Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War
by Evan Wright
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They were called a generation without heroes. Then they were called upon to be heroes. Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the twenty-three Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam. They were a new breed of American warrior unrecognizable to their forebears-soldiers raised on hip-hop, Internet porn, Marilyn Manson, video games, and The Real World, a band of born-again Christians, dopers, show more Buddhists, and New Agers who gleaned their precepts from kung fu movies and Oprah Winfrey. Cocky, brave, headstrong, wary, and mostly unprepared for the physical, emotional, and moral horrors ahead, the "First Suicide Battalion" would spearhead the blitzkrieg on Iraq and fight against the hardest resistance Saddam had to offer.Generation Kill is the funny, frightening, and profane firsthand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the randomness, brutality, and camaraderie of a new American war. show lessTags
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Generation Kill is the definitive cultural history of the invasion of Iraq, an honest account of war and the men who fight in it, and a damn good read.
Wright spent the invasion embedded with Bravo Company, First Marine Recon, and he mostly lets the men speak for themselves, liberally quoting their personal philosophies, reflections on battle, and back-and-forth bullshit. These vignettes are balanced by Wright's personal reflections on being shot at, mortared, and taking part in what I can only describe as History's Worst Roadtrip.
A little criticism and comparison. Wright occasionally flubs some technical military stuff (how mortars work, FLIR) which some people might find annoying. He gives more 'screen-time' to outspoken Marines who show more match his attitudes, like Espera and Reyes, than the quieter and more conservative southerners. This is a just a month-long slice of the American military at the peak of its power and confidence, before the worst effects of the Long War took hold. Compared to the HBO miniseries, the book is better paced--war truly is long periods of boredom interspersed with absolute terror--and that makes for problematic TV. Generation Kill is generally easier to read and grasp than Fick's One Bullet Away because Wright, like most of us, is an outsider to the Marines (not that Fick is a bad writer: he's quite skilled, but Wright makes a living with the pen and there's a clear difference), while at the same time being more sensationalized. Really though, there's no reason not to check out all of these versions of the story.
The Marines of First Recon are depicted as supremely skilled killers eager to test themselves against the Ultimate. They're ironic patriots, mocking the Marines indoctrination and moto BS while enthusiastically basing their identified around warrior machismo. The best of them balance cold-blooded sharpshooting with moral sensitivity. They keep going, despite nonsensical orders, no sleep, no supplies, and a mission that they didn't train for.
Generation Kill is a great book, one that can only be described with the two most important words in the whole Marine Corps: Get some! show less
Wright spent the invasion embedded with Bravo Company, First Marine Recon, and he mostly lets the men speak for themselves, liberally quoting their personal philosophies, reflections on battle, and back-and-forth bullshit. These vignettes are balanced by Wright's personal reflections on being shot at, mortared, and taking part in what I can only describe as History's Worst Roadtrip.
A little criticism and comparison. Wright occasionally flubs some technical military stuff (how mortars work, FLIR) which some people might find annoying. He gives more 'screen-time' to outspoken Marines who show more match his attitudes, like Espera and Reyes, than the quieter and more conservative southerners. This is a just a month-long slice of the American military at the peak of its power and confidence, before the worst effects of the Long War took hold. Compared to the HBO miniseries, the book is better paced--war truly is long periods of boredom interspersed with absolute terror--and that makes for problematic TV. Generation Kill is generally easier to read and grasp than Fick's One Bullet Away because Wright, like most of us, is an outsider to the Marines (not that Fick is a bad writer: he's quite skilled, but Wright makes a living with the pen and there's a clear difference), while at the same time being more sensationalized. Really though, there's no reason not to check out all of these versions of the story.
The Marines of First Recon are depicted as supremely skilled killers eager to test themselves against the Ultimate. They're ironic patriots, mocking the Marines indoctrination and moto BS while enthusiastically basing their identified around warrior machismo. The best of them balance cold-blooded sharpshooting with moral sensitivity. They keep going, despite nonsensical orders, no sleep, no supplies, and a mission that they didn't train for.
