Inside Centcom: The Unvarnished Truth about the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

This short, easily readable book concerns itself -as the title aptly implies- only with the view of those running the U.S. Central Command during the USS Cole, 9/11, the War in Afghanistan, and the War in Iraq. If you are looking for more breadth you will be disappointed, but taken for what it is the book is lucid, concise, and always straight to the point. What is useful about this book is the chance to see how our U.S. commanders responsible for military actions in the Middle East, Horn of Africa, and Central Asia see the world and how they act. They are blunt, dedicated, capable, and surprisingly innovative. Although they may not wrap themselves up in nuances the way many people who are only concerned about intelligence, or diplomacy, or some other single discipline tend to, neither do they take a simplistic view of the world. They maintain the ability to see simple truths in a complex world, and use those truths to guide them in a highly stressful, highly demanding, and highly risky endeavour. The book chronologically accounts Lt. Gen. De Long's extended three year tenure as deputy commander of CentCom during the most important events in the war on terror. You will see how CentCom concerned itself (and still does) with building and maintaing coalitions that are determined by the mission at hand (not the other way around) and with all the military strategy, planning, intelligence, diplomacy, logistics, and support needed to fight the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. This book is good military history of how we pulled off those operations, what we did right, and what we did wrong. It also shows the transformation our military is going through towards becoming a fully joint force, and the payoffs this is having in the current theaters of operation. It is also encouraging to see that the U.S. military is indeed reacting to the Al-Qaeda threat with innovative new ways of conducting military operations. There are a small handful of historical gems that did not get wide media coverage and can help explain the current military situation to the lay person. Certainly a book that is worth reading, but limited in scope. You won't find any explanation of the root causes of Al-Qaeda, any real insight or analysis on Al-Qaeda's strategy and tactics, nor any grand strategy for defeating them. You will see how CentCom got things done and why they did it the way they did. The teaser of where Iraq's WMD are fizzles a bit in the actual telling though. They certainly may be in Syria, Lebanon or still hidden, but conventional wisdom seems to have concluded they don't exist and there's not enough evidence presented here to suggest that this is incorrect. There are also several appendices with official documentation regarding the current U.S. defense strategy which are interesting.

It doesn't matter if you found General Tommy Franks' "An American Soldier" a delightful read or were intimidated by its length, the simple truth is, if you want to get a direct, straightforward, and eyewitness account of the Afgan and Iraq wars, General Michael DeLong's "Inside CentCom" is a perfect read. This book tells the story of the buildup and the execution of both wars in only 140 pages. This is no autobiography and General DeLong puts himself in the story only to talk about what he did as the second in command at CentCom. On page 253 of Tommy Franks "An American Soldier" he says that Delong "was a brilliant, complete officer, tempered in combat as a young man flying Marine helicopters during heavy fighting in Vietnam; later he assisted in the chaotic evacuation of Saigon. Like most of my senior officers, he had commanded warfighting units. "Rifle" was a well-earned nickname." This sounds like high praise to me and the analysis and comment DeLong shares in telling the story of the Iraq and Afgan wars confirms Franks' judgment. General DeLong points out several things that the press got wrong such as Woodward in his "Plan of Attack" assuming incorrectly about the war plans that were already "on the shelf". He also shares little known information such as the enlightening fact that Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz and Ahmad Chalabi were in graduate school together. He also is very firm that Saddam had WMD. He also shares some insights into the capture and questioning of the senior Iraqi leadership. My own thinking is that everyone should read this book before election day as a corrective measure to many misconceptions about the Afgan and Iraqi wars and their place in the overall War on Terror. General DeLong has performed great service to our nation for many decades and has provided us a great tool for understanding more about a very important issue of our time. I hope a great many of us take advantage of this gift. The book has several appendices including a statement by Gen. Franks, some great maps, the Bush Administration's National Security document, and the National Strategy to Combat WMD. These add another 67 pages to the book. There is also a useful index.

"Rifle" Delongs command as written with Noah Lukeman provides readers with a powerful story of what went on behind the scenes of the wars. This non-fiction book read's like a best selling Tom Clancy novel. It places the reader right in the middle of the action that the news channels never broadcasted, much less knew about. Any objective reader without an agenda will find this book both intriguing and valuable.

Thank you for writing a book that speaks straight out to the American people. No matter their class, history, background or standing in life this book is meant for us. At times it seems that the media is set out to create different kinds of mindsets for the different classes of people that America holds. Thank you for including everyone and for me personally, showing that in Iraq there are those who will work with the U.S. and the Coalition, and those who will fight and die for their own freedom and all that it encompasses.

Coming out shortly after the release of Tommy Frank's new book, American Soldier, Inside CentCom is written by the only other man not in the military that knows what really went on during the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, former deputy commander of CentCom, Lt. General Micheal "Rifle" DeLong. General DeLong sets out in his book to tell nothing but the truth about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq unlike so many other books coming out today that so clearly have agendas. DeLong describes in great detail special operations missions that helped bring down the Taliban in Afghanistan, including the Northern Alliance's assault on Mazar-e-Sharif. He describes the coalitions lightning advance towards Baghdad in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the joint warfare that made that campaign so successful. He also has many new revelations in this book. I won't go into them as they are all mentioned in the editorial review and are described in greater detail in the book. Buy and read this book right after reading "American Soldier" to give yourself a much understanding of the battles in the War on Terror we have already won and what we still face.