Battle Ready (Study in Command)

For the serious, this book absolutely merits a careful reading, together with Dana Priest's "The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace with America's Military," and--for a fuller and free overview--my varioius reviews on emerging threats, strategy and force structure, and why our current "military only" approach to foreign policy is ineffective.There are some tremendous gems in this book, some of which I summarize here.1) Zinni is mpressive in his grasp of grand strategy, of the urgency of understanding the threat, devising a full approach that mixes and matches *all* instruments of national strategy, and that focuses--as Zinni learned to focus in Viet-Nam, on the hearts and minds of the people rather than the force on force battles (a means to an end, not an end in themselves).2) Zinni's understanding of war comes across very early in the book when he describes the six completely different wars that took place in South Viet-Nam, each with its own lessons, tactics, and sometimes equipment differences--nuances that conventional military policy, doctine, and acquisition managers back in the US still do not understand: a) Swamp War, b) Paddy War, c) Jungle War, d) Plains War, e) Saigon War, and f) DMZ War. 3) Zinni has read SLA Marshall on "The Soldier's Load", and he notes that the equipment that the South Vietnamese carried was lighter and better for their needs--the US military-industrial complex burdens our Armed Forces with overly heavy things, too many of them, that actually impair our ability to fight. Perhaps even more fascinating, Zinni sees that buying equipment for our troops locally cuts the cost by 4/5th. Not what your average US contractor wants to hear, but precisely what I as a taxpayer am looking for--with the added advantage that this puts money into the local economy and helps stabilize it.4) Within the center of the book, there are rich lessons about war-fighting and peace-making that will stand the test of time. Most impressive is Zinni's focus on pre-emptive relationship building across the region. a) Relationships matter, and relationships forged in advance go a very long way in avoiding misunderstanding and defusing crises. If you have to fight, relationships are the single best means of reducing the fog of war and assuring good integration of effort across cultures, nations, and armies.b) Speed and mixed forces matter. Zinni was the master, in four different timeframes, of using speed and properly mixed forces to achieve effects not possible with larger forces arriving late. In Viet-Nam he worked with "the Pacifiers", especially reinforced company-size units that had been specially augmented with flamethrowers, extra machine guns and mortars, and their own engineers and scouts, all trained for instant deployment. At Camp Hansen, during the times of race riots, he learned the value of a fast, big guard force *combined with* constant and open dialog with the troops in distress. In humanitarian operations, he learne

This book is a fascinating look at the life of a great General. However it is General Zinni's criticism of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld that has people lining up to praise or attack this book on purely ideological grounds. I've got to tell you, that is foolish no matter what "party" you subscribe to.Look Tom Clancy is a die-hard Republican and a friend to Ronald Reagan. Zinni is a retired Marine general and former CentCom commander (which covers Iraq along with the rest of the middle-east). Zinni was highly regarded in the Bush administration who appointed him to several key jobs, including a role as special envoy to the President to the middle-east. If President Bush trusted Zinni enough to have him speak on his behalf to the leaders of key middle-eastern countries, he's clearly somebody Bush respected.If these two guys are so moved by what Rumsfeld has done that they will criticize him publicly - maybe we should listen. If we disagree, we had better understand why, because we are disagreeing with two highly respected men with a deep understanding of military affairs. Forget all the trashy "anti-Bush" books being written out there. This isn't anti-Bush, these are two voices that Americans can trust who (in their minds at least) are trying to save the United States military from a disaster in Iraq. If anything it is anti-Rumsfeld in places, but they certainly have well qualified criticism.I'm not sure I entirely agree with them (I supported going to war in Iraq) but so far Zinni's predictions on what would happen in Iraq have been dead on. It is his success in seeing what was coming that leads me to take a second look at what he has to say. I know personally I've been pretty wrong about what I thought would happen, and Zinni's been pretty right. Maybe we need to calm down, turn off the rhetoric, and listen to what these men have to say.And if you came here to praise or bash this book based on politics, don't waste our time. Try reading the book first.

General Zinni is simply stating publicly what our present military leaders have been fuming about in private for months. They are furious that the iraq occupation has turned into a fiasco, and that detailed and common sense proposals for post-war iraq were pointedly ignored by Rumsfeld et al., even though they were coming from the top brass in the military and the state department.Also, to say that Zinni is simply just another left-wing propogandist is laughable. He supported and voted for George Bush in 2000, and like a growing number of republicans, he now regrets that support.That a former CENTCOM commander should be making these criticisms of our current commander-in-chief should give every conservative in this country pause for thought.

Tom Clancy who has many admirers in the military criticizes Bush and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Clancy says he almost "came to blows" with a leading war supporter, former Pentagon adviser and neo-con Richard Perle. The master of such million-selling thrillers as "Patriot Games" and "The Hunt for Red October" is adding to the criticism of the Iraq war, and not only through his own comments. "Battle Ready," is a collaboration with another war critic, retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni. "Battle Ready" looks at Zinni's long military career, dating back to the Vietnam War, and includes harsh remarks by Zinni about the current conflict and the President. Zinni has openly attacked the war and Clancy acknowledges his own concerns. But even as an envoy, Zinni spoke out against invading Iraq, regarding it as disastrous for Middle East peace and a distraction from the war against terrorism. Zinni says getting rid of Saddam Hussein was not worth the price of our brave soldiers and the enormous tax burden for generations to come."He's a bad guy. He's a terrible guy and he should go," Zinni said. "But I don't think it's worth 800 troops dead, 4,500 wounded - some of them terribly - $300 billion of our treasury and counting, and our reputation and our image in the world, particularly in that region, shattered." Clancy states that, `Some of the people the President listens to bother me greatly. How many times does someone have to be wrong before the President wises up?" Neither Zinni or Clancy would commit to vote for Bush in the coming election. Zinni, a registered Republican who voted for Bush in 2000, said he could not support the president's re-election. I'm a Republican, but I will vote for Nader or Kerry before I vote for Bush again. Some page turners and memorable reads I recommend: I just read a copy of Edgar Fouche's 'Alien Rapture,' which also blew me away. Fouche was a Top Secret Black Program `insider', whose credibility has been verified over and over. I recommend anything by Ken Follett, especially "The Pillars of the Earth", all of DeVille's novels, and Dan Brown's novels are all great reading. Want to be shocked, check out Dr. Paul Hill's 'Unconventional Flying Objects' which NASA tried to ban. "Against All Enemies" by Clarke; "Worse Than Watergate" by Dean, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" by Franken are also worth reading. Check out the reviews on these books.

Tom Clancy lives up to his reputation...he has chalked up another best seller. "Battle Ready," is a stirring narrative of Anthony Zinni's legendary 40-year Marine Corps career. Clancy's eloquent certification of Major General Zinni's military credentials provides a formidable platform for a very tough critque of the intellecutual authors of the United States invasion of Iraq. Moreover, Clancy's well-known hawkish convictions adds volume to Zinni's powerful charge that the Bush administration failed the American people. The former United States Central Command Commander in Chief points many fingers...and backs it up with solid facts. Zinni is a classic gentleman and officer and like many other Marines I know from Philadelphia...he tells it like it is. To this end, Zinni has articulated the most powerful charges I have ever seen a retired Marine Corps officer use against an administration at war. Highly recommended.Bert Ruiz