Generation Kill is a great book, one that can only be described with the two most important words in the whole Marine Corps: Get some! show less
A real solid effort, written with a very straight forward approach, this book covers the very beginning of the second Iraq war. When one compares it to a book like The Good Soldiers, which details the "insurgent" war much later, the combat covered in this earlier time is almost child's play, which is not to say the book isn't full of critically dangerous situations. This book shows how mismanaged the war was from the very beginning, despite having the war fought by well-trained and dedicated military (in this case Marines). In fact it's a little amazing how quickly the Marines highlighted in this book recognized how unprepared the Bush Administration was for the occupation of Iraq. It should be added that one of the strengths of this show more book is the care the author puts into detailing the various personalities of the Marine unit in which he was imbedded. By doing so, he lets the situations speak for themselves without having to editorialize. show less
[b:Generation Kill|6357099|Generation Kill|Evan Wright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327571775l/6357099._SY75_.jpg|908023] is a favourite book of mine that I hadn't reread for about 15 years. Then I picked it up for reference while reviewing [b:Occupational Hazards|594673|Occupational Hazards|Rory Stewart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356125412l/594673._SY75_.jpg|29349] and accidentally reread all 450 pages in an evening. It was just as involving and brilliantly observed as when I first read it. The author, Evan Wright, was embedded with the recon marines who were at 'the tip of the spear' of the 2003 Iraq invasion. It's pretty wild that the marine corps show more thought bringing a reporter from Rolling Stone magazine onto the front line of an invasion was a solid idea. Showing a remarkable lack of self-preservation instincts, Wright rode along in an unarmoured humvee with a recon marine platoon during the first weeks of the war. First recon were sent ahead of the main American forces in an erratic series of missions that repeatedly took them through built-up areas in order to draw out Iraqi forces.
What makes Wright's book truly compelling is his portraits of the recon marines he accompanied and their reactions to the invasion. He gets way past the superficial macho hoo-rah, which is particularly potent in the elite all-male recon marines. Wright devotes a lot of time to the marines' bullshit and banter in order to establish their culture, dynamics, and relationships. The personalities he depicts are so compelling that HBO adapted the book into a miniseries. I highly recommend that as well. With the warning that, as with all war TV that tries to be authentic with uniforms, it will take several episodes to recognise anyone as they all look the same. This is only appropriate, as Wright mentions his initial struggle to distinguish between all these guys:
By experiencing the mayhem and danger of the invasion along with the marines, Wright provides a raw and visceral account of what happened. It is unflattering to overall military command and doesn't show the marine corps in a remotely good light. But the individual marines he accompanied are presented in a nuanced, sympathic manner, providing a fascinating insight into what made them join recon. (There seems to be a fair amount of masochism involved.) Yet he never loses sight of the fact that they are killers:
[b:Generation Kill|6357099|Generation Kill|Evan Wright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327571775l/6357099._SY75_.jpg|908023] is excellent at conveying the terrible contradictions and cruelties of the Iraq invasion. It seems a matter of chance whether the marines are shooting Iraqi children or offering them humanitarian rations and medical care at any given point. The narrative is also intensely entertaining, as Wright is a brilliant journalist who was put in an extraordinary situation. His account covers two extremely intense months, concluding with his departure from Iraq on May 4th 2003. For involving accounts of the subsequent occupation, which echo Fick's observation in April 2003 that "As far as I can see, there's no American plan for Baghdad", try [b:Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Baghdad's Green Zone|1151312|Imperial Life in the Emerald City Inside Baghdad's Green Zone|Rajiv Chandrasekaran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347802069l/1151312._SY75_.jpg|1275660] and [b:Occupational Hazards|594673|Occupational Hazards|Rory Stewart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356125412l/594673._SY75_.jpg|29349]. show less
What makes Wright's book truly compelling is his portraits of the recon marines he accompanied and their reactions to the invasion. He gets way past the superficial macho hoo-rah, which is particularly potent in the elite all-male recon marines. Wright devotes a lot of time to the marines' bullshit and banter in order to establish their culture, dynamics, and relationships. The personalities he depicts are so compelling that HBO adapted the book into a miniseries. I highly recommend that as well. With the warning that, as with all war TV that tries to be authentic with uniforms, it will take several episodes to recognise anyone as they all look the same. This is only appropriate, as Wright mentions his initial struggle to distinguish between all these guys:
In my first couple of days at the camp I'm placed in a tent with officers. I can't tell anybody apart; they all look the same in their desert camouflage fatigues. Most of the officers seem to be square-jawed, blue-eyed white guys in their mid to late twenties. The initial reason I strike up an acquaintance with Lt. Fick, commander of the platoon I end up spending the war with, is he's easily recognisable. Though he's twenty-five, he has a loping, adolescent stride you can spot from a hundred metres away. He's one of fifty men who introduce themselves to me during my first twenty-four hours at the camp, but he's the only one I'm able to call by name on my way to the mess tent and ask if I can join him for dinner.
