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It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. “Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences,” he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them.
Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Bagdad, and almost every grueling step of the way.
What was the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines. Combining the action of Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down with the literary brio of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, The Good Soldiers is an unforgettable work of reportage. And in telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale—not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.
One of the New York Times Book Review's Top 10 Books of 2009
Winner of the 2010 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism
Pulitzer Prize winner David Finkel, a Washington Post staff writer, spent over a year with an American infantry battalion, known as the 2-16 (whose average age is 19), as they deployed from Fort Riley in Kansas to one of the most dangerous, war-ravaged areas of Baghdad. Carefully detailing the experiences of the 2-16 and its commanding officer, Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich, Finkel has crafted a wartime account so visceral and so emotionally wrenching that it will leave many readers stunned.
The Good Soldiers takes a single year-long slice of the war -- April 2007 to April 2008 -- and makes its unifying story the gradual shift of initially optimistic, gung-ho soldiers like Kauzlarich away from an attitude of can-do optimism and eagerness to work with the Iraqis to creeping disillusionment and sometimes outright disgust for the whole Iraq enterprise. Finkel describes the endless meetings Kauzlarich has with local Iraqi leaders, including one possibly involved in killing American troops: a cigarette-smoking sheik who, writes Finkel, "blew smoke from those cigarettes into Kauzlarich's face while asking for money, for guns, for bullets, for a new cell phone, for a car[.]"
What really distinguishes Finkel's hard-to-forget account is his exceptionally specific description of the everyday dangers faced by the 2-16, from sniper fire to incoming mortar shells to the most dangerous weapons of all, IEDs (the "improvised explosive devices" that have become a terrible icon of this war's particular horrors) and the less-well-known EFPs ("explosively formed penetrators"). On April 6, 2007, the 2-16 suffered its first lethal attack when an IED was exploded beneath a Humvee containing PFC Jay Cajimat and four others. "In went the slugs [from the exploding IED] through the armor and into the crew compartment, turning everything in their paths into flying pieces of shrapnel," writes Finkel, "[f]our managed to get out and tumble, bleeding, to the ground, but Cajimat remained in his seat as the Humvee, on fire now, rolled forward, picked up speed, and crashed[.]"
Details of the horrific injuries of the four survivors and what the IED had done to kill Cajimat come via the battalion's doctor: "All four [of Cajimat's] limbs burned away, bony stumps visible. Superior portion of cranium burned away. Remaining portion of torso severely charred." Finkel isn't just interested in how such horrific deaths and injuries impact the battalion, creating a toxic climate of revenge and fear, but also explores their impact on families back home. He shows us burned soldiers recovering Stateside, battling to live with multiple amputations and the resulting mental scars, as family members struggle to maintain hope and find meaning.
After a June 8th EFP explosion, one soldier responded brutally: Sergeant Frank Gietz, who killed seven Iraqis during a firefight the next day, tells Finkel that he wonders whether he'd gone too far and overreacted to the previous day's horror: "It's a thin line between what we're calling acceptable and not acceptable...you're supposed to know when not to cross it. But how do you know? Does the army teach us how to control our emotions? Does the army teach us how to deal with a friend bleeding out in front of you?" In reflections like these, The Good Soldiers makes manifest the daily struggle to make sense of the senseless -- little wonder that these young men suffer under the strain.
Even the optimistic Kauzlarich struggles with the contradictions of trying to win the hearts and minds of a population containing some who would happily see him and his men incinerated. After Kauzlarich barely survives a May 2007 EFP attack and his convoy limps back to base, he's momentarily compelled to deal with his own mixed emotions. During the drive back, an Iraqi girl with "filthy hair and a filthy face...kept waving at the convoy, and now at Kauzlarich himself, [and] he had a decision to make. He stared out his window. He raised his hand slowly. He waved at the f*cking child." In such sardonic moments, as soldiers try to smile at the daily horror, readers see the schizophrenia of wartime.
Given the immense dissonance in the soldiers' daily experience, it comes as little surprise that there is a yawning gap between the official pronouncements of optimism, most of them made by President George W. Bush, and the darker realities on the ground. As Bush praised the effectiveness of Iraq's own security forces, Finkel shows us a training session for Iraqi forces led by U.S. troops who are anything but impressed: "[T]he Iraqi security forces were a joke. Every one of the soldiers knew it." As the Americans showed the Iraqis how to patrol, "one [Iraqi] soldier who was walking backward swiveled around just in time to walk face first into a tree trunk." When instructed to take a knee, another Iraqi "who was clearly too old to be a soldier, and too overweight to be a soldier, instead sprawled on the ground and began plucking at some weeds."
