Customer Reviews

Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace

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With this book Ralph Peters further establishes himself as the West's foremost strategist-philosopher. His was among the first serious voices raised well over a decade ago to alert the West to the growing strategic threat posed by the decay and failure of Third World societies and especially Islam. The cognitive dissonance among Muslims arising from the failure of Islam as a civilization generates the rage that fuels Osma bin Ladin and his followers, which he deftly argued in FIGHTING FOR THE FUTURE and BEYOND TERROR. Now BEYOND BAGHDAD picks up the struggle to explain the strategies the West, and particularly the United States, must employ to win this "long twilight" struggle." Peters' conclusions are not based on a lifetime of comfortable academic reflection untroubled with the harsh realities of life. Indeed, they are based on a muscular involvement with life as it is around the world. There are few greater groundings in reality than growing up in a mining family, enlisting in the Army, winning a commission, learning German and Russian fluently, and roaming around the world on special missions for the Army.

Peters blends eternal verities of man and civilizations at war with the specific problems of the age to mark him a philosopher of war to a depth Sun Tzu and Clausewitz, in their narrower spheres, never attempted. His essays travel the world to explore the cultural trends that offer the greatest strategic dangers and opportunities for the future. He identifies the United States as the world's center of gravity for modernization and for the unleashing of human potential, especially that of women, on a scale unrivalled by any other civilization. In doing so, the US has enraged the fossilized Islam of its Arab core. "Islamic terrorism is the violence of extreme desperation, symptomatic of the startling failure of Middle Eastern Islamic culture to compete with "the West" on a single productive front. Their failure is not our fault, but it is our problem." Peters observes that our obsession with the Middle East has obscured the serious potential for modernization of Islam elsewhere, in Africa, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia to which our attention should shift.

His support for President Bush's strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq is argued in compelling terms. Overthrowing Saddam represented the priceless strategic opportunity to shock the Muslim world out of its rut and ease it into the modern world. To suggest, as another reviewer has, that he has been hoodwinked by an administration "bought and paid for by Zionists" is an outrageous canard. Peters, is his own man. He recognized that this was grand strategy at is boldest and most profound. Great opportunities were worth a great throw. This is what we elect presidents for. Peters adds, based on is own conclusions, the vital illumination of the vast cultural/military context and a logical articulation of that strategy that should make the administration green with envy.

While supporting the grand strategy, Peters does not spare the rod in taking Rumsfeld and his senior aides to task for two serious failings. The first is Rumsfeld's espousal of the concept that a mix of high-tech, air power, and light ground forces is the warfare of the future. Funds for future high-tech development would cut deep into the expensive military manpower pockets, with the Army as bullseye. The results of this "light boots on the ground" approach in Afghanistan was the escape of bin Ladin at Tora Bora The result in Iraq was a twofold failure. First, against military advice, was the refusal to plan for the most vital element of the operation, the political transition from combat to the transformation of Iraq into the model for Islamic reform in the Middle East. Second, also against military advice, was to cheese pare the ground force component well below an acceptable level of risk and to hinder the transition phase. Responsible policy does not rely on the valor and skill of the troops to rescue you from feckless decisions. Rumsfeld's fixation on operational and theoretical means put strategic ends at risk.

Underlying these failures is on an all too evident disdain for the leadership of military institutions they lead, dismissing them as mere "military janitors". "[A} number of Donald Rumsfeld's posse of commissars, creatures with no first-hand experience either of the military or of the savage harshness of the world, insisted that none of our generals or admirals or military veterans were worth a damn and that civilians who had never tied on a combat boot knew best how to wield our military. They ridiculed the voices of experience, even implying that those in uniform had a yellow streak, while the civilian lions safe at their Washington desks were models not only of wisdom but of courage."

Peters was one of those "military janitors" whose essays were prescient in their accurate description of the strategic setting, the resulting operational requirements, the course and nature of operations, and the postwar challenges. Anyone wishing to be informed of the essence of the war would do better reading Peters essays in the New York Post than watching Rumsfeld's briefings.

Peters ideas have been polished to deep gleam by the sharpness and sparkle of his prose. As he himself writes, "The notion that `serious' writing has to be as dull as mortgage paperwork had been foisted upon us by academics who couldn't write a grocery list without ten pages of footnotes. A writer's goal should be not to stretch out one small, frail conceit into a book the reader can barely lift, but to pack as many fierce ideas into one cleanly written essay or column a he or she can do. If you cannot say a thing simply and clearly, it simply means you have no clear idea of what you want to say." On is own terms, Peters delivers handsomely.

Ralph Peters is probably the most insightful strategic thinker in the United States today. His collection of essays "Beyond Baghdad" should be required reading for every decision maker in government or the military. I can attest from personal participation in both Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM that his observations are accurate and illuminating. The state of affairs he describes in Baghdad and Iraq in general is much closer to the truth than anything you will see in the mainstream media. If you read only one book about the current war in Iraq. Read "Beyond Baghdad"

When you read Ralph Peters bring your thinking cap. He will challenge you by taking you outside of the box. He will not let you find safety in platitudes. Combine a razor sharp analytical mind with an extraordinarily gifted writer and you have Ralph Peters. In Beyond Baghdad Peters makes us look at the world as it is, not as some of us would have it. Consequently we realize that there will be no quick victory, no glorious sprint over the finish line in the war against Islamic fundamentalism. Peters tells us frankly that we are in a gritty, dirty and prolonged war against a brutal, committed enemy bent on destroying us. And then offers suggestions to win that war.
Peters eschews convenient partisan shelters to forge new strategies in this war. He has a global geopolitical view and a long horizon. Beyond Baghdad is a must read for any concerned, informed person who worries about what a tumultuous future holds for this country. If you want to learn what the war on terror is about, start with Ralph Peters and Beyond Baghdad.

