Chasing Ghosts: A Soldier's Fight for America from Baghdad to Washington - Hardcover

Rieckhoff, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0451218418 ISBN 13: 9780451218414

Publisher: NAL Hardcover, 2006

Synopsis

A veteran of the war in Iraq offers a provocative critique of the conflict, offering an infantry soldier's view of the war and the challenges confronting the American military in the field due to poor planning, lack of accountability and preparedness, inadequate protection, and other problems. 125,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Rieckhoff, the founder and executive director of Operation Truth-an advocacy group for soldiers and returning war veterans-enlisted in the US Army Reserves in 1998. After transferring to the New York Army National Guard, he graduated from Officer Candidate School in June 2001. He began Infantry Officers Basic Course at Fort Benning in February 2002, graduated in June, and immediately volunteered for active duty. He was called to Iraq in January 2003.

Reviews

An Operation Iraqi Freedom vet and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Rieckhoff recounts his journey from National Guard lieutenant to disillusioned patriot in this disappointing combat memoir-cum-polemic. Rieckhoff admits that he thought the reasons for invading Iraq were "bullshit," but volunteered to go anyway. His experiences in Iraq—patrolling the chaotic streets of Baghdad in the months after its occupation—only confirmed his initial judgment that the invasion "was one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in our nation's history." Rieckhoff is anything but humble. An Amherst grad (as he often interjects), he finds his recruiter repellant—a "slick, fat... Sergeant [who] smelled like a dirty ashtray"— but enlists anyway. President Bush is "arrogant" and "a bully," and Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer is "ignorant and out-of-touch." Rieckhoff is bipartisan in his contempt: when the Kerry campaign ignores his advice, he dismisses the Democratic presidential candidate as "a calculating and coached politician." Finally, he and a "small band of pissed-off visionaries" founded their own organization, Operation Truth, to get out the word. In the end, Rieckhoff has a story to tell, but he undermines his credibility with his arrogance and petty offside remarks. (May)
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Lieutenant Rieckhoff and his 38-man infantry platoon spent 10 months in one of the most volatile areas of Baghdad, trying to maintain order, protect civilians, track down insurgents, and protect themselves from snipers and bombers. It quickly became clear that the American mission in Iraq had vague strategy, flawed tactics, and overchallenged, underequipped soldiers. Rieckhoff made it back alive, determined to tell the truth about what was happening and demand accountability from elected officials. Although Rieckhoff does not emphasize it, it comes through clearly that Iraq War veterans are held in declining respect, evidenced by the problems they have getting help with war-related injuries, especially psychological ones. Iraq has been a rich man's war and a poor man's fight, with the Iraqi people barely visible in the American media. Moreover, Rieckhoff's experiences showed him that censorship and bias abound even in these days of "on-the-spot" reporting, distorting what anyone following the war through the general media can learn. A most commendable eyewitness report on Iraq. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: NAL Hardcover
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0451218418
• ISBN 13: 9780451218414
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336