The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq

As someone previously mentioned, "The Lion" Maj. Doug Zembiec said "I believe we can win this." And he died proving it as did so many other fine warriors. I have had, due to an injury, many weeks to read. I have completed "No True Glory", "The March Up", "Ambush Alley", "One Bullet Away", "Moment of Truth In Iraq", "Dawn Over Bagdad" and "Shadow Warriors" to name a few.

A common thread thru all, and one that West ties up nicely, is the conflict between politicians and warriors. But it is not one of "let's go kill `em all" because many of our military minds had the answer (or good parts of it) early on and were ignored. This book will, to any reasonable reader, put to rest the arguments about "what happened" and "why" in a professionally critical way. There can be no doubt, and this conclusion is supported in nearly all the books I have read about Iraq, that the CPA and Paul Bremer did more to hinder than help. But observations made within about faulty military supervision are certainly accurate and should be given credence. West does a wonderful job of clarifying this complex interaction and breaking it down to the basics.

While there is enough blame to go around, The Strongest Tribe leans towards the successes and those dedicated to winning in a way that leaves Iraq intact and on the road towards independence. It is specific, articulate, and I believe very accurate. And, as West was there on the ground in the heat and fog of war, he saw first hand the remarkable dedication to their buddies and the mission that our troops possess. These present day Spartans fight `in the shade' for each other and America benefits although so few seem to recognize that fact. You cannot read the book and not absorb that truth. We should carry our warriors about towns on our shoulders!

No war is good but if the outcome of this one is as suggested by Bing West than the valiant sacrifices made by Maj. Doug Zembiec and those warriors like him will not be in vain. A larger question raised is one of American unity and our own future as a nation.

Bing West's "The Strongest Tribe" is an excellent account of the Iraqi insurgency. The roots of the insurgency and the lack of effective counter-insurgency techniques, both at a political and military level, are fully explored. Readers will get a fresh view of how the turn-around took place, from the ground up, literally block by block in some areas. The United States has not faced an insurgency on this level since Vietnam. Its unfortunate that our leaders, both political and military, did not enact proven counter-insurgency tactics sooner. It's amazing both how close we came to losing it all and how our military pulled off an upset win.

I highly recommend this book. Great job Bing! And thank you for taking the tremendous risks you did to bring this account to us.

"The Strongest Tribe" is not deep and complex, but not for the novice, either. The author is an ex Marine combat veteran. It won't be much help to the Bush-haters and is not a detailed history. He portrays the insurgency in Iraq as the will of the people, - tribes, militias, and terrorists shaping the course of the war. Leaders at the top scrambled to respond to the events at the bottom. He carefully portrays Haditha as a vastly overexposed dark side of the war.

Lately people from McCain to Obama as well as television commentators and talk show hosts have talk about "the Surged" and how it help improved the military situation in Iraq, yet listening to all these people I realized these people don't have a clue of what they are talking about, these people assumed that just increasing troops level in Iraq automatically causes the situation in that country to improved. Bing West is the only author who have the experience in dealing with insurgency and the intelligent to correctly analyze and report on the what went wrong in Iraq and why the troops surge is working.

One of the reason why the war against insurgency did not work under Westmoreland in Viet Nam and during the first few years during the Iraq war was due to the stupidity and ignorant of those in command from Lyndon Baines Johnson to the current Idiot-in-Chief George W. Bush. Both Westmoreland and those generals before General Petraeus failed to understand that you cannot defeat the guerrillas by hiding in the "Green Zone" or in your outposts. You have to be among the people, you have to show the indigenous people that you actually willing to live among them and is willing to protect them. Forget about the "Hearts and Mind" stuff, forget about bribing people with contracts and refrigerators. Protect people, give people the means to protect themselves, earn their trust and respect and they will co-operate with you and only then will you be able to defeat the insurgents.

This is an excellent book for those who want to understand what actually goes on in Iraq and why the surge is working. Of course Iraq is not the only was this country is currently fighting, the U.S and Nato is losing badly in Afghanistan because we are still using the "search and destroy" crap and prefer to hided in outposts instead of clearing and holding territories. I wish that Bing West would go to Afghanistan and teach the people over there how to fight a guerrilla war.

Bing West is without question one of the best writers on military affairs living today! This book is certainly a MUST READ for anyone who wants to know the truth about the war in Iraq. And, with this being an election year, it's even more relevant. West pulls no punches. He visited Iraq on an extended basis at least 14 times, and talked to U. S. military personnel from Generals to Privates. He talked to Iraqis. He went with both American and Iraqi forces on missions to eliminate Al-Qaeda and insurgents in various provinces. He knows what he's talking about, understands the "cause and effect" of the insurgency, and he tells is like it is! He is truthful about the mistakes that were made by both the Bush Administration and military commanders and how those mistakes prolonged the war. He's also truthful about how many politicians and media have done their best to cause the USA to LOSE this war! And he praises those who had (and have) the foresight and intelligence to change direction to fight a counterinsurgency rather than conventional war against the terrorists and insurgents. Finally, he makes it clear that the "surge", coupled with outstanding leadership on the part of Generals Petraeus and Odierno and dedication and courage of the troops in conducting counterinsurgency operations turned things around and gave us the progress that we see today. Kudos to Bing West for this outstanding work! I certainly encourage anyone wanting to know about the TRUTH and REALITY of the war in Iraq to read this book. Politicians especially should read it, maybe it would (??) make some of them wake up and see how things really are for our fine military folks and for Iraq. Despite the best efforts of much of the media and many politicians, we are winning.
JKBelew in Texas, an Old Marine & lifelong military history student.