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Iraq War History books:
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The best of Iraq War History books by number of unique Reddit comments:
![Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41cKSd6hQ7L._SL500_.jpg)
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Iraq War History books:
Published over a decade ago but Jeremy Scahill's book on Blackwater and the rise of Prince's mercenary-centric idea of warfare is worth a read.
This family and people like them are pure fucking evil. They give no fucks about the lives they destroy.
If you’re at all interested in this case, I highly recommend the book Black Hearts, which investigates the incident and everyone involved in extreme detail. It’s an exhaustive, practically bottomless chronology of military incompetence and inhumanity. Oddly enough I was exposed to it because it was on the official reading list of the Marine Corps a few years ago, ostensibly as a lesson on the consequences of a poor command environment. But anyone who has served can tell you that everything the book catalogued is just business as usual for the military.
Don't forget to also read Fick's <em>One Bullet Away</em>.
Generation Kill was written by the embedded Rolling Stone reporter, but One Bullet Away was written by the officer commanding that platoon.
Read the book "Blackwater" if you want an idea. Also pretty relevant because it discusses a lot of Erik Prince's political views as well as the DeVos family. Disgusting to see Betsy DeVos in a position of power ESPECIALLY concerning education.
It's not that they didn't try. The West sends terrorists to kill nationalists/leftists/socialists types that want to protect their nation from Western predation. Here's a sample of what America did.
http://www.amazon.com/Overthrow-Americas-Century-Regime-Change/dp/0805082409/
This is probably up there... Mahmudiyah rape and killings
Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death
That's actually the name of the book that the film is based on. Not sure why it wouldn't have the correct name though.
https://www.amazon.com/Horse-Soldiers-Extraordinary-Victory-Afghanistan/dp/1416580522
Very much so. The reporter was embedded in a truck with a specific Squad Leader. You end up seeing the whole invasion over-the-shoulder of just that Squad Leader. Gen Mattis is just a cameo and the whole US Army doesn't exist except for a brief mention of Jessica Lynch's convoy getting captured. It's a very narrow (albeit uniquely and redeemingly indepth) view of the invasion.
As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, the Platoon Leader, Nathaniel Fick, published his own account if you want to contrast the view from literally just one echelon higher.
https://www.amazon.com/One-Bullet-Away-Making-Officer/dp/0618773436
I think most "leadership" books are a waste of time if you are a regular human being that exercises empathy, pragmatism, and critical thinking.
What people ought to be reading are books of leadership failures like Black Hearts. You can learn far more from failure than success and I'm open to anyone changing my mind on that.
https://www.amazon.com/Tribe-Homecoming-Belonging-Sebastian-Junger/dp/1455566381
If you read enough English to read this book, you should check it out.
Sounds like the cities in China are so hyper-modern-society'ized that it can be very harmful for your mental health.
I read a book called Viper Pilotby a retired wild weasel pilot. They have the latest in countermeasures and are all extremely well trained, he says most of the guys have their masters degree on top of the Air Force level of special forces intensity training. When those guys hear missile lock they react like someone has a gun to their head- they immediately shit pants and evade, evade, evade. Drop everything and pilot like your mother’s life depends on it. It’s terrifying.
I rarely see Frost take responsibility for the teams mistakes.
He needs to read this book:
Male here, but I have to recommend this book whenever I have the chance: Tribe by Sebastian Junger.
Junger is war correspondent, documentary filmmaker, writer, etc. He's seen way more than most of us ever will, and this book really drove home some points for me about what it means to be part of your community, part of society, and how we treat each other.
This review on Amazon sums it up very well:
"Tribe focuses on the growing disconnect we’re experiencing with one another as a society, and the far reaching consequences of that disconnect. It’s an eye-opening letter to the American public that politely reminds us that we’ve lost our way when it comes to being a closer knit community as a whole.
Not always, of course. In his book, he touches on how tragedies such as 9/11 brings us closer - albeit briefly. But once the dust settles, we fall back to our old ways.
This is not a book about war, the military, or PTSD. It’s about the loss of belonging, caring for our fellow man as we do about the ones closest to us. He uses a parable about a brief encounter he has with a homeless man as a young adult. The man sees that he’s on a backpacking trip on his own and asks if he has enough food for his trip. The young Junger, afraid of being mugged for his supplies, lies and tells the man that he has just a little food to last him. The homeless man tells Junger he’ll never make it on what he has and hands him his lunch bag that he more than likely received from a homeless shelter - probably the only meal the homeless man would have the entire day. Sebastian feels horrible about himself after that, but uses that lesson as a parable for Tribe.
Think of your fellow man before thinking of yourself. Because without that sense of humanism, togetherness, belonging, we’re all dead inside."
I only heard this song once at bootcamp, as Money_breh said, during the capping ceremony.
My RDCs played an interview with David Goggins or an audiobook of Extreme Ownership on Sunday mornings.
https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057
PoeticalBliss is a hall of fame copypasta. You aren’t. That’s all that needs to be said. Nobody cares that you work with Ben, or whatever else you claim.
Your constant moaning about Bliss is getting in the way of the game, and it’s ridiculous hearing you double down on your art of copypasta BS. Length has nothing to do with the art in copypasta. Length gives you an advantage in the art of copypasta. That’s all it does. The art in copypasta is literally run-on sentences and controlling your thesaurus, and no amount of crap is ever going to change that.
https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250183863/
Stop being a smug tool.
Immediately, I think you should consider two things: Nightmare on Elm Street, and the trope of the impaired female.
Even the great Wes Craven, in early drafts, fell prey to this bias of the (typically male) writer. His female victim was perceived by his daughter as poorly written. Therefore, Craven decided to break the trope and made his female characters more competent.