Ralph Peters is the best American commentator on what does and does not work internationally for the United States. He is both brutally honest and intellectually secure. His strongest character trait, though, is hard-headed common sense, which is grounded in hard-won overseas experience. In other words, he is not a closet idealogue, political pundit or armchair general. If you are looking for someone to tell you what you already think you know... look elsewhere. If you are looking for innovative strategic thinking, you have found your man.

Now, conservatives and liberals alike have tended to paint Ralph Peters into boxes not of his making. He will have none of it. He merely speaks truths... and truths supported by facts. Say what you will, Ralph Peters means what he says and says what he means. He regularly angers both enemies and friends alike because he insists on basing his perspectives on facts, no matter what oxe is gored on either side of the aisle in the halls of Congress.

Beyond Baghdad is a powerful indictment of those who would permit political wishful thinking to become American Foreign Policy. Ralph Peters is nothing if not refreshingly frank and to the point. Many will not agree with his prescriptions, but nobody can ignore the force of his intellect. In a brilliant series of essays he rips apart sacred cows across the political spectrum. And he does it with extraordinary clarity and unusual artistry.

He uses a superb multi-disciplinary approach in his analysis of war, peace and the all too often short lulls in between. This means that he examines and digests history; places his historical lessons in a contemporary cultural and psychological context; and then applies his very considerable experience base to explain to his reading audience often controversial truths.

A true American patriot, Ralph Peters makes no bones about his positive feelings for America and its future. There are those who will be put-off by his fervor for his home country. But, he is not a blind patriot. He knows America's strengths and weaknesses, and he knows that for all of our problems, the United States is the only country on the face of the globe that stands for something other than its own selfish self-interests.

Beyond Baghdad is must reading for all students of political science, international affairs and national security policy; as well as military men and women and those mere politicians that would attempt to rise some day to the position of statesmen.

This is an important book for anyone interested in understanding the United States' place in the world today. From the critically-important essay "Rolling Back Radical Islam" that opens the book to the populist-style op-eds that end the book, Peters is always interesting (even when I disagree with him). Perhaps just as important, Beyond Baghdad is a pleasure to read. This is the opposite of dry, academic writing. My favorite line may well be this gem from the introduction: "America may, indeed, be the new Rome, but Secretary Rumsfeld has not yet been hailed Caesar. He might show a hint of humility to the Senate and the people as well as to the legions guarding the barbarian frontier." I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the future of this nation.

Ralph Peters has the talent to present his ideas with exemplary clarity without being repetitive or boring. Although he can't conceal his Republican sentiments and his contempt for the Clinton policy regarding the Al Qaeda and Iraqi threat, he gives a fine analysis of the current geostrategic environment and the kind of threats that Western civilization faces. His views regarding the militant Islam and Osama bin Laden are based on solid facts but they are rather stretched sometimes with conclusions like "extremist Islamists fear the girls". The epithets "killers" or "murderers" are also overused when he refers to Al Qaeda operatives, but I think that if it is a characteristic of the Islamic terrorists that we can't deny it's their immense courage and self-sacrifice (no matter the cause they are fighting for). US and the West must respect their opponents and their ferocity and not try to degrade them with epithets (it is understandable that during a war you have to cultivate hate against the enemy but this must not lead to fatal underestimation of his strengths). The best part of the book is in my opinion the second one ("Our Wars") which contains articles that Peters wrote before and during the Operation Iraqi Freedom. The author should be proud of his clear judgement and forethought when a lot of media people saw only doom and failure, and also for his courage to blame Defense Secretary and his entourage for their naive instistence to wage a war with inadequate land forces (a fact that became painfully obvious in the postwar Iraq).

The basic formula is simply: You fight to win. Until I read LTC Ralph Peters' books, I listened to the talking heads and deferred to the Pentagon experts with child-like awe confident our nation was in good hands. It IS in good hands: The Marines and Army grunts fighting this nasty not-so-little-war that threatens our very existence--if we allow it.Endless War: Middle-Eastern Islam vs. Western Civilization

On the one hand, Ralph Peters is one of the most dynamic American military theorists alive today. A former Army intelligence officer with two decades of experience, he is also a fantastic and lively writer. Outside-the-box is often promoted, but rarely truly done. Mr. Peters does it.

On the other hand, Mr. Peters clearly writes as someone without any actual responsibility. As a result, many of his strategic ideas, while interesting, have a pie-in-the-sky type quality. He has also over the years staked out political positions which, while I sometimes agree with them, have invested him in defending a certain set of beliefs and arguments regarding the last few years. He also has a tendency to attack critics in an over-the-top manner.

Nonetheless, the book is highly recommended, but should be read with a critical mindset. Mr. Peters is good, but he's not a God. He's also creative, but not always realistic.

Excellent - well written and insightful. Not quite as good as New Glory, but that would be hard to follow. I include it in my must read for strategic military thinkers as well as the well informed citizens.

Peter's writes another outstanding work which continues to expand upon the ideas presented in his previous works(Fighting for the Future and Beyond Terror). He pulls no punches in his analysis of the shaping strategic environment, and elaborates upon his changing ideas for the threats facing the US in the 21st century. This work is somewhat lacking in originality of content (almost all of the chapters are reprints of previous articles, and present few new ideas like his previous works) but still packs the trade mark Peter's incitefulnes. Worth reading just for the one liners.