Customer Reviews

No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah

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The First and Second Battles of Fallujah, in April and October, 2004, represented the largest sustained US military engagement since the Battle of Hue over thirty years earlier in Vietnam. But just as the battles represented a landmark in terms of US military involvement in Iraq, the political and strategic landscape of the US position in the country was dramatically altered as a result of the campaign. No True Glory is a great overview of the battles and I would highly recommend it.

No True Glory provides a searing description of the fighting that destroyed that city, as well as an insightful and critical overview of the political and military decision- making that affected the outcome, and whose repercussions and lessons define Iraq today more than any other episode in the war.

The book outlines how The White House, senior generals and ambassadors ordered, then stopped, then re-ordered the attack upon Fallujah in April 2004, finally refusing to let the Marines finish the job at all. This occurred despite evidence that the Marines were close to clearing out the city. (Indeed, in less publicized battles in nearby Ramadi, the Marines had closed out an equally entrenched revolt. The major difference in Fallujah was international press coverage). Result: Fallujah became the stronghold of the insurgency and the Marines had to face a more entrenched and confident foe in October 2004. Fallujah provided a blueprint to the insurgents in the use of international political opinion to change the course of US military action.

The book also gives a clear insight into the challenges the US faces in pacifying the Sunni triangle, given the entrenched rebellion and the Sunni's fear of giving up control of Iraq. It sheds some light on the difficulties in getting the Sunnis to cooperate in the political process as played out in the recent constitutional drama.

Finally, the book highlights the intensity of the house-to-house and hand-to-hand fighting in Fallujah, which was equal to engagements going back to World War II. The Sunni insurgency, with some combatants jumping out of taxi cabs to join fights, only to melt away upon disengagement, offers a classic guerilla style war, with high walled compounds taking the place of the jungles and mountains typically associated with these campaigns. The Marines, when set loose, overwhelmed the opposition in a manner which caused the insurgency to permanently switch tactics from fixed position defenses to a more brutal manner of roadside and car bombing.

No True Glory is not only a great look at the battles, but a great primer on the issues the US continue to face in Iraq.

I have no literary critic's polished review to offer. My comments are based on pure emotion.

I was compelled to read this book--my son was there for the November 2004 campaign. He made it home, but my friend Sharon's son did not. I owe it these men and their brothers to understand as best I can. It is not something my son will discuss, and this is probably the most I'll ever know about his time there. Reading this book was painful. Despite crying my way through much of it, I couldn't put it down.

Not only does this book give you a grunt-eye view of the battles and fighting in the streets, it gives you that feeling of what the decision makers are going through as these young men fight and die for a higher calling.

I had yet to read a book that gave me the real story of how it is going and what we are doing. Mr. West has used his experiences as both a Marine and high government official to inform the reader of what is happening and why. A true hallmark of a well written book is that regardless of what side of this war you are on, this book would inform, enlighten and most importantly educate one on the facts.

What I knew in my heart but this book confirmed was the gross distortions not only the Arab viewers of Al J and Al A see but the even sadder distortions that millions of viewers of the BBC saw as these brave young men fought in Fallujah. If just one British person that thinks the Marines slaughtered the innocents in Fallujah reads this book he will realize the distortion he has been subjected too.

Every person in any Coalition government that is involved with Iraq should read this book.

I served in the Marines in the early 1990s, and worked for some of the individuals described in this book, including Col John Toolan and Maj Gen James Mattis. This book does a terrific job on many levels, but one of the best things is to get a close-up description of these key individuals under the stress of combat. Toolan comes across as a guy who is always up front with his Marines, level headed, decisive. Mattis is a officer who embodies the fighting spirit of the Marines under his command. In West's previous book, The March Up, the signature moment for Mattis is when a group of Marines attack past his humvee, which is out front. One of the Marines stops, breathing heavily. Mattis offers him some water from his hummer. The Marine clasps Mattis on the shoulder, and says, "thanks man." In this book, Mattis' signature moment may be when he is late to a meeting of other generals due to his detour to help fight an ambush with the two light armored vehicles that he is travelling in. That's General Mattis.

This book is superbly written and researched. It presents a balanced and incisive view of the operation in and around Fallujah during OIF2. Along with The March Up, West has established himself as the premiere chronicler of Marine Operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom I and II. Taken together with his previous works (The Village and The Pepperdogs), his body of work covers over 3 decades, and may end where it started -- in Small Wars types of operations in a counterinsurgency.

the description of the fighting in this book is incredible. It's hard to believe our troops were in some cases fighting hand-to-hand...this day in age! I thought that the time of the bayonet was over. One can only admire the soldiers who weathered such vicious urban combat. an important book.

This tells the story of the American battles in Falluja - all 3 of them. And it gives the full background around them, why the first was stopped, why the second was rushed and then stopped, and why the third one was finally approved.