In the end, Elm Street has proven to be a classic film, rich with meaning. It's more than just "oh, scary guy killing people." It's about realizing that groups of people can agree to do terrible things, like gathering together to burn Freddie. It's a complicated revenge fantasy told from the victims' perspective.
So... that's where I'll start. Why does Maggie need to be "battling depression" in your logline? What if she's not impaired and actually up against a terrifying threat?
That said, a flawed character is viable. And yes, we all face depression. But if your story stands the test of time, it would benefit from wrestling with the real source of our societal depression. Here's a link to a book from 2016. It openly points to the source: a real lack of community.
Good luck with writing. Thanks for trusting us to reflect on your work.
- Daniel
Your mentality just leads to an easy out of taking any responsibility for anything.
Sure we can use these extreme hypotheticals like a truck materializing out of nowhere and annihilating someone, but, when do you actually hear people taking about luck most often? It's in day to day life, about day to day things. People hate the idea that they're in control of their own lives and luck isn't a big factor, because it suggests that their shortcomings are their own fault and not some nebulous force they can offload all of the blame onto.
I strongly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.ca/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057
This is an interesting look at how others see us.
If I may add, the real reason is tribalism. And the Human desire to not be alone. So we latch onto whatever tribe we can to help our identity. If you want to read more, I highly suggest Tribe by Sebastian Jengur
I would add Horse Soldiers to your list.
https://www.amazon.com/Horse-Soldiers-Extraordinary-Victory-Afghanistan/dp/1416580522
Great book https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0805082409/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CLPpFbNVYHTJJ
Every super power basically acts like a dick, because they can
Before the US it was the European powers tearing shit up and most of the last and this centuries problems are hangovers from the British empire (you're welcome!)
Ok first I will explain why the war was just, then why it was necessary.
The war in Iraq was just because Saddam Hussein's government had basically forfeited Iraqi sovereignty by:
- Genociding his own people
- Repeatedly invading other countries to conquest them
- Attacking coalition airplanes which violated the ceasefire from the Gulf War of 1991
- Developing and using WMDs:
- Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons (which are WMDs) to genocide his own people and others in the 80s
- Saddam Hussein was trying to develop nuclear weapons at the time of the 2003 invasion. I admit the intelligence the US presented to the UN was fabricated, but after the war an Iraq Nuclear scientist wrote a book called The Bomb in my Garden in which he explained how Hussein told him to hide atomic equipment from international inspectors.
I am also going to admit that the war in Iraq was poorly managed, but the alternative was to let Hussein stay in power. Imagine having Hussein in power during the war on terror, and during the Arab Spring, possibly with a completed nuclear weapons project. Specifically imagine the war in Syria going on next door.
> Complaining doesn't get shit done.
This video and the book kinda reflect that thinking. I won't lie and say I live like this, but it teaches you something. Well worth the read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSW7LQaFHTg
https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057
It's hard to say, not knowing your friend or what she is doing.
I bought a whole case of these books to give to everyone in an office I was advising. The book sparked a lot of beneficial conversations.
https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057
>In the 1930's there were senior US Army officers saying we'd never stop using man's best friend, the horse because automobiles were too unreliable and tanks didn't have the ability to travel at distance.
I mean... https://www.amazon.com/Horse-Soldiers-Extraordinary-Victory-Afghanistan/dp/1416580522
I struggled with imposter syndrome also - and still do sometimes. I think it’s a normal metal reaction that’s probably tied to a predisposition to the ‘flight’ response.
For me, I take my leadership style from Extreme Ownership. It’s not for everyone but it worked (and still does) for me.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Extreme-Ownership-Jocko-Willink/dp/1250067057
There was a cool author at your event, I think he wrote a book you might want to read.
In the Book Viper Pilot the author mentions many times how much most pilots hate HARM's, due to their failure rate and often having no idea whether they made good effect on target. You are effectively blindly firing them in a general area and hoping they hit radar. I recall the pilot saying that most of the HARM missiles fired in OIF burned out and hit dirt or random buildings because they were so ineffective.
I have a couple of other reading suggestions for you. (Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250183863?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share)[*Extreme Ownership*, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin], and (The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0735211736?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share)[*The Daily Stoic*, by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman].
Extreme Ownership talks about personal accountability and will empower you to take control of your life by “owning” everything in your life, hence “extreme” ownership. The Daily Stoic is formatted to be read one page a day for a year, though it’s perfectly fine to read it however you like. Each page is dedicated to one or two quotes from the classical Stoics, such as Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, and then discusses the application of the concept of that quote in modern life. Stoicism is, essentially, the philosophy of finding peace through learning how to let things go.
For instance, my opinion given the story you’ve told here, is that you should let go of your parents, and let go of the desire to have better parents growing up. You can’t change the past, so focusing on it does you no good. Let the past be the past. Focus instead on what you have now, what you can control now. One thing you have control over is who you allow into your life, which means you can keep your parents out of your life. Frankly, I think that you should. You don’t need people like them. I’ve completely cut myself off from my own family, so I’m speaking from experience. I don’t need them. I have what I need, and anything that I don’t have, I have the agency to acquire it for myself. My family is unwanted and unnecessary, and so they will remain disconnected from my life. Not their choice. Mine.
2001 they were used.
they used horses that were born and bred in the region and learned fast from the local who had generations of knowledge on using horses in that area.
we even built a statue. https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/horse-soldier-statue-dedicated-liberty-park
https://www.amazon.com/Horse-Soldiers-Extraordinary-Victory-Afghanistan/dp/1416580522
10 years or so prior i happend to work with one of the guys on that team the book is about. He had never rode a horse before that deployment. they figured it out on the fly and used the locals for care and feeding of the horses. helped that the horses are easy to replace so if one goes down two more are around to replace it with.