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Wars of Blood and Faith: The Conflicts That Will Shape the 21st Century

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"Wars of Blood & Faith" is another of Ralph Peters' collections of previously published columns put into book form. On this note, the book is a let-down because there is little new material that a subscription to the New York Post or a monthly check-in with the Armed Forces Journal website hasn't already posted.

But for his fantastic writing he must be given full credit, and as in his previous collections and works he continues to remain tightly focused on his message that globalization isn't bringing the majority of humanity together but apart--save for the new globalized, corporate aristocracy--, life is essentially a Hobbesian struggle, the plague of corruption is a deadly ill that makes other problems even worse, we need to be geopolitically patient and let China, Hugo Chavez and other rogue or less-liked regimes fail on their own while we as a country build ties with other countries who stand to offer a lot more (political) friendship and common cause than such "stalwart," forward-thinking and democracy-loving allies like Saudi Arabia, and that the large swathe of civilization residing in the Islamic heartlands--save the Israelis--is largely in collapse and a hopeless mess. A major theme of his that does not get treated this time around, the emancipation of women around the world, does not get its own section but is mentioned enough throughout the book for the reader to realize this is one of the author's main ideas for securing a better future for humanity.

The articles and columns are indeed thought-provoking, and some of Mr. Peters' predictions and analyses are coming to light if one pays attention to the news. His observation that the Chinese are not liked in Africa and abroad for their callous business dealings with shady regimes, like Sudan or Zimbabwe, is starting to generate small headlines in the global media. Peters offers different views from a different angle on a variety of issues: from his take on globalization as a socially dividing force, to his gritted-teeth note that the global media is now essentially a combatant in war zones that can indeed effect a battlefield victory or defeat based on activist journalism (First Battle of Fallujah, anyone?) and his belief that Europeans may some day pull out their old tricks of genocide and ethnic cleansing to deal with immigrant populations they don't want to assimilate or want, period. Only one essay can only be described as really out of whack: "Plan B for Iraq." Thought-provoking yes, but the whole side comment about Venezuela was a bit much. The controversial "Blood Borders" essay makes an appearance here as well.

The best feature of the book is the author's optimism, cautious in some areas but there nevertheless. There are parts of the world that offer hope and allies, if we approach these areas from a position of mutual respect. Africa is beginning to stand up for itself, though the going will be slow. Latin America offers plenty of allies, we simply have to let the new Caudillos fail on their own while demonstrating that democracy does work (requires work on our part, too). These are more of the alternative viewpoints that the drones in Washington should take into consideration. Again, a bit of a let-down for lack of new material but a tightly-focused effort and worth the time for the author's writing ability alone.

