War on Two Fronts: An Infantry Commander's War in Iraq and the Pentagon

Operation Iraqi Freedom was one of the most confusing conflicts in US history. The high command could not be sure who to fight, who was attacking Coalition troops, or who among the different Iraqi groups were fighting each other. Yet there were a few astute officers like Lt. Col. Christopher Hughes, commanding the 2nd Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, who sensed the complexity of the task from the beginning. In War on Two Fronts Colonel Hughes writes movingly of his`no-slack’ battalion at war in Iraq. As Hughes’s battalion forged its way into Iraq they successfully liberated the city of Najaf, securing the safety of Grand Ayatollah Sistani and the Mosque of Ali. The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne then implemented creative programs in the initial postwar occupation, including harvesting the national wheat and barley crops, while combating nearly invisible insurgents. Transferred to Washington after his tour in Iraq, Hughes then writes an illuminating account of the herculean efforts of many in the Pentagon to work around the corporatist elements of its bureaucracy in order to better understand counter-insurgency and national reconstruction, which Lawrence of Arabia characterized as`like learning to eat soup with a knife’. To read this book will help understand the sources of mistakes made—and still being made—and the process needed to chart a successful strategy. Written with candour and no shortage of humour, and intermixed with descriptions of brutal scenes of combat, this book is a must-read for all those who seek insight into the current war in the Middle East.

About the Author :
Col. Hughes is a 1983 graduate of Northwest Missouri State University with a B.S. in Political Science and an M.A. in Business Management from Webster University and an M.S. in National Security Srategy from the National War College in Washington DC. He has served in numerous command and staff positions in infantry and airborne units across the Army and Joint Staffs

Review :
Chris Hughes book certainly has that edge, for his book covers not only the business of war at the sharp end, but also the realities of exercising leadership during a clash of cultures and ideology that at times are miles apart. The book will appeal to a variety of readers on many levels. Students of contemporary defence issues and those interested in the role of a present day commander in the field and in the practice of modern warfare will find much to enlighten them.