Customer Reviews

Storm on the Horizon: Khafji--The Battle That Changed the Course of the Gulf War

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Sometime it takes years for veterans to fully comprehend the big picture of war. That was the case with the first Gulf War, quickly celebrated for "kicking the Vietnam Syndrome" but hardly seen for more than a good 'ole thumping for the U.S. The Iraqi military loomed larger than life, combat-proven and deeply entrenched in Kuwait behind 12-foot tall sand walls, hoping to bog down the American-led invasion in oil-filled fiery traps so their deadly artillery can shred them to pieces. Well that didn't happen due to a premature face-off at the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia border. The Iraqi military turned out to be (now twice) the most incompetent enemy our country has ever defeated-42 days and 21 days.

On the night of January 29, 1991, news quickly filtered to Al Jubayl Air Base (where I was) some 100 miles south of Khafji that the Iraqis were rolling down the coast. There would have been minimal deterrence all the way to Bahrain. Luckily, there was a trip wire called RECON there...and a few Air Force A-10s, proven to be more fatal to U.S. Marines than the Republican Guard.

Morris brings readers to the front lines where the best of the best Marine infantry-RECON-are led by junior officers and NCOs as they repel an overwhelming Iraqi intrusion. With all the details and perspectives from commanders and grunts, STORM is the best battle book and combat narrative to come out of Operation Desert Storm. Morris joins the elite ranks of former leathernecks with a literary flair. Don't be surprised to see STORM in a movie theater down the road or another book by him soon. Semper fi.

This book shook me up. It brought me back to old and seemingly buried memories from my own World War II days, and events I experienced or witnesssed in Viet Nam. Although I sat in my chair, I WAS THERE with the author and the other jarhheads.

Truly a gifted writer, this young Captain of the US MArines. He has an uncanny feeling of what to stress, even though it seems to the uninitiated to be only a small point. Yet, he does equal justice to the so wrongly called "Big Picture", the cameos and the clerly described wasteland of the Northern Saudi desert areas.

I am a jaded reader, rarely find a book I desire to buy and keep. This is one of those that I will keep and give my grandson when he is old enough to understand what sacrifice for one's country really means, and understand the despair when you see a buddy buy the farm (yes, I know this term dates me). I will make him read it so he can also respect those who are willing to die for the rest of us.

I wasn't a Marine, but

SEMPER FI!

In the midst of our current efforts to establish a democracy in Iraq, many will have lost sight of the Gulf War led by the U.S. and its coalition partners against Saddam Hussein in 1991 to liberate Kuwait. In fact, if you are like me, your memory will be so dim that you will not remember that while the air campaign was going on in Operation Desert Storm the Iraqis invaded Saudi Arabia and threatened the oil fields their and the supplies being built up for the Marine invasion of Kuwait. That attack led to the Battle of Khafji, a small city on the Saudi Arabian coast that was recaptured by Arab forces in the coalition with a little support from the U.S.

Although intelligence had reported that an attack was likely, no one paid too much attention. Fortunately, there were Marine reconnaissance patrols in place along with some tank-killing back-up. With brilliant improvisation, the Coalition troops managed to stop superior forces and armor by using their wits and air superiority. They also displayed uncommon valor.

The accounts of the action come mostly from the Marines involved, so any Marine will want to read this book. It's an important chapter in the legend of the Marines.

The story also illuminates how difficult modern war is, even with weapons and air superiority. You are at great risk of being killed by your own forces . . . as unfortunately was shown to be true in this battle.

If you enjoy reading about Civil War battles, you will find this one someone reminiscent of those tales where soldier unexpectedly contact one another and a fight breaks out . . . leading to a more major engagement with strategic consequences.

I particularly enjoyed learning about the background of the people before the battle and what happened to them after the war was over.

We are indeed fortunate as Americans to have been served by such dedicated and talented people.

As I finished the book, I realized how important it is to communicate directly with the person you want to influence. And to be sure the messages are understood. This book shows how easy it is for incomplete communications to lead to deadly errors.

Within the first few paragraphs Morris' literary prowess ramps the reader up for one of the most overlooked yet crucial battles of the post-Vietnam era. As a Desert Storm veteran that served in this area I can attest to the accuracy of events. But most importantly this book poingnantly tells an account of human bravery and selflessness under the most precarious and chaotic of circumstances. Morris has done a great service to these brave men and women by revealing their events to the spotlight of history. The author's unique distinction of being a Marine infantry officer and talented writer combine to create a bona fide page-turner with an insightful lesson.

I just received this book in the mail, and from the time I started reading I could not put the book down. The author's comprehensive research and excellent story-telling was a real pleasure, especially since this is his first book. What really blew me away was the mountain of personal interviews of first-hand accounts. This type of research is certainly the most difficult yet yields the highest quality, which well-read military buffs such as myself can appreciate. In all of the book, which I read carefully, I found quite a few fascinating first-hand accounts that rebutt official military reports, reports that have been dubious from the get-go. This book is a must-read for anyone who needs an accurate understanding of Gulf War I, and certainly for anyone who would attempt to understand Gulf War II and the rest of American post-Vietnam conflicts.

