolding events, both political and military, of each "little war." He gives historical backgrounds for the conflicts and also provides interesting analyses of the U.S. actions. Significant recurring themes include relations between the press and the military, the combination of assets from different branches of the U.S. military, and the use of unconventional forces such as Navy SEALs and the Army's Delta Force. We get glimpses of some fascinating personalities: U.S. Admiral William J. Crowe, Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, Somali warlord Muhammad Farah Aideed, Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, and more. In an afterword (to the 2004 edition), Huchthausen reflects on more recent U.S. wars in Afghanistan (since 2001) and Iraq (since 2003). Yes, one can only fit so much information into the relatively short space allotted to each "little war," and at times I felt that the book didn't give a full enough story. Still, as a general overview of this era the book is very useful, and the excellent bibliography offers interested readers plenty more places to go if he or she wants to learn more. For additional companion texts that cover some of the same material from other valuable perspectives, I recommend "Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy SEAL," by Chuck Pfarrer, and "Inside Delta Force,"

This incisive and unbiased historical analysis of modern military engagements is invaluable as a basis for understanding the motivations,complexities, and details of armed conflicts that have involved America's fighting forces during the critical times covered in this book. Anyone wishing to broaden their comprehension of the policies, politics, and compulsions underlying decisions to engage in battle will find America's Splendid Little Wars a very satisfying read.>

The major U.S. wars -- especially the Civil War and the highly romanticized WW II -- loom large in the American consciousness. But as Max Boot demonstrated in his "The Savage Wars of Peace" (2002), scores of military engagements, interventions, peacekeeping operations and so-called "small" wars have had consequential impact. Boot discusses many such pre-Vietnam operations, including the efforts to end Barbary Coast piracy, the Spanish-American war, the Pancho Villa expedition, and various South America and the Caribbean interventions, among others. Now Peter Huchthausen picks up where Boot left off, with a concise examination of more than a dozen military operations that occurred between 1975 and 2000. Huchthausen, best known as the author of "K-19: The Widowmaker," presents the ignominious (Iranian Hostage Rescue, Lebanon, Somalia) alongside the unqualified successes (Panama, Desert Shield/Storm, Libya retaliation) and engagements in which success came at a price (Grenada, Kosovo). Throughout the narrative, it is interesting to observe the U.S. military progressively restoring its efficacy following its "hollow" period in the immediate aftermath of Vietnan. And we see the positive effects of the Goldwater-Nichols reforms (1986) in fostering increased inter-service cooperation and improved operational performance. Inter-service coordination, for example, was much better in Panama (late 1989) than in Grenada (1983).Huchthausen's book is a highly readable, compact overview, easily digestible in one session or two. Well worth the time for anyone interested in the creation of the modern U.S. military, whose recent successes in Afghanistan and Iraq we've all marveled at.

This is a splendid little exploration of the flurry of American military engagements in the thirty years since the end of the Vietnam imbroglio, and illustrates both the awesome power and inherent limitations of attempting to accomplish political goals through force of military arms. And somewhat of a decidedly mixed bag is what we have to show for the more than a dozen such operations detailed and analyzed herein. And herein Peter A. Huchthausen, best selling author of the absorbing "K-19", takes the reader on a fascinating and thought-provoking journey into each of these adventures. Many of the operations have been successful indeed, including the Mayaguez incident in the mid 1970s, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm all being impressive displays of our incredible ability to project power into any little corner of the world. On the other hand, sordid failures abound as well, such as the botched Iranian hostage situation in the desert, the disastrous peacekeeping operation in Lebanon, and the exercise in `nation-building' amid the squalor of Somalia. The author pulls few punches in relating how such elements as arrogance, ignorance, and inter-service rivalries often hamper and limit our military exercises, such that having not properly done the necessary homework can sometimes result in massive casualties or miscalculation when we do not appreciate the threat of the opposing forces or underestimate their resolve. Finally, he discusses successful but somewhat conflicted efforts such as both the intervention in Bosnia and later Kosovo, where we limited ourselves to air campaigns which translated into much higher levels of unintended civilian collateral casualties then would otherwise have been the case, and where the enemy defended themselves by using innocent civilians as `human shields', and Grenada, where our own casualties were higher than necessary due to lack of inter-service cooperation. The author, a retired navy officer, displays a magnificent respect for the men and women in arms, especially the enlisted troops, while being less kind and deferential to the officers and higher echelons of the power elite, who often send the fighting force off on what are destined to become fools' errands for their own somewhat limited and sometimes selfish political reasons. This is an interesting book and provides a wonderful summary of American miltary actions over the last quarter century. Enjoy!

The title of this book is taken from a quote by Secretary of State John Hay, who in 1898 called the quick war against Spain a "splendid little war." The U.S. gained parts of Cuba and the Philippines in addition to other territories. But Secretary Hay was being ironic. The splendid little war actually mired the U.S. in long term, drawn out conflicts with insurgents, guerillas and others. (Just like the current quagmire in Iraq) The book opens with the Mayaguez incident in May 1975 which was more about President Ford telling the world that America was not crippled than about rescuing a ship and crew from pirates. It gives eleven more examples, including battles in Somalia, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, and the Gulf. The book provides excellent brief analyses of the battles, failures, and victories. Once your curiosity grows however, you should seek out more complex focused deeper analyses to get more of the political flavors of why the U.S. got involved.