By experiencing the mayhem and danger of the invasion along with the marines, Wright provides a raw and visceral account of what happened. It is unflattering to overall military command and doesn't show the marine corps in a remotely good light. But the individual marines he accompanied are presented in a nuanced, sympathic manner, providing a fascinating insight into what made them join recon. (There seems to be a fair amount of masochism involved.) Yet he never loses sight of the fact that they are killers:
However admirable the military's attempts are to create ROE [rules of engagement],
they basically create an illusion of moral order where there is none. The Marines operate in chaos. It doesn't matter if a Marine is following orders and ROE, or disregarding them. The fact is, as soon as a Marine pulls the trigger on his rifle, he's on his own. He's entered a game of moral chance. When it's over, he's as likely to go down as a hero or as a baby killer. The only difference between Trombley and any number of other Marines who've shot or killed people they shouldn't have is that he got caught. And this only happened because the battalion stopped moving long enough for the innocent victims to catch up with it.
[b:Generation Kill|6357099|Generation Kill|Evan Wright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327571775l/6357099._SY75_.jpg|908023] is excellent at conveying the terrible contradictions and cruelties of the Iraq invasion. It seems a matter of chance whether the marines are shooting Iraqi children or offering them humanitarian rations and medical care at any given point. The narrative is also intensely entertaining, as Wright is a brilliant journalist who was put in an extraordinary situation. His account covers two extremely intense months, concluding with his departure from Iraq on May 4th 2003. For involving accounts of the subsequent occupation, which echo Fick's observation in April 2003 that "As far as I can see, there's no American plan for Baghdad", try [b:Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Baghdad's Green Zone|1151312|Imperial Life in the Emerald City Inside Baghdad's Green Zone|Rajiv Chandrasekaran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347802069l/1151312._SY75_.jpg|1275660] and [b:Occupational Hazards|594673|Occupational Hazards|Rory Stewart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356125412l/594673._SY75_.jpg|29349]. show less
A depressing book about men who mainly joined the Marines because they think it’ll make them men, or don’t have anything more promising to do, and end up going to war in Iraq. The war they go to is dumb, though they don’t care about the whys; they’re both wastefully oversupplied and tragically short on a few crucial things (including batteries for the night vision goggles that can be the difference between life and death). They’re glancingly led and mostly lost in the fog of war, once the war starts. They kill, and sometimes they know they killed civilians and sometimes they just hope it was hostiles, and they tell themselves it’s us or them. It’s just layer on layer of pointless, bloody waste.
I so wanted to give this book four stars, but one slight typo (which I'm hoping has been fixed in later editions versus the library copy I read) marred it for me...Camp Lejeune (the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast) is located in North Carolina not South Carolina. While it may be a minor point, this error made me question the credibility of the writer and editor(s) because it made me wonder what other points may not have been checked. Of course, it happened early in the books so it nagged me for awhile...and for that, it lost a star.
That being said, I realized halfway through why I was so engaged in this book that told the story from the perspective of those who often don't have the voice in writing their version of show more history...the enlisted personnel.... It's an anthropological work. At it's heart, cultural anthropology is the study of human beings in groups -- and the conflict resolution, social structure, behaviors, etc captured by Wright (the observer who had to gain the trust of the First Recon Marines to gain this invaluable perspective) does a tremendous job in capturing the unique culture of Recon Marines and the cross cut of individuals who compromise today's "volunteer" armed forces.
In the era of CNN and "real time" images of air strikes it's easy to forget that the "job of war" still falls on those on the ground...and while the equipment has evolved, it's easy to forget how much the grunts on the ground handling the mortar rounds, rules of engagement, and mine fields operate in a unique sphere that is quite alien to the average civilian's perception of modern warfare.
Wright earns my kudos for capturing the voices and the reality of these Marines. This is not an anti-war or a pro-war book. It is a snapshot. One person's account of the beginning of the war...when weapons of mass destruction were still thought to be a real possibility...when Iraq was thought to be a quick campaign.... And, for this reader, my eyes were opened a little wider than they already were to: the incompetencies at the top of the chain that hindered those carrying out orders at the bottom; the realities of what rules of engagement mean and what those who must carry out those rules must grapple with; the civilian toll that is often glossed over; and how much of modern warfare is still fought with mortar rounds versus air strikes.