If you buy one book on the first Gulf War(1991) you must buy this book. This amazing treatment of the Gulf War and its importance does not focus on the ground offensive that retook Kuwait, instead it focuses on the battle of Khafji, in which three Iraqi divisions invaded Saudi Arabia and were destroyed by the combined arms tactics and technology that would prove so efficient days later when the Coalition launched their own offensive. What makes this book so amazing and its focus on this event unique is that the author argues this event, more then the later campaign, was the turning point in the war. It was at Khafji that the American army, which had not won a large battle since Inchon, faced the `ten foot tall' giants of Iraq and watched as the Iraqi army was destroyed. Previously the `speed bumps' of American soldiers along the Iraqi border felt that they could easily be brushed aside, but this battle taught them that regardless of the Iraqi armies veteran status and its triumph over Iran and Kuwait it was no match for the new technologies arrayed against it.

Probably the unspoken but obviously poignant statement of this book is that it illuminates the truth about the Gulf War. Many have argued that America and the coalition did not give the `sanctions' time to create a `peaceful solution'. This book shows the Iraq was going for the prize, namely the southern oil fields of Saudi, just beyond the abandoned coastal city of Khafji. Had American troops and technology not been in place, the Iraqi army would have destroyed Saudi and Americas oil lifeline. Those who argue that Saddam wanted a `peaceful solution' are proved wrong in this epic account.

The writing is superb, the action is intense and there is no history of the Gulf War that compares in any way to this masterful account.

Seth J. Frantzman

Storm On The Horizon was a joy to read. As someone who does not read much on current events, I rarely venture into the world of military history, but with recent changes in the political landscape of the Middle East and Africa, I've become more intrigued. I picked up Storm out of curiosity, read the prologue, and was immediately drawn into an amazing story about Kahfji, the most significant battle of Desert Storm.

I loved the book because of it's amazing detail into the back stories of the Marines involved, and it's inclusion of the tasty morsels of shenanigans and behind the scenes chaos that can occur with soldiers in the midst of the Fog of War. The story does an amazing job of bringing such a complex story together, and as a reader that sometimes has trouble visualizing as I read, I was pleasantly suprised as the story led me down a path of vivid imagery as the action played out. From a military history viewpoint I would compare the amazing flow of writing and storytelling to Shelby Foote's 'Stars In Their Courses'. As a history major I had to read 'Stars', and was suprised to find that I enjoyed the tremendous literary elegance of the book, and it's ability to tie details and story together. Storm on the Horizon is by far the best book on a military subject I have read since 'Stars'.

I was also amazed to find a striking parallel to the world of the Marines at war, and the world of mountaineering and adventure. It might seem unfair for me to compare the high stakes of war with the obssesive pastime of the climber, but how the Marines in the book deal with the friendly fire incidents in Kafji is not unsimilar to the conundrum that high altitude mountaineers face when disaster strikes in the Death Zone, having to make decisions that can affect the lives of close buddies at a moments notice. I felt that in many ways the book read more like a John Krakauer story than a traditional military history book. As a fan of adventure writing, this made the story enjoyable and enlightening.

I would highly recommend this book to folks like myself who may not normally venture into the genre of war.

As a veteran of the fight for OP 4 on Jan 29 1991, I can honestly say that this book got it right. I literally trembled as I read it. It put me right back to that cold night. I highly recommend this book.

I found this book to be a breath of fresh air after the litany of sloppily-composed and researched books that have come out about the most recent war against Iraq. The writer, while a former marine, presents a fair and moving account of this 'first battle of the smart bomb age.' Storm on the Horizon, while ostensibly about the 1991 war, speaks volumes about our current predicament in Iraq and should be read by all those interested in events in that corner of the globe. Highly recommended.

This book starts slow, it is history, and becomes a page-turner, it is a marvelous war story.

Monumental innovations act as hinges, opening doors that will lock behind. The Battle of Hastings always comes to mind first for me: the Normans "simply" added stirrups to their saddles, giving them a longer lance reach and a more powerful stand in the saddle. With this the course of western history was altered and Britain was never the same.

"Little" Khafji arises as a big monolith. This book is bound to become a movie just because of the characters and sheer power of the human story line. Battle documentation is not the only story here. Not since I read "On Wings Eagles" by Ken Follett have I enjoyed such unlikely and true story line of operations in the enemy's camp. But, these are not mercenaries, these are listening-post U.S. soldiers attacked on point by an enormous experienced armored column exploiting a potential deadly flaw. Saddam Hussein invades Saudi Arabia over U.S. units. Some of our men are trapped by the invasion force.

The book points to so many important benchmarks that it would have perhaps been another generation before we recognized them had Mr. Morris not interviewed over 100 soldiers who participated in a battle most people would not recognize by name. We would have lost the human touch so important in understanding the power of this new warfare unleashed by well-trained and "braveheart" men who understood in many cases better than their commanders the power in their hands, and volunteered to use it when their odds were amazingly long.

As a former soldier I laughed out loud many times and gripped my book many other times. Yet my wife is militarily challenged and still steadily plows through "Khafji" as I write this review. After Khafji, wars will never again be fought the same by armies who own the weapons used by the Allies against Iraq.

Part of the weaponry, and the unique insights from the book document this, is not just hardware but the heart and mind of the forward observer, the "special forces" grunt if you will, who directs now not only just artillery but also ordinance on an order of magnitude greater in power and accuracy. You will be introduced to the men who did their job well like David against Goliath.

This book is R-Rated for language, the language of soldiers. The words change a little from generations, but this portrays troop life since soldiers camped and fought. If you read this book you will not forget the last chapters and the characters reciting them to Dave Morris.