Wars of Blood and Faith contains 78 carefully-selected, hard-hitting articles the author published in 2006-2007 in the New York Post, Armed Forces Journal, USA Today, Washington Monthly, The Weekly Standard, Military Review, RealClearPolitics.com, and Armchair General magazine. Individually, as originally published, each essay provided plenty of food for thought - now, read as a book in this superb collection by publisher Stackpole, it's a real feast!
Peters', today's most insightful, clear-headed strategic thinker, includes a revelatory introductory essay that, alone, is well worth the price of the book. He shatters the mythology so dear to the hearts of America's "ruling elite" that "all men want peace, with its corollary fantasies of bloodless war and a lawyer's faith in negotiations." These through-the-looking-glass assumptions belong to the now-past Age of Ideology, a two hundred year "aberrant period in history ... a time of unaccountable mass delusion, when human beings convinced themselves that individuals could reason out a better architecture for human societies than human collectives could arrive at organically." Peters perceptively reveals that "we have returned to the historical mainstream, abandoning conflicts over artificial systems of social organizations in favor of strife provoked by those ineradicable causes, religion and ethnicity ... the bleeding over political systems is largely finished; we have returned to the historical norm of wars of blood and belief." The age of wars over "isms" (fascism, nationalism, Communism, Nazism, etc.) is over - it's tribe versus tribe in a war to the death. The enemy's preferred strategy is no longer one of winning hearts and minds; that's been replaced by one calling for a knife to the heart and a bullet to the brain. Our leaders' failure to comprehend that represents little more than national suicide.
Yet, don't assume that the sole value of Wars of Blood and Faith lies only in its sorely-needed wake-up call that we must realize our survival depends upon - quite literally -- killing our enemies before they kill us. Peters' prescient, timely and carefully-crafted articles cover the world, explaining in the author's trademark crystal-clear, Hemingway-esque style the myriad of critical security issues that confront America and the West around the globe. Although many of the book's essays address the Iraq War's military and political issues (including its domestic and international fall-out), Peters razor-sharp analysis looks beyond the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan to encompass such far-flung places as China, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, Somalia, and Darfur. With continuing worldwide experience in 70 countries, Peters is no stay-at-home "studio pundit" - the book includes first-hand reporting from the front lines in Iraq and Israel's war with Hezbollah. Ralph Peters knows what he's talking about. More important, he's not afraid to "go public" by sharing that unequaled experience with the reading public in his perceptive essays. As a result, Wars of Blood and Faith is a cogent, desperately-needed wake up call to Peters' fellow citizens. Since, as the author notes, our "ruling elite" leaders in Washington seem "afraid to think -- because many of the answers are terrifying," he's taking his case directly to those who elect them. "The goal of the many essays and columns in this book," Peters explains, "is to provoke the complacent, to challenge the (deadly) traditional wisdom, and to encourage Americans to think for themselves." One fervently hopes they will. Clearly, reading Wars of Blood and Faith is a great way to give those complacent brains a much-needed "jump-start." Buy it. Read it. Share it.

Ralph Peters is one of a handful of individuals whose every work I must read. See some others I recommend at the end of this review. Ralph stands alone as a warrior-philosopher who actually walks the trail, reads the sign, and offers up ground truth.

This book is deep look at the nuances and the dangers of what he calls the wars of blood and faith. The introduction is superb, and frames the book by highlighting these core matters:

* Washington has forgotten how to think.
* The age of ideology is over. Ethnic identity will rule.
* Globalization has contradictory effects. Internet spreads hatred and dangerous knowledge (e.g. how to make an improvised explosive device).
* The post-colonial era has begun.
* Women's freedom is the defining issue of our time.
* There is no way to wage a bloodless war.
* The media can now determine the war's outcome. I don't agree with the author on everything, this is one such case. If the government does not lie, the cause is just, and the endeavor is effectively managed, We the People can be steadfast.

A couple of expansions. I recently posted a list of the top ten timeless books at the request of a Stanford '09, and i7 includes Philip Allott's The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State. Deeper in the book the author has an item on Blood Borders, and it tallies perfectly with Allott's erudite view that the Treaty of Westphalia was a huge mistake--instead of creating artificial states (5000 distinct ethnic groups crammed into 189+ artificial political entities) we should have gone instead with Peoples and especially Indigenous Peoples whose lands and resources could not be stolen, only negotiated for peacefully. Had the USA not squandered a half trillion dollars and so many lives and so much good will, a global truth and reconciliation commission, combined with a free cell phone to every woman among the five billion poor (see next paragraph) could conceivably have achieved a peaceful reinvigoration of the planet with liberty and justice for peoples rather than power and wealth for a handful.

The author's views on the importance of women stem from decades of observation and are supported by Michael O'Hanlon's book, A Half Penny on the Federal Dollar: The Future of Development Aid, in which he documents that the single best return on investment for any dollar is in the education of women. They tend to be secular, appreciate sanitation and nutrition and moderation in all things. The men are more sober, responsible, and productive when their women are educated. THIS, not unilateral militarism, virtual colonialism, and predatory immoral capitalism, should be the heart of our foreign policy.

