Customer Reviews

On the Hunt: How to Wake Up Washington and Win the War on Terror

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Finally a book that doesn't pull any punches. Colonel Hunt proves that winning the "War on Terror" doesn't require a whole lot of sophistication - just a willingness and conviction to do what is necessary. Unfortunately, by clearly offering a blueprint for action as a back-drop, the reader realizes that America no longer has the courage to act with ferocity. From politicians down to battlefield leadership, our commanders are no longer concerned about protecting our interests, they only seek to cover their own posteriors and advance personal agendas. The book has an underlying sense of dread or perhaps resignation, and this reader believes that Hunt has accepted our fate and is writing not as a clarion call for action, but more in the way of an autopsy. I personnaly believe that what he says is true - America has softened, prepared to sing Kumbaya with our enemies - even as they destroy our culture and threaten our very survival. Political correctness and the desire to appease will not make us better, it will make us dead. Hunt points this out like no other author. But then again, he is an Amercan warrior, a rare commodity. Read this. The book is simply written and can be carefully digested in a night or two. It will make you stop and think. It will make you reminisce about the your grandfather's America. An America that truly believed our country was worth defending.

Col Hunt is right on the money. Until America puts the conduct of the war in the hands of field commanders with combat experience, we will not win. I do not believe in a cut and run philosophy, but politician must remove themselves from the tactical decision making. I recommend this book.

Jerry Berry
Salida, Colorado

When one reads the news, and listens to the expert opinions of "talking heads" on TV, it's all too easy to believe that the free world is facing complex problems that allow for no reasonable or successful solutions. The messages we receive include the following: we face 1.3 billion Muslims who blame us for all the ills of the world, and we should understand that it's their world and not ours; nobody in Europe or Britain loves us any more, so we must be terribly wrong; every time we try and react, we only make things worse; we had our run, and now it's time for us to step aside; western civilization is obsolete and on the way out.

Reading Colonel David Hunt's "On the Hunt" tells us: No, we're still in the game; and now's the time for us to kick some butt, make no excuses, offer no explanations, come back home a victor, and marry the prom queen.

My experience, as just one reader, is that I sleep better when I read Hunt right at bedtime. It makes me feel safe knowing that somebody, somewhere, understands it the way he does. If I become discouraged by current events and find myself starting to whimp out and despair, a couple of pages of Hunt gets me back on track. You may have exactly the opposite reaction, and, if that's the case, I'd suggest you leave it alone because "On The Hunt" is pretty potent stuff, and not everyone can handle it.

Maybe the most reassuring part of "On The Hunt" is the author's attitude: David Hunt simply was not born to die as an enemy collaborator. His prose is personal, conversational, and expressive, and communicates his attitude and feelings as well as his ideas. When "his time comes" I suspect he'll go out a warrior, having never surrendered or submitted. That's a character lesson this country sorely needs.

If we heed Hunt's advice and follow his example, and he is wrong, at least we won't go down whimpering, soiling our drawers, and apologizing.

Great content as he doesn't pull any punches on any of the zeroes who have f'd Iraq up to this point. Franks shags butt when it looks bad, unable to commit troops to catch Bin-Laden as he is risk averse. Two 4-star generals have little to no combat but are running things (quite poorly) and then one of them - General Casey is promoted?! The question I have for Hunt is, why do all officers only disagree when they are retired? Except for, as Hunt points out, Shinseki. I will tell you why...because we have no real military leaders, only talking heads with no spines. In addition, I would like to point out a little screw-up in the publishing of the book and an email I sent to Colonel Hunt and his publishing house:

"I have previously written Colonel Hunt to praise him on the content of his book. Unfortunately, this email will be to chastise on the poor editorial job done as some 5 pages were left out of the "Appendix" - pp. 33-37, which would complete Section IV and contain Section V. If you look at the page numbering of the "Appendix" you will see it jumps from page 32(236) to page 38(237) and the last sentence on page 32(236) confirms the missing page because it doesn't finish the meaning and the first sentence on page 38(237) has no beginning."

"Funny how Hunt hates the Navy, but this lowly E6 Gunners Mate found this O6's error."

GM1 Steve Meredith

Just finished reading the book and it was a great read and told what should have been done during the Iraq War. It again proves to me that peacetime can be a badtime for the military in that many individuals rise up to leadership positions that are unqualified in the time of war.