A final general observation -- I don't know what waivers and liabilities were involved with the publication of this book. I'm not sure who received pseudonyms under what agreements, but I find it a sad reflection that all of the enlisted men had their names used, in essence, standing by their actions while those junior officers whose actions were disconcerting at best, despicable at worse were given the virtue of anonymity.
This gut-wrenching account of war and all its realities is a required read for those of us who observe war in the comfort of our living rooms -- it puts a face on modern warfare and a voice to the grunts who deserve their stories to be told, too. show less
That being said, I realized halfway through why I was so engaged in this book that told the story from the perspective of those who often don't have the voice in writing their version of show more history...the enlisted personnel.... It's an anthropological work. At it's heart, cultural anthropology is the study of human beings in groups -- and the conflict resolution, social structure, behaviors, etc captured by Wright (the observer who had to gain the trust of the First Recon Marines to gain this invaluable perspective) does a tremendous job in capturing the unique culture of Recon Marines and the cross cut of individuals who compromise today's "volunteer" armed forces.
In the era of CNN and "real time" images of air strikes it's easy to forget that the "job of war" still falls on those on the ground...and while the equipment has evolved, it's easy to forget how much the grunts on the ground handling the mortar rounds, rules of engagement, and mine fields operate in a unique sphere that is quite alien to the average civilian's perception of modern warfare.
Wright earns my kudos for capturing the voices and the reality of these Marines. This is not an anti-war or a pro-war book. It is a snapshot. One person's account of the beginning of the war...when weapons of mass destruction were still thought to be a real possibility...when Iraq was thought to be a quick campaign.... And, for this reader, my eyes were opened a little wider than they already were to: the incompetencies at the top of the chain that hindered those carrying out orders at the bottom; the realities of what rules of engagement mean and what those who must carry out those rules must grapple with; the civilian toll that is often glossed over; and how much of modern warfare is still fought with mortar rounds versus air strikes.
A final general observation -- I don't know what waivers and liabilities were involved with the publication of this book. I'm not sure who received pseudonyms under what agreements, but I find it a sad reflection that all of the enlisted men had their names used, in essence, standing by their actions while those junior officers whose actions were disconcerting at best, despicable at worse were given the virtue of anonymity.
This gut-wrenching account of war and all its realities is a required read for those of us who observe war in the comfort of our living rooms -- it puts a face on modern warfare and a voice to the grunts who deserve their stories to be told, too. show less
Summary: Generation Kill is the book that came out of Rolling Stone writer Evan Wright being part one of the journalists embedded with U.S. troops during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was embedded with the First Recon Marines, a unit of soldiers that are among the best of the best - highly trained special ops forces. But what they're not trained to do is to drive unarmored Humvees in a slow, evenly spaced line through hostile territory, where it's frequently impossible to tell civilians from enemy soldiers. On top of this, the soldiers that Wright rode with also had to deal with a lack of proper supplies (most notably insufficient batteries for their night vision goggles and a lack of lubricant to keep their guns firing despite Iraqi show more dust and sandstorms), unreliable communications, and a command structure that seemed to be more intent on maintaining the grooming standard or scoring machismo points than on keeping their troops both safe and effective.
Review: This is going to be one of those book reviews that shades into a movie review, despite my best efforts to keep them separate. In part, that's because the book and the film version are very, very similar, primarily due to the fact that the miniseries stays remarkably true to the book not only in story but also in terms of characterization, message, and general tone. In a lot of ways, they compliment each other, since the book can provide background details that can't be readily explained on film, and the film can provide visuals for those of us who don't have the military knowledge to be able to picture various types of weapons from their written description. But they're also both complete and perfectly understandable on their own.
Together or apart, they paint a really compelling picture of the current state of warfare, and of the people and personalities involved. I'm not a current-events junkie by any stretch of the imagination, but I know well enough that Generation Kill gives a (literal) on-the-ground look at some of the reality of the Iraq war that gets lost in the translation to a 30-second news clip. It's easy to sit at home and bemoan the number of civilian casualties or the cost of the war, but this book makes you take a hard look at what it's like in the moment, in situations most of us could never imagine. I do wish Wright had given us a little bit more of his first-person outsider's POV, though. There were certainly touches of it, and I found them particularly fascinating (and often quite funny, for example the story of him running in a zig-zag pattern to avoid sniper fire, to the consternation and amusement of the soldiers he was with).