The book is organized into sections I was not expecting but that both make sense, and add to the whole. Part I is 17 short pieces addressing the Twenty-First Century Military. Here the author focuses on the strategic, lambastes Rumsfeld for not listening, and generally overlooks the fact that all our generals and admirals failed to be loyal to the Constitution and instead accepted illegal orders based on lies.

In Part II, Iraq and Its Neighbors, we have 24 pieces. The best piece by far in terms of provocative strategic value is "Blood Borders: How a Better Middle East Would Look." Curiously he does not address Syria or Lebanon, but I expect he will since the Syrians just evacuated Lebanon and Syria and Iran appear to be planning for a pincer movement on Baghdad after they cut the ground supply line from Kuwait.

A handful of pieces, 5 in all, are grouped in Part III, The Home Front. The best two for me were "Our Strategic Intelligence Problem" in which he points out that more money and more technology are NOT going to make us smarter, it is humans with history, culture, language, and eyes on the target that will tease out the nuances no satellite can handle. He also points out how easily our satellites are deceived. I share his anguish in the piece on "Lynching the Marines." I called and emailed the Colonel at HQMC in charge of the defense, and offered a heat stress defense that I had just learned about from a NASA engineer helping firefighters. If the body gets too hot, the brain starts to fry, and irrational behavior is the norm. The Colonel declined to acknowledge. That told me all I needed to know about how the Marines were all too eager to hang their own.

Part V was the most unfamiliar to me, covering Israel and Hezbollah. In 17 pieces, the author, an avowed supporter of Israel, pulls no punches, tarring and feathering the Israelis for being corrupt (selling off their military supplies on the black market (to whom, one wonders, since the only people in the market are terrorists?) confident the US will resupply them) and militarily and politically incompetent. To which I would add economically stupid and morally challenged--Stealing 50% of the water Israel uses to do farming that is under 5% of the GDP is both nuts and short-sighted. See the brief by Chuck Spinney at OSS.Net.

Part V, The World Beyond, is a philosophical tour of the horizon, from water wars and plagues (see my lists for books on each of the ten threats, twelve policies, and eight challengers), to precision knifing of Russia, France, and Europe. Darfur, one of over 15 genocides being ignored right now (Darfur because Sudan pretends to be helping on terrorism and the US does not have the will or the means to be effective there) is touched on.

The book ends marvelously with a piece on "The Return of the Tribes," a piece that emphasizes the role of religion and the exclusivity of cults and specific localized tribes. They don't want to be integrated nor do they want new members.

Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places: 5th Edition (Robert Young Pelton the World's Most Dangerous Places)
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World
Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict With a New Introduction by the Author
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy

Ralph Peters is likely the premier observer and commentator on the world's most vexing problems and challenges and this volume is a worthy successor to his previous works. Neither a kibitzer nor a naif, Peters is a veteran, professional soldier, a keen observer, and a no-holds barred critic. There are many who will dispute Peters' views but none can come close to duplicating his depth of knowledge or his informed and insightful views. The world is full of reporters and commentators who will opine from afar and profess to hold all the answers -- Peters won't. He'll express vexation, describe situations and parties to problems, draw from the lessons of history, and propose solutions, alternatives or invite further study of the situation. More to the point, unlike those who propose to set the nation's agenda in either Congress or the media, his opinions are backed by first person experience and exposure -- he's been there, done that. India, Somalia, Bosnia, Tajikistan, Israel, Kurdistan, Iraq -- he's been there, on the ground, living with and listening to those who call these trouble-spots home. For the interested, discerning reader who wishes a more informed and intelligent view of a world in upheaval this work is a must read.

Some of the writers and thinkers I value most are those whose views are so fresh and original that I am startled when I read them. They push my frame of reference in ways I had not expected. Ralph Peters is one of those writers. I value what he has to say a great deal. Not because I agree with everything he says, but because he is committed only to thinking clearly about the military and America's place in the world. He never shades his views or analyses to favor one party or the other; or one service or the other. Bush comes in for his share of criticism, as do the Democrats.

