On Strategy II: A Critical Analysis of the Gulf War (Dell War Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Military strategist Summers ( On Strategy : A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War ), who made some 125 television appearances during the Gulf war, here argues persuasively that changes in U.S. military doctrine, undertaken after the Vietnam war, helped U.S. forces prevail in the Gulf. Summers looks at overall strategy, not daily tactics. In Vietnam, he notes, the U.S. failed to follow the lesson of the classic war theorist Karl von Clausewitz: a successful war depends on public support. In the Gulf, Summers argues, such support was generated by participation of the reserves and the announcement of clear war goals. Moreover, after Vietnam, the military gave up its Cold War doctrine of limited war, its branches learned to work together and commanders finally stressed the training of troops for battle rather than troop maintenance and management. However, Summers fails to examine the role of oil in U.S war aims or why U.S. forces allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power. He approvingly cites the international and Middle East coalitions against Iraq without noting the considerable arm-twisting by the U.S. Such lack of skepticism is perhaps predictable in a book dedicated to Summers's friend and Leavenworth classmate Gen. Colin Powell.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Summers's latest book is mistitled: its focus is not the Gulf War, but rather the renaissance of the U.S. military after the dark days of Vietnam. Summers argues perceptively and accurately that for 40 years, nuclear-tipped superpower diplomacy generated a defensive national strategy that was neither fully understood nor adequately explained. Only as containment of the Soviet Union gave way to cooperation did the offensive once again become a viable U.S. option. But the military system that translated political circumstances into battlefield victory was the product of comprehensive restructuring in the post-Vietnam armed forces. Separately and together, the services after 1975 found the moral courage to face their institutional shortcomings and develop the methods and doctrines so brilliantly successful in the Persian Gulf. Summers's clear account of the processes and personalities involved in America's military rebirth will inform general readers and provoke specialist inquiry. Recommended for all collections.
- D.E. Showalter, U.S. Air Force Acad., Colorado Springs
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (January 4, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440211948
• ISBN-13: 978-0440211945
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,481,688 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Historical Perspective, December 31, 2000

By	Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is not a blow-by-blow account of the Gulf War; indeed, the only actual description of the progress of the war itself is the Appendix, a transcript of General Schwarztkopf's 2/27/91 press briefing.

The bulk of Summers' book is a critical analysis of the historical factors that in large part determined how the war was prosecuted and that determined its outcome. Much of this is a re-examination of why we failed in Vietnam- a subject covered brilliantly in Summers' earlier "On Strategy:"- and the changes in US Military policy that followed. Particular import is placed on how the support of the American people and world leaders was cultivated to support the Gulf War.

For students of history, politics and the military, this is a must read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent analysis leading to the victory of the Gulf War, April 11, 2002

By	Janet Maffei (Sonora, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Is probably the best analysis of why we succeeded so completely in the Gulf War. It covers the historical and the strategic ,(socio-political), aspects leading to the Gulf War from the American Military standpoint. It is closer to a collection of interrelated essays on the different aspects that lead to success in war, starting from what in essence led to the defeat of America in Vietnam. This is a must for those interested in more than just tactics or for those interested in being (or understanding) a great leader and the elements that make "great" policy.

5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and Insightful, January 5, 2005

By	M. Loftus - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I lived through the Vietnam era and I did not understand the conflicting and seemingly irrational world around me. This book explains those conflicts and resolves the irrational and contradicting events that left most Americans, including myself, unsettled and unsatisfied with the "popular" or "partisan" explanations of the day. Without understanding the Vietnam era, you will never understand America in the 1990's.