73 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tell Me How This Ends: A First Draft of History, August 25, 2008
Linda Robinson's "Tell Me How This Ends: General Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq" is a superb addition to the next wave of Iraq War literature: the Surge Assessments. Hitting the ground before new books by Gordon, Ricks, Woodward, et al., Robinson of the "US News and World Report" tells more than the tale of how a General and his wizards turned around a failed military effort. "Tell Me How This Ends" is a holistic picture of the Surge. It takes the reader from fractious discussions in the White House --- where a beleaguered President pushed aside all of his senior military advisors to go the extra mile for success --- down to the burning fighting vehicles of the troops who bought battlefield progress with their blood. Robinson's battle stories of the 5th Cavalry, 26th Infantry, 23d Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, and the Marines in Anbar will quiet those who think we can't take a punch or fight this kind of war.
At the same time, Robinson knows her counterinsurgency theory. She portrays the struggle for Iraq as essentially a political contest and spends many pages discussing how Ambassador Ryan Crocker and his team prodded the Maliki government to act in the whole nation's interest. Among the more interesting pages are those on the Awakening, the process whereby Sunni tribesmen were turned against the vicious, foreign influences of Al Qaeda. Equally interesting were the chapters on how the central (Shiite-dominated) Iraqi government is dealing with those armed Sunnis, who are, at least for now, nominally on their side. Another highlight --- at least for this old soldier-bureaucrat --- was the inner workings of Team Petraeus and how this remarkable General adapted a standard military bureaucracy to the task of politico-military innovation. The cooperation documented here between the Embassy and the Command was also exemplary.
All of these issues are covered with great insight, fueled by experienced, on-the-ground reporting. There is a minimum of anonymous, third-hand sources in this book. Most of the participants speak clearly here in their own words, or through first hand observations, or by their subsequent actions. If good journalism is the first draft of history, we can be well satisfied with Robinson's contribution. The title passage --- tell me how this ends --- was actually a rhetorical question from then-Major General Petraeus at the start of the Iraq war. In a twist of historical irony, the questioner became responsible for crafting the political-military answer to his own question. Much progress has been made, but as Petraeus himself has recently noted, we are not yet ready for dancing in the end zone. This is the critical set of issues covered holistically by Linda Robinson in this well-reported and highly readable book. She has set the bar high for those who come after her.
This review represents my personal views and does not represent the policy or opinion of any U.S. government entity.
Joseph J. Collins, National War College, August 25, 2008.
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Plan and a Man, October 2, 2008
In his acclaimed study of counterinsurgency, LEARNING TO EAT SOUP WITH A KNIFE, John Nagl includes this note from Vicount Montgomery of El Alamein, to the Colonial Secretary,
" Dear Lyttelton, Malaya
We must have a plan.
Secondly we must have a man.
When we have a plan and a man, we shall succeed: not otherwise.
Yours Sincerely,
Montgomery (F.M.)"
Linda Robinson, in her brilliantly conceived and executed, TELL ME HOW THIS ENDS: GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS AND THE SEARCH FOR A WAY OUT OF IRAQ. addresses the Iraq war in terms of both the plan - how it was developed, adapted, and executed - and the man: Petraeus. In so doing, she has written a classic analysis that ranges from U.S. national policy through the levels of strategy and operations down to the tactical and back again. In telling the story of General Petraeus and his plan she also tells the tales of the other actors, American and Iraqi, Ambassadors and Generals, Lt. Colonels, Captains, Sergeants, soldiers and Marines. And she shows how the smoke and sounds of battle (and the silences) flow from policies, plans, and military doctrine.
Robinson's story focuses on David Petraeus and takes the reader through a series of key mentorships and experiences. The most important mentor was General John R. Galvin who encouraged Petraeus to seek his doctorate and brought him into contact with counteinsurgency in 1986 when Galvin was the commander of the U.S. Southern Command in Panama. Robinson notes, in this context, that Petraeus co-authored Galvin's important article, "Uncomfortable Wars" dealing with counterinsurgency in Latin America published in the Army War College journal, PARAMETERS, and later in Max Manwaring's edited volume by the same title. From this background and later experiences in Iraq, Petraeus led the effort to redefine Army and Marine Corps counteinsurgency doctrine while commanding the Army's Combined Arms Center.
For this, Petraeus assembled a team under the leadership of his West Point classmate, Con Crane, and including LTC John Nagl. Robinson points out the debt the authors acknowledge to Manwaring's work on small wars issues. From the doctrine that his efforts produced, the newly promoted four star General Petraeus developed the strategy that came to be known as "the surge" (of which the troop surge was only a small, if important, part).
Robinson uses this story to show how an effective military commander works to achieve unity of effort up to the political level, laterally with the American ambassador in Iraq, and down to the troops under his command. In the process, she demosntrates the difficulties inherent in coalition counterinsurgent warfare.
The weakest section of the book is her last chapter (which is not very weak at all) where she suggests approaches for the future in Iraq. The only problem is that much of the future is now and some of her suggestions have been overtaken by events.
That said, the only appropriate words for the book are superlatives!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A well-written informative history, October 11, 2008
An overview of American and Iraqi political, military, social and religious histories plus a bio of General Petraeus told in episodic
pivotal moments of choices, impacts and combat. Like the situation, a complicated read. I learnt a ton more than anything aired on tv channel news.
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