Twice Armed: An American Soldier's Battle for Hearts and Minds in Iraq

Twice Armed: An American Soldier's Battle for Hearts and Minds in Iraq

R. Alan King
Lieutenant Colonel, USAR

I find I'm drawn to tales of our Civil Affairs officers in Iraq. These are the guys who are doing all the good over there. Too bad there aren't more of them. As in Rob Schultheis' book, "Waging Peace", you really root for these guys and it's tragic because you know it's not going to end well. In fact, King's book doesn't even begin well. From his diary:

NOW, TODAY, THE DAY I AM LEAVING TO START MY JOURNEY HOME, I LEARNED THAT THESE PEOPLE I CALLED FRIENDS, PEOPLE THAT HAD BEEN FAMILY TO ME FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF, LOOKED AT ME AS THE ENEMY. I WAS CONFUSED AND DUMBFOUNDED.

The more of this type of book you read, the more you see common themes running through our occupation of Iraq. In every tale of US soldiers and diplomats working with Iraqis, there's a point where they do something totally puzzling to the author. It's always some cultural thing and it underscores the fact that nobody in the occupation force has a clue what Iraqis really think and really want.

But that's the end of King's time in Iraq (which is where he starts the book). After that (or before that in real time) King does a lot of hobnobbing with the Iraqis -- through translators -- and even becomes an honorary tribal member. "Alan of Arabia", they call him. Which again underscores our cultural ignorance since he was actually in Mesopotamia, not Arabia. But whatever.

It's really a fascinating story, well written and an excellent resource for anyone who wants to know the problems we face as occupiers in Iraq -- but you have to read between the lines. King is a United States soldier, and as such he is loath to criticize the guys who cut his orders both military and civilian.

For example, throughout the book King laments all the good things that could have been done if there were just more troops to do them. From day one King and his Civil Affairs team are jumping from one hotspot to another, never really getting to know the locals whose lives they are supposed to be rebuilding. There just aren't enough troops in Iraq to do all that needs to be done,

I would later hear about the media outrage over our failure to control the looters, who were everywhere. We may have been able to secure more sites in the city with an additional thirty thousand soldiers, but there was no way to stop the looting without killing civilians and causing immediate contempt for the U.S. military.

And

I depended on a Palm Pilot to keep track of my growing list of contacts and requests from people who needed our assistance. It was hard to turn people away, but we lacked the manpower and means to help everyone. We were forced to prioritize our work, and this left some Iraqis feeling abandoned.

God bless the guy, he did the best he could with what he had, but somehow he doesn't make the connection between his lack of manpower and his bosses who actually set the manpower levels in Iraq. King would have us believe that the manpower problem somehow lies with the liberal media and Cindy Sheehan. I kid you not.

King writes, "There appeared to be no clear vision for Iraq's reconstruction. For those of us on the ground, we simply had no plan to follow." And yet, there's never any criticism of the guys responsible for having a plan.

But if you can get past that, "Twice Armed" is a great story by a guy who did all he could with what he had, and a glimpse of what could have gone right on the ground in Iraq. I recommend it.

tags: book review  alan king  twice armed  iraq  civil affairs