What I appreciated most about Generation Kill was that it gives a very clear picture of the soldiers of the First Recon Marines as real people. They're obnoxious and crude and thoroughly un-PC, but there's a very clear sense that they are pretty much just regular guys, dealing with the situation and the constant danger and the lack of sleep and the surges of adrenaline and the randomness of war however they can. Wright doesn't do a whole lot of political analysis or authorial pontificating, for the most point preferring to let the story speak for itself, but his respect for the men he rode with (if not for their commanders) comes across loud and clear... and I think will be unavoidably contagious to his readers. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Hard to say, since I don't usually care for politics/current events/war books (Emergency Sex excepted), but I quite enjoyed this. Really, I'd recommend it for just about everyone who has an opinion of any kind about the war and/or wants an inside look into what the war was like for the men who actually fought it. show less
Review: This is going to be one of those book reviews that shades into a movie review, despite my best efforts to keep them separate. In part, that's because the book and the film version are very, very similar, primarily due to the fact that the miniseries stays remarkably true to the book not only in story but also in terms of characterization, message, and general tone. In a lot of ways, they compliment each other, since the book can provide background details that can't be readily explained on film, and the film can provide visuals for those of us who don't have the military knowledge to be able to picture various types of weapons from their written description. But they're also both complete and perfectly understandable on their own.
Together or apart, they paint a really compelling picture of the current state of warfare, and of the people and personalities involved. I'm not a current-events junkie by any stretch of the imagination, but I know well enough that Generation Kill gives a (literal) on-the-ground look at some of the reality of the Iraq war that gets lost in the translation to a 30-second news clip. It's easy to sit at home and bemoan the number of civilian casualties or the cost of the war, but this book makes you take a hard look at what it's like in the moment, in situations most of us could never imagine. I do wish Wright had given us a little bit more of his first-person outsider's POV, though. There were certainly touches of it, and I found them particularly fascinating (and often quite funny, for example the story of him running in a zig-zag pattern to avoid sniper fire, to the consternation and amusement of the soldiers he was with).
What I appreciated most about Generation Kill was that it gives a very clear picture of the soldiers of the First Recon Marines as real people. They're obnoxious and crude and thoroughly un-PC, but there's a very clear sense that they are pretty much just regular guys, dealing with the situation and the constant danger and the lack of sleep and the surges of adrenaline and the randomness of war however they can. Wright doesn't do a whole lot of political analysis or authorial pontificating, for the most point preferring to let the story speak for itself, but his respect for the men he rode with (if not for their commanders) comes across loud and clear... and I think will be unavoidably contagious to his readers. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Hard to say, since I don't usually care for politics/current events/war books (Emergency Sex excepted), but I quite enjoyed this. Really, I'd recommend it for just about everyone who has an opinion of any kind about the war and/or wants an inside look into what the war was like for the men who actually fought it. show less
The "The Wire" crew turned this book into a fantastic HBO mini-series. It is easy to see why they liked this hard-to-put-down account by a Rolling Stone reporter of invading Iraq with a US marine battalion. He describes the young men with a lot of sympathy and brings their idiosyncrasies to life. They live in a strange world, with strange rules. A separate micro-cosmos which is based on US society, its products, its TV shows and media, but is also vastly different. "Generation Kill" is a misnomer. Kill is accurate, but they are not representative of their generation. Only a minority (and predominantly the underclass) of Americans serves in the US military. This book shows the rest of America (and the world) how that tiny slice of show more humanity lives and how they behaved in Iraq - just as "The Wire" offered a glimpse into Baltimore's projects.
Their world (and the US military) is held together by sergeants who train, educate and integrate and micro-manage both their charges, the enlisted men and the officers. As this book drastically shows, the US military has lost the "war for talents". While the military is still an attractive career option for enlisted men from America's underprivileged areas, good officers are in short supply - and the best are pushed out of the system while the worst tend to be promoted. An organization with a lot of brawn but little brain.
The book is filled with examples where a little thought could have vastly improved the (often deadly) outcome. Due to different encryption tools, East Coast marines are unable to communicate with West Coast marines (apart from the fact of limited abilities to communicate with the Air force, US army and their allies which often leads to friendly fire among the trigger-happy US forces) - easily solvable by a relay. Their guns jam because they lack lubricants (to be expected in a desert environment), they cannot use their night-vision goggles because they are short of batteries, ...