As the number of 2-16's dead and severely injured mounted, both Kauzlarich and his men suffered plummeting morale that would lead to a "countdown" mentality as their deployment ended. The Good Soldiers, in turn, uses the opportunity to explore the disconnect between the home front and the war front, especially how soldiers tuned out the endless political wrangling over the war. Finkel writes at length about the physical and mental scars left behind for the soldiers, and for the families who can't possibly comprehend what they've been through.
This shift in focus to the aftermath of war leads to some of the book's most searing moments, as Kauzlarich visits injured soldiers from his unit in a Texas hospital. The colonel meets one soldier's young wife and mother at bedside, and then turns to greet a soldier blown up by an EFP: "There was so much of Duncan Crookston missing that he didn't seem real. He was half of a body propped up in a full-size bed... He couldn't move because he had nothing left with which to push himself into motion...and he couldn't speak because of the tracheotomy tube that had been inserted into his throat. Every part of him was taped and bandaged because of burns and infections[.] "Just days later, Kauzlarich received an email from Crookston's mother, saying her son had died.
In all,14 members of the 2-16 would be killed in Iraq, and dozens more would find themselves burdened with traumatic injuries and post-traumatic stress. Finkel's book is so valuable because it moves well beyond the mind-numbing statistics and rarefied political debates to explore the war as it's actually fought by young people trying to do what's right amid horror, hopelessness, and grinding fear. The Good Soldiers uniquely portrays the physical and mental toll on these soldiers; there's unlikely to be a more raw and visceral account of its true nature. --Chuck Leddy
Chuck Leddy is a member of the National Book Critics Circle who writes frequently about American history. He reviews books regularly for The Boston Globe, as well as Civil War Times and American History magazines. He is a contributing editor for The Writer magazine.
Anonymous
Posted February 20, 2010
The Good Soldiers is one of the best books I have ever read of any sort. Extremely well written, The Good Soldiers takes the reader on a journey into the Iraq war with such intensity that at times you feel the IED's go off and the bullets fly past your head. David Finkel writes a book that at one minute pulls at your emotions of sorrow and the next has you near ranting at the absurdity of the Iraq war. A must read for anyone trying to get an insight to the US involment in Iraq and what it means to our men and women in war.
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 4, 2010
I think most people forget about the war overseas. Understandably, everyone is facing a difficult economy amongst other things, but this book brings us back to reality. As a soldier myself, this book hit so close to home. I have yet to be deployed, so this book made me appreciate, even more, what my fellow soldiers do everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan while I get to be home living a normal life. This book was absolutely heartbreaking, and I cried pretty much the entire time reading it. It's a startling reminder that I think we all need. This book was well written and has amazing insight from soldiers who have lived in the midst of war. Very Powerful.
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 13, 2010
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Since I am a military mom this book really moved me and brought these
young soldiers back to life, or to life. I could not put it down.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I have recently taken to reading military history books to understand the situation our current world is in. I am 27 and the Middle East situation is my equivalent of the Viatnam War for prior generations. It is difficult to learn the situation our soldiers face, due to media manipulation. This book is a well written account of the "Surge" in Iraq and a;; the dificulties the soldiers faced. The book tells of the mental toll that the war is taking on the young men and women serving in Iraq. The war in the Middle East is nothing like anything we have seen before. The EFP's and IED's are causing a whole new set of problems for the soldiers involved. Finkel was imbedded with the 2-16 and painted a true picture of the true toll this war is taking on those individuals serving in the Middle East theater.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.How does one describe a war? Was there ever a war that seemed like a success? Oh yes--I remember now. The one Bush,Jr declared finished after a month or two.
Imagine you are lying flat on the hot, dusty surface of a road east of Baghdad, in Rustamiyah. Like an IED, say, or an EFP. (Improvised Explosive Device or Explosively Formed Penetrator) Imagine you take a picture of the world from that viewpoint. I felt Finkel's book allowed us to view the war in Iraq from a similar vantagepoint. A single battalion (the 2-16) experiences "the surge" in this book. We hear a rounded account, from the Lieutenant Colonel (Colonel K) leading the group, to the replacement soldiers for the dead and the wounded. We hear from the wives, the translators, the medalled, the battle-weary. There are no victors.