This is a collection of articles by Peters that cover a wide range of military, foreign affairs, and domestic security topics. He never pulls his punches. What I enjoy most about his positions is that he never takes a position to help the Republicans or Democrats or the Pentagon establishment. The stands he takes are based on his own experience, his own reasoning, and he let's the grenades fall were they may.

His article on "Blood Borders" where he rethinks the borders of the Middle East is certainly a non-starter in reality (except after a huge war), but just going through the mental exercise is very much worthwhile in allowing the reader to see the situation with new eyes and recontextualize the issues.

In "Kill, Don't Capture" from July 2006, he makes clear the necessity to kill the enemy. This is one area where our "modern" age gets awfully squeamish. This quote is dead on:

"Consider today's norm: A terrorist in civilian clothes can explode an IED, killing and maiming American troops or innocent civilians, then demand humane treatment if captured - and the media will step in as his champion. A disguised insurgent can shoot his rockets, throw his grenades, empty his magazines, kill and would our troops, and then, out of ammo, raise his hands and demand three hots and a cot while he invents tales of abuse."

On September 11, 2006 he published an article about the state of the country five years after those hateful attacks. His points out the achievements we have made during those years and says:

"What should we worry about? Plenty. First, the unscrupulous nature of those in the media who always discover a dark cloud in the brightest silver lining. They're terror's cheerleaders. Second, the rabid partisanship infecting our political system - when "getting Bush" is more important than protecting our country, something's wrong." He lists the third worry as the extremism, fanaticism, and conspiracy paranoia fostered by the Internet.

His June 28, 2006 article on the public "lynching" of the marines involved in the Haditha incident is very powerful. He excoriates those who jumped to a guilty verdict. If they are found guilty, he wants them punished, but:

"Isn't it remarkable that, to the media, our troops are guilty until proven innocent, while our enemies are innocent even after they're prove guilty?"

The articles are not presented chronologically, but grouped into five parts. 1) The Twenty-First Century Military, 2) Iraq and Its Neighbors, 3) The Home Front, 4) Israel's Struggle, and 5) The World Beyond. These articles are timely, and very worthwhile. I encourage you to get and read this book. You will be able to amaze your friends with your original views and depth of knowledge.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

As I read through the author's collection of articles in book format, I wished that it were required reading for each and every one of our 2008 presidential candidates. Aside from the fact that Peters is an absolutely brilliant writer, he lays out under one cover the status quo and history of violence across the world. How could one man know so much, says I! He hits hard at our leadership and is honest in his assessments, giving credit when it is due, and delivering gut punches when it is not. For an understanding of today's world in conflict, this is the one to read -- enthralling, informative, and encouraging. It is a book I will put on my shelf and return to, again and again.

Ralph Peters has a clarity of vision and a logical belief system that is as well founded in history as it is commendable, while at the same time as believable as it is shocking. A former Army intelligence officer with over 20 years of military experience he is not only incredibly knowledgable of history but has the rarer ability to actually draw lessons from it and apply them to modern situations. He is also widely traveled, and looks at the world without the pretensions of political correctness or any other ideological bent, analyzing what he sees with an acutely strategic mind.

This book is the first I have read by him and certainly won't be the last. He cuts straight to the bone with a fierce and enjoyable writing style. Wars of Blood and Faith is a collection of newspaper articles and magazine submissions written from 2006 to early 2007, thus before the surge, and is divided into several subjects ranging basically from the war on terror, to Iraq, to the Israeli war in Lebanon in 2006, to the Home Front, and finally to the wider world than the US and the Middle East. Most of these articles are trying to explain what is happening in the war on terror, and to proscribe how it should be fought. His cure for the cancer of terror and islamofacism is elegant and ruthless, shelve our concern for intrusive morality on the battlefield (such morality is uitable and indeed even necessary for civil society) and fight hard, which means killing, and fight with the knowledge that the most immoral thing that could happen would be for the west to lose this war. He brings a lot more nuance, strategic thought, and historical knowledge to bear than this, which makes his conclusions all the more sound.

