Waging Peace: A Special Operations Team's Battle to Rebuild Iraq (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: team house, Major Clark, Sergeant Paul, Civil Affairs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Veteran war correspondent Schultheis (Night Letters: Inside Wartime Afghanistan) spent six months in Iraq with an Army Civil Affairs Team, a highly trained, elite unit whose primary objective is rebuilding war-torn regions. Despite the overwhelming need for such soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, the army has only a single active-duty Civil Affairs Battalion, and the overwhelming majority of the 5,000 Civil Affairs soldiers are in the army reserves. The dedicated professionals of Civil Affairs Team A-13 featured here are a disparate group of civilian soldiers. Led by a former Special Forces major, the team includes an ex–Peace Corps volunteer, a California surfer girl, a former Marine sniper with a heart of gold and "Fat Larry," an accountant from middle America. Civil Affairs soldiers never initiate combat, but it finds them often enough. As they go about rebuilding schools, repairing sewers and setting up mobile walk-in medical clinics, they also must dodge roadside bombs, snipers and mortars. Schultheis quickly bonds with Team A-13 and celebrates their small victories against difficult odds in a surreal environment, delivering warm character studies and tense highway encounters. And he ends up making a terrific case for a full update of the Marshall Plan. (June)
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Product Description

Gripping, on-the-ground reportage of Special Operations soldiers struggling to rebuild a shattered neighborhood in Baghdad

The U.S. Army Civil Affairs Corps has a unique role within the modern military: these elite, highly trained soldiers are sent to combat zones after the primary fighting has ended to help rebuild war-ravaged regions. Working among the local population in seven- member teams, unprotected by other US forces, they work to restore power grids and sewer lines, get hospitals and schools up and running, and bring order to devastated lands while winning the hearts and minds of a conquered people. Today, these unheralded Civil Affairs soldiers are being tested as never before in the streets and villages of Iraq—where the future of the nation could be decided by whether or not they succeed.

In Waging Peace, veteran war correspondent Rob Schultheis takes you into West Baghdad with Civil Affairs Team A-13 as they face death threats, ambushes, and roadside bombs while struggling to revitalize a neighborhood scarred by battle and three decades of corruption and neglect under Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical rule. Along the way he brings to life the unforgettable men and women of CAT-A13: a former Peace Corps volunteer whose taste for the exotic local cuisine leads to surprising alliances with the local shopkeepers; a southern California surfer girl turned language specialist who helps launch an Islamic women’s center; and a crusty ex-Marine Corps sniper whose irascible exterior masks a devotion to the suffering children of Baghdad. And leading the team is ex-Green Beret Major Mark Clark, who is equally deft at outwitting insurgents and battling bureaucrats to help the local Iraqis rebuild their lives and ensure his soldiers made it home safely when the mission is complete.

A rare and poignant portrait of what is really happening in Iraq based on an unprecedented six months of intense reporting, Waging Peace finds the street- level reality of today’s Baghdad that is too often hidden beneath the headlines and sound bites.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (June 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592401279
• ISBN-13: 978-1592401277
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #543,142 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK!!, September 3, 2005

By	Robert J. Paul "Bipedbob" (The Dalles, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Okay, so i am in the book, but I can still remain objective. Most military books I have read deal with specific combat operations or tactics as that seems to be what people expect when they think of the military. Like going to go and blow up a bridge or something.

There are a lot of people in the military and most of those that serve have jobs other than combat operations. It is interesting to read about a military job that specifically does not use combat operations in a hostile military environment to acheive military goals. Like going to go and repair a bridge or something.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Need more information on Civil Affairs units, August 31, 2005

By	XO (SC) - See all my reviews

This is a great book. It tells the story from a Civil Affairs Team perspective, which many civilians don't even know exist and how they interact amongst themselves and the manuever Battalions they support. Unfortunately Rob was only able to concentrate on one of the Battalion's teams. There were, at times, over 10+ teams spread throughout Iraq doing similar missions which he did not have a chance to visit (one person can only do so much). I have to admit I am biased since I was part of the 425th Civil Affairs Battalion in Iraq and got to see "Writer Rob" quite a bit in theater. He is an incredibly interesting person and I was fortunate to get to know him. Look for more Civil Affairs stories from him because I think he is headed back over to Iraq or Afghanistan in the near future.