...or at least Secretary of Defense. Colonel Hunt doesn't hold back at all in this book, its not your typical academic style book.
I loved his style eg page 8 he says that all that matters is "killing the bad guys and bringing our boys home in 1 piece.F*** the rest" He's prepared to lay the smackdown on terrorists and the hopeless politicians in charge in D.C whom he calls "pantywaists" and says they need to 'grow a pair" ha ha love it! Finally a no BS look at the War and what needs to be done.

Essentially the Colonel says its quite simple:kill the bad guys, it doesn't matter what the politicians think, what the world thinks, how much it costs or who gets the credit. Any leader who can't handle this and is more concerned with their career is a girleyman who needs to be sacked. PC types won't like this book, heck they probably wouldn't be able to pick it up with their limp wrists, the stuff in this book is enough to make Ted Kennedy drive off a(nother) bridge.

The only criticism I would have is that the Colonel also advocates showering baddie countries like North Korea with aid and goodwill in return for them giving up their nukes and support for terrorists. The problem with this is that these baddie countries are unlikely to abide by the terms of such deals, eg North Korea got such a deal from America in 1994 only to reveal in 2002 that they had been cheating on it all along.

All in all a great book that pulls no punches and has the balls to say what needs to be said,its very easy to simply write off the Colonel as a trigger happy cowboy but that's overlooking the serious failings in this war on terrorism and the solutions to fix them, President Bush must read this book and so should you if you don't then you may as well as the Colonel says "bend over and starting praying towards Mecca"

Colonel Hunt provides a common sense solution to the war on terror.

The book provides critiques for the the Generals and Secretary of defense who have been running Iraq and the war on terror. He is not impressed and he explains why, reviewing military operations and explaining in detail why they have failed and how to fix them.

He also is not happy with political leaders and the policies they have chosen to fight Al Qaeda and other terrorists.

He exposes the follies and foibles of todays leaders and lets the readers know what should change.

It is a refreshing, hard hitting, blunt expose that demolishes many ideas that pass for conventional wisdom.

If you want to understand the problems in Iraq and Afghanistan from a military point of view, this is the book to get.

If anyone doubts Col David Hunt's capacity to clearly articulate how we allowed terrorism to gain a foothold, then I suspect the reader's mind is totally closed and sadly unable to increase their awareness of the world. Hunt traces recent acts of terrorism through several presidencies. He avoids casting blame on Democrats or Republicans as he traces the incremental steps that led to 911, etc. There is much blame to pass around, but Hunt prefers to focus on factual things that allows each and every one of us to draw our own conclusions. At times it was depressing as the United States seems to be a major focal point for our enemies to attack and separating the political from the military was his most difficult challenge, a task he mastered very well.

Hunt comes across in much different way than what we see on Fox News. Yes, his TV image is of a tough, hard nosed military veteran but the tone of his delivery is so strong at times you have to put the book down for a minute. The language is tough but our Nation whether or not most of it believes it or not is in the toughest battle in its history.

It takes courage to say that we are fighting a religious war and Hunt makes no bones about it. We are fighting religious fanatics who will go to any extreme to achieve their goal which is a way of life somewhere between the Taliban rule of Afghanistan and the mullahs of Iran, I have heard no else make this assertion but Colonel Hunt. Further it takes courage to point out in no uncertain terms that we have a major leadership crisis that is keeping us from achieving victory. The blunt, direct to the point Colonel Hunt deliver facts as he finger points at The White House, Pentagon, and both sides of the aisle in Congress as he gets the reader to focus on the failures of our national leadership to do the right thing if we want to win this war.

While being critical of the mis-steps along the way in the fight against an enemy who knows no fear or shame; Colonel Hunt is constantly praising the dedication of those on the front line who are giving all and doing an unbelievable job. He reminds us of what we should be doing for our men and women in uniform despite our concerns about the policy that has but them in harm's way.

If you think the war on terror is just in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hunt bursts that bubble. He painfully reminds us that our open borders to both the North and South are being used by terrorists. He presents plenty of hard evidence in the appendices at the end of his work that lay bear the facts that we are being invaded.

When you read this book, the hunt for the truth on the war on terror is over.

No political correctness here. Too straight-forward and honest for the politicians to appreciate and heed! A must read for those who want success in the war against terror!

Hunt's recipe gives elected officials little wiggle room for hand-wringing and Mia Culpas.