As a collection of essays basically the one flaw is that several themes (including several catchphrases) are needlessly repeated, and each thought is constrained to a small number of pages. Even so many of his thought will surprise you and inform you and are very worth reading.

I hope to read more Ralph Peters books and that they are full texts and not collections of small articles since he is a thinker who clearly deserves such room to fully explain his ideas.

Highly recommended!

This is not a book that has a beginning and then an end. It's full of author's original articles that have appeared in different print media across the world. Good compilation and great points. I liked the book.

LTC Peters does it again. This book is a good bit drier than his earliest nonfiction and fiction works, but he succedes in producing a thorough analysis of what is going on today in the wider world, in particular the US military (mis)adventures in Iraq. Peters has done his homework and field trips, and has made a number of very astute comments on the current situation i Iraq as of the surge, succeeding in analysis where too many elected officials on both sides of the isle have failed. If you want to know what is going on in IRaq, and how the surge is succeding in certain key aspects, while dismally failing in other regards that neither political faction seems to be willing comment upo, then you need to read Peters. Nothing that he says has ever been factually incorrect, and he makes the best analysis's possibilty, given that political science theory has largely failed to create a valid model for today's climate. If you want to know about what is going on today, and how it will effect you children and grandchildren, read this book.

What time is it???

Depends on where you are these days.

Some days I wish I still had Boston's libraries nearby. I got this book through inter-library loan and this book came from south Georgia. There's not one single book in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area???

For shame!!! This book should be read before anyone in America makes a comment about Iraq or whether our troops should stay or go. Should be required reading for every literate, breathing person in my country!!!

This book is a compilation of newspaper and journal articles that Ralph Peters has written since 2006. You'll find his articles in the New York Post, USA Today, The Weekly Standard, Armchair General, and Armed Forces Journal.

His articles challenge accepted dogmas fed by the media like Iraq will be our next Vietnam, President Bush's policies in Iraq are all bad, Islam is a threat to only western civilization, and we're losing this war. He will convince you that Iraq will be Al Qaeda's Vietnam, not ours, President Bush was right to oust Saddam Hussein, Islam is a threat to itself, Iraq is not in the midst of a civil war, we and others, like the Ethiopians in Somalia, have scored significant victories against Al Qaeda!!!! Hallelujah!!! And I'm sure there must be muslims out there who are silently rejoicing at that fact.

We should never have our withdrawal, whenever it transpires, to be publicly trumpeted. Does our congress want to exterminate our army??? They're a rat pack of idiots if they do. (Yo, and it's an election year, another Hallelu!!!) Peters argues that if Iraq was in a civil war, we'd have to choose sides, but problem is, there's too many equally bad to choose from. We should withdraw, Peters says, "intelligently", if the Iraqi government and security forces continue persistently to not enforce the rule of law and mayhem prevails. Muslims kill muslims mostly in Iraq and elsewhere in the world.

"We'll get you. No matter how long it takes, we'll get you.", Peters writes in a January 10, 2007 New York Post article entitled Terrorizing Terrorists describing the latest victory against Al Qaeda in Somalia.

At home we have peace, in Iraq and elsewhere our troops are fighting a war against Al Qaeda and terrorists and countries harboring our troops welcome them. We have a professional military. We will not have another Vietnam as long as Congress will listen to our well informed, well educated, baptized in battle officers in uniform. Who am I to tell General Petraeus what to do in Iraq or Afghanistan? The world is a dangerous place what with Iranian centifuges spinning and enriching Uranium and dictators blossoming all over the globe in South East Asia, South America, Africa, and Asia. We should listen to Ralph Peters and other military experts who have served our country in uniform.

I can't tell you enough how good this book is. It informs, it enlightens, and it is prophetic in the sense that prophecy can anticipate what is likely to happen given current patterns and circumstances. The book is global in scale as its title suggests and speaks of many issues besides the Iraq War. I found out about this book from watching Bill O'Reilly on Fox News. Great book O'Reilly!!!