Stanton, an Army Major, recounts his time in Somalia with Task Force 2-87 of the 10th Mountain Division. The writing isn't smooth or entertaining, but that's not the point. Stanton clearly lays before the reader the frustrations of humanitarian assistance, both the friction of low intensity conflict inherent in such operations and the bureaucratic red tape the Army continued to hog tie the soldiers with. He paints an excellent picture of the confusion, boredom, and irritation that such situations put upon our military.
Especially interesting is how Stanton focused on the practicalities of various operations, from convoy escort to night time patrolling, which most authors fail to detail. He also raises some interesting points about military intervention in situations like Somalia. The lack of an overarching vision of what was to be done to make things in the country better made any intervention pointless. The soldiers were stuck with their fingers in the proverbial dam while not being given the tools to plug the cracks for good.
That is the same point from other authors on nation building. The only time its worth doing is when its worth doing right. There is too much at stake to risk soldiers lives and the reputation of the United States government on half-hearted relief missions that don't fix the actual problems. (This makes me wonder if colonization is not the right action to take, the conventional wisdom and political correctness aside. The government in these countries is not working, and they need someone with the resolve to give government an overhaul. The British did that, and look at the commonwealth countries which are still successful today.)
Good review of the problems in Somalia, and interesting view of a deployed battalion from the S3 slot. The amount of time these soldiers are deployed world wide was an eye-opener to me. For many of the officers, a love of the military and a love for their wives and families was a constant battle.
No comments:
Post a Comment