This is probably the best example of the problem with trying to bring peace and sanity to Iraq. All of the major problems are here in this microcosm.

You see what happens to those Iraqis who try to step forward to make Iraq a better place and why those that want death and anarchy win. You see how politics, both U.S. and Iraqi have a gigantic impact on what can be done and when.

And you see how the Marines have to then take the fight to the insurgents and how horrible and bloddy that is.

What is really interesting about this is the book is written by an ex-Marine and Regean assistant secretary of defense. And he clearly has great respect for the Marines and for what the U.S. is trying to accomplish in Iraq.

But at the same time, he writes in a very even-handed manner and it leaves you with a feeling of hopelessness. Yes with significant Marine casualties the U.S. can take any city. But what is left is a ruin and the cost for accomplishing it is so very high.

It will definitely leave you trying to figure out if the battle (the last one) was worth it. And wondering how out of all this, any success is possible.

The author did a great job depicting the two battles for Fallujah. And, the books actual support of the men and women in the Armed Forces as warrors instead of victims is great.

It would be easy to get into politics, suffice it to say he makes clear that giving Zarqawi a safehaven and base to launch attacks for many months was a major mistake and it was up to the US marines to fix the mistakes made by politicians and civilians leaders.

I would recommend No True Glory to anyone, the best part of the book is it makes clear that the soldiers fighting in Iraq are as much the greatest generation of warrors as those that fought in WW2.

This is an incredible account of the battle for Fallujah that lasted from the time of Saddam's fall up until November 2004. The first part of the book deals with Fallujah while a batalion the 82nd Airborne division was assigned to it. This lasts until March 2003 when the 1st Marine Division takes over the hostile city that just a month before had seen an attempt by insurgents to seize control of Fallujah's police station.

Shortly after the Marines show up, four American contractors are killed and their mutilated bodies are dragged through the streets. The Marines wish to try a more calculated response which involves hunting down those responsible. However, General Abizaid and the White House see this as not a mere tactical problem but a direct challenge to the occupation itself with great political implications. So the Marines are ordered to launch an attack on Fallujah but after weeks of being stalled by negociations and outrage by phoney reports of massive civilian casualties on Al Jazeera, the Marines hand over Fallujah to the famed "Fallujah Brigade," former insurgents and militia men that took over control of the city.

After the Marines left Fallujah became a safe haven and base for insurgents and the al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Here they used Fallujah to plan and carry out suicide bombings and the filmings of the beheading of foreigners and native Iraqis. Finally, everyone from the White House down to the headquarters of the 1st MEF realized what a failure the Fallujah Brigade had been. In November 2004 after weeks of bombings to soften up the insurgents and allow the civilian population to flee, the Marines and the Army went back in a second time. This time they wouldn't be pulling out and by November 13 the Iraqi government declared Fallujah secured.

In this book I felt Bing West had achieved two triumphs. He did an excellent job describing both the experiences of the individual Marine and soldier and of the decisions being made by generals and politicians and how they crossed paths. The combat described in this book especially the battle in Ramadi, the Jolan Graveyard, and the South from Hell easily ranks up there with Black Hawk Down. I recommend this book to anybody it will inform as well as make you appreciate what our brave Marines and soldiers went through over in Iraq.

I have labored over what to write in this review for about a week now. My biggest fear is not doing justice to the book that Bing has written. I am not a literary critic but I can statethat he has written the story as I lived and remembered it. No BS and no slant, a story of the modern battlefield, with all of its complexities, heroism and politics.

I had the priviledge to meet Mr. West a few times during his tenure in Iraq as he was a constant fixture everywhere in the First Marine Regiment. He had unparalleled access to every unit on the battlefield and made sure that he got out to all of them. He was out with the grunts in the field, at the after actions for the senior staff and at the morning Ops/Intel briefs. His all encompassing view into what transpired during this time will never be duplicated by another author. They simply weren't there. This is as it happened.

Finally, he has written a book that truly does justice to the young Marines and Soldiers that served, sweat and bled over there and for that I will always thank him. Semper Fidelis

My best friend served with the Marines in Vietnam. I served as a Squad Ldr. in Vietnam 68-69. My friend's two sons served in Iraq with the oldest just arriving home from his 3rd tour. He served in Fallujah two of those tours. I wanted to get a feel for the battles he was in and understand from a Grunts view what he went through. I saw Bing on C-Span and and the book appeared to be what I was looking for. I was amazed at the detail in reconstructing the battle scenes. His writing is explicit and gritty and the way Infantry fights and dies. His style reminds me of Stephen Ambrose and getting the facts right down to the Squad level. He tells the story from the Squad level up the chain of command and quotes from that level to the top. I have a complete view of what my friend's sons have been through and it was tough. Thank you for this great account and god bless all the Warriors out there. "Everyone should hate war but love the Warrior" General Hal Moore " GarryOwen" Ron St Jean