UPDATE: SSG PAUL WAS KIA IN KABUL ON 8 SEP 06. HE WAS PART OF OF THE 425TH CA IN IRAQ AND VOLUNTEERED FOR A SECOND TOUR WITH ANOTHER UNIT IN AFGHANISTAN. GOD BLESS SSG PAUL.

The Department of Defense announced the death of two soldiers, who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died in Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 8, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army Reserve's 405th Civil Affairs Battalion, Fort Bragg, N.C. Killed were: Sgt. 1st Class Merideth L. Howard, 52, of Alameda, California and Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul, 43, of The Dalles, Oregon.

As Oregonians, we take the death of each of our soldiers quite personally. As we bid farewell to another, it is important to remember the man he was and the family he left behind.

Staff Sgt Robert J Paul, an Army Reservist, was assigned to the 364th Civil Affairs Brigade, HHC, based in Portland, Oregon. These units serve as the main liaison between the military and the civilian populations of the country where the military is operating.

SSG Paul was originally from Hammond, Indiana. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1987-1989. He earned a Master's Degree in Urban Planning and Economic Development in 1995 from the University of Maryland. He joined the Army Reserve in April 1997. In 1998, He began working for the City of The Dalles, Oregon as an associate planner and became the senior planner. In 2001, he joined the Wasco County Planning Department as the senior land-use planner.

SSG Paul was a great lover of the wilderness and an avid kayaker. "Bob loved this area so much. He moved out here because he loved the west, he loved Oregon, and he loved the gorge (the Columbia River Gorge). He was very much into hiking and trailrunning and whitewater kayaking, all the outdoor experience," said Todd Cornett, Planning director.

In early 2004, SSG Paul was called to active duty and sent to Iraq to help build infrastructure, focusing on urban planning. He was deployed to Afghanistan in Spring of 2006. While in Iraq, he wrote, "It was pretty obvious what was broken and rundown. Saddam did absolutely no maintenance to his cities. Everything was broken or about to break. I had expected to do a lot of repair from military actions. Not at all. Those buildings were, for the most part, destroyed. I was performing maintenance and repair on systems that were not maintained for decades. They were also poorly designed. Naturally, I worked with community groups and the like to get projects aimed at what civilians wanted most rather than what I thought they should want most."

In a statement released by the Army, his family said, "Bob was the kind of guy, who if called for duty, would serve. he never turned down an opportunity because he always wanted to make a difference in everything he did -- the Peace Corps, the Army, his civilian job and, most importantly, his family and friends."

SSG Robert Paul is survived by his daughter, Ilena; mother and father, Esther and Sheldon; and sisters, Monica and Debra.

As we say farewell and God Speed to SSG Robert Paul, we value what he sacrificed for us and what he gave to so many while he was here.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tragedy and Humor of Iraq, July 15, 2005

By	Jon Turk "Author: In Wake of Jomon" (Darby, MT) - See all my reviews

Waging Peace is a MUST READ. It's all too easy for Americans, sitting back in our comfortable homes, to read the news accounts of Iraq and at the same time, forget that human beings are involved - American and Iraqi. Schultheis brings us that humanity, from the men and women of the U.S. Army Civil Affairs Corps, to the men, women and children in the crowded marketplaces of Baghdad. Whether you're for or against the war - it's essential to see the situation today as a human tragedy of epic proportions. Waging Peace will make you laugh and cry - it will take you there - so jump in your unarmored Humvee, pull on your Kevlar vest, and prepare yourself for a wild ride.