It is terrifying, war is. If you want to see what bad is, you can have a look here. As we strive in our lives to achieve, and be the best of what man can be, our soldiers are seeing the worst of what man can be. I don't have words enough to express my sorrow...
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.cannonball
Posted May 27, 2010
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A war correspondent's story detailing the history of an America infantry battalion during the surge in Baghdad. The author takes the reader out on patrol in one of the nastiest neighborhoods in Baghdad and unblinkingly describes what happens when a homemade bomb explodes under a Humvee. The result is a vivid depiction of what war feels like on the ground. The book makes no attempt to tell the story of the war from a higher level, or to place the action described in its pages in any larger wartime context. This is not a comfortable book to read, but it is honest, and I do recommend it.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 5, 2010
Having read more than 8 books on the Iraqi conflict I found Mr.Finkels book to very precise and to the point without needing to add "side bars" to complete the story. Easily the best read thus far on this issue.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 20, 2009
the most heart wrenching account of what it is like in war in Iraq
raw detail of there lives and losses
2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 27, 2010
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The war in Iraq is multi faceted. If you are look for more insight into the war in Iraq you should read "Women as Weapons of War: Iraq, Sex and the Media" by well known author and scholar Kelly Oliver.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2012
Join SilverClan. We are a pleasant clan with nice cats. We accept all. There are other kits if yours want to play with them. At bear reply at fourth result. A friendly welcome from Mistytail the medicine cat.
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Posted February 4, 2012
Okay. Thank you sunstripe. I will be listening to a few more people before i decide though. But if it were out of ten stars i would give you 9¿/10! So good job! Thank you for inviting me and my kits into your clan. ~Sand~
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.ConnorN
Posted September 7, 2011
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I loved this book. It really showed the war in Iraq for what it really is rather than what you hear in the news or read in an article. It really puts things into perspective. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes to read the truth and isn't afraid to read things that could potentially make you cry.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.261251
Posted May 22, 2011
This book should be required reading. It is so heart breaking honest and perfectly written. I recommend this book to everyone. I cannot say enough good things about it. You will not be disappointed.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 18, 2011
This book should be required reading for all Americans. We owe such a debt to those who serve in our military - the least we can do is try to understand what it is they go through on our behalf.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 24, 2011
Trust a stranger on this one. It was everything I hoped for from this type of war story.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.RolloRT
Posted February 19, 2011
David Finkel puts you in the passenger seat of a Humvee in Iraq. He was encamped with the 6-12 who was assigned to Iraq from 2007-2008. The story is told through the eyes of Ralph Kuzlarich, Army lieutenant colonel, CO of the 6-12 in Bagdad during "George W. Bush's surge." This real life story of soldiers fighting for freedom brough tears to my eyes many times. It gave new meaning to truth, freedom, and American foreign democracy. A must read, RolloRT
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 7, 2011
It was very good on an information basis but as far as the real action is, it was pretty crappy. I enjoyed myself for the first half of the book, then it got sort of old.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.brooklyngrange
Posted January 13, 2011
In "The Good Soldiers", David Finkel gives a verbatim account of dialogue between U.S. pilots and reconnaissance personnel during the now infamous "Collateral Murder" Apache helicopter attack that killed several innocent Iraqis, including two Reuters journalists. The problem is, Finkel's account was written prior to the public release of the video of the killings and, when Finkel's account is compared to that video, calls into serious question Finkel's active "spinning" of reports of the event to align with the U.S. military coverup of what many have called a US "war crime". Read the book if you want to see a journalist at work whose integrity has been severely compromised - and perhaps completely undermined - by his pandering to the needs of his sources (in this case U.S. Army personnel and staff) to create a narrative acceptable to the American public. Finkel's account of the "Collateral Murder" incident - an account which he has publicly defended in spite of ample recorded video and audio evidence of it's falsehood - gives one pause. It seems this author may be willing to outright lie to his readers in order to appeal to our desire to believe that America is sending "Good Soldiers" overseas to fight our battles for us. When the history of the media's support for US military actions is written, David Finkel and "The Good Soldier" will figure prominently; though probably not in a way that Mr. Finkel will like.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 1, 2010
Great book, helps bring home the war.
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Posted December 13, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. “Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences,” he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be ...