WAR ON TWO FRONTS

the long version

"In this book we witness the multifaceted struggle that the U.S. Army faces today, from fighting in Iraq to struggles within the Pentagon to ensure that the troops are supported in their mission. Shortly after the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the war became the most confusing in U.S. history, the high command not knowing who to fight, who was attacking coalition troops, and who among the different Iraqi groups were fighting each other. Yet there were a few astute officers like Lt. Col. Christopher Hughes, commanding the famed 2d [i.e. 2nd] Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, who sensed the complexity of the task from the beginning. In War on two fronts, Col. Hughes writes movingly of his "No Slack" battalion during the heady first days of the invasion ... Transferred to Washington after his tour in Iraq, Hughes provides an illuminating account of the herculean efforts of many in the Pentagon to work around the corporatist elements of its bureaucracy, in order to better understand counterinsurgency and national reconstruction ... To read this book will help understand the sources of mistakes made-- and still being made-- and the process needed to chart a successful strategy"--Jacket.