On a grander level, the lack of planning and imagination has devastating consequences for the Iraqi people who are subjected to a wide range of US violence, from negligence to abuse to unnecessary cruelty to outright war crimes. A complicit hierarchy creates a climate for war crimes, neglects to investigate or charge offenders (who in this unit are even promoted despite showing horrible lapses of leadership and even military skill, the Peter principle on steroids). The platoon psycho is christened "Whopper BK" (baby killer for his unnecessary shooting of a child). Having his killer instincts honed in the marine corps, readers will note that this individual has joined the LAPD, another institution with a fine human rights track record. Incidents such as the Haditha killings show similar lack of leadership, integrity and responsibility. The US military in all its branches is in severe need of rebuilding.
The book also shows how the marines were good at breaking things, but lacked the tools, understanding and resources to restore order and civilization after the mayhem they inflicted. Time and time again, the reporter notes that the Iraqis welcomed the Americans (despite their violent appearance) but were turned away and left alone with their problems. A number of heroic individuals were unable to prevail against the incompetent Bush administration, the military brass and bureaucratic shortsighted meanness, In a fair world, those responsible would be punished. This book exposes the ugly side of America. The mini-series and the book deserve a wide audience, so that what happened is not pushed down the memory hole. show less
Their world (and the US military) is held together by sergeants who train, educate and integrate and micro-manage both their charges, the enlisted men and the officers. As this book drastically shows, the US military has lost the "war for talents". While the military is still an attractive career option for enlisted men from America's underprivileged areas, good officers are in short supply - and the best are pushed out of the system while the worst tend to be promoted. An organization with a lot of brawn but little brain.
The book is filled with examples where a little thought could have vastly improved the (often deadly) outcome. Due to different encryption tools, East Coast marines are unable to communicate with West Coast marines (apart from the fact of limited abilities to communicate with the Air force, US army and their allies which often leads to friendly fire among the trigger-happy US forces) - easily solvable by a relay. Their guns jam because they lack lubricants (to be expected in a desert environment), they cannot use their night-vision goggles because they are short of batteries, ...
On a grander level, the lack of planning and imagination has devastating consequences for the Iraqi people who are subjected to a wide range of US violence, from negligence to abuse to unnecessary cruelty to outright war crimes. A complicit hierarchy creates a climate for war crimes, neglects to investigate or charge offenders (who in this unit are even promoted despite showing horrible lapses of leadership and even military skill, the Peter principle on steroids). The platoon psycho is christened "Whopper BK" (baby killer for his unnecessary shooting of a child). Having his killer instincts honed in the marine corps, readers will note that this individual has joined the LAPD, another institution with a fine human rights track record. Incidents such as the Haditha killings show similar lack of leadership, integrity and responsibility. The US military in all its branches is in severe need of rebuilding.
The book also shows how the marines were good at breaking things, but lacked the tools, understanding and resources to restore order and civilization after the mayhem they inflicted. Time and time again, the reporter notes that the Iraqis welcomed the Americans (despite their violent appearance) but were turned away and left alone with their problems. A number of heroic individuals were unable to prevail against the incompetent Bush administration, the military brass and bureaucratic shortsighted meanness, In a fair world, those responsible would be punished. This book exposes the ugly side of America. The mini-series and the book deserve a wide audience, so that what happened is not pushed down the memory hole. show less
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Author Information
5+ Works 2,142 Members
Evan Wright is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of Generation Kill, recently an HBO miniseries, which he co-wrote. A contributing editor to Vanity Fair, he has also written for Rolling Stone, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, among numerous other publications.
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Awards
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War
- Original title
- Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Nathaniel Fick; Brad Colbert; Josh Ray Person; Evan Wright; James Trombley
- Important places
- Iraq; Baghdad, Iraq
- Important events
- Iraq War (2003 | 2004)
- Related movies
- Generation Kill (2008 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- To the warriors of Hitman-2 and Hitman-3: The strength of the Pack is the Wolf.
- First words
- It's another Iraqi town, nameless to the Marines racing down the main drag in Humvees, blowing it to pieces.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)As this book goes to press, the men in Bravo Second Platoon, along with the rest of First Recon, are in Fallujah, Iraq.
- Disambiguation notice
- Full title (2004): Generation kill : Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the new face of American war / Evan Wright
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