God Willing. My Wild Ride with the New Iraqi Army

Navarro, Capt. Eric

ISBN 10: 1597971693 / ISBN 13: 9781597971690

Published by Potomac Books, Washington, DC, 2008

About this Item

Large octavo size [16x24cm approx]. Near Fine copy in a Near Fine dustjacket. Dustjacket is now protected in a purpose-made clear archival plastic sleeve. A nice copy. Illustrated with Black and White Photographs. Robust, professional packaging and tracking provided for all parcels. ix, 270 pages.

Seller Inventory # 271155

Bibliographic Details

• Title: God Willing. My Wild Ride with the New Iraqi Army
• Publisher: Potomac Books, Washington, DC
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1597971693
• ISBN 13: 9781597971690
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Military-General

About this title

Synopsis

Ten U.S. Marines are assigned to live, train, and go into battle with more than five hundred raw and undisciplined Iraqi soldiers. A member of this Adviser Support Team, Capt. Eric Navarro, recounts their tour in vivid and brutally honest detail. Their deployment comes at a particularly important time in the war. The Battle of Fallujah is raging, and President Bush has proclaimed training the Iraqi forces is the key to winning the war. Once they stand up, we can stand down, or so the theory goes. Navarro’s team, nicknamed The Drifters, faces countless roadblocks—no interpreters initially, limited supplies, little contact with other U.S. forces, and a vast cultural gulf with the Iraqis. One hackneyed and fatalistic Arabic phrase seems to sum up the mission, “Insha Allah,” which translates as “God willing” or “if God wills it.” Whether riding into downtown Fallujah in an unarmored Nissan pick-up truck, living in squalor in abandoned buildings, dodging trigger-happy troops, sharingFHM magazine with Iraqi soldiers to boost morale, or getting attacked by insurgent rockets less than an hour after arriving, life is never easy and more often surreal. The Drifters’ trials and tribulations help shed light on this most under-reported aspect of the war: What is wrong with the new Iraqi Army? The answer is not as pretty as the politicians would like.

About the Author

Capt. Eric Navarro was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1975, and received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with a specialty in writing at The New School University. He was living in Manhattan during the events of September 11th and set out to join the Marines the next day. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Dorothy, and remains in the reserves. Following his most recent tour in Iraq, Navarro will attend the NYU Stern Business School.