|
|
Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945
Waite provides an honest and raw perspective on the Iraq War from
that of a citizen-soldier. He describes the effects war has on the
extraordinary people who fight in it, and the families left behind.
In 2012, President Obama announced that the United States would
spend the next thirteen years - through November 11, 2025 -
commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, and the
American soldiers, "more than 58,000 patriots," who died in
Vietnam. The fact that at least 2.1 million Vietnamese - soldiers,
parents, grandparents, children - also died in that war will be
largely unknown and entirely uncommemorated. And U.S. history
barely stops to record the millions of Vietnamese who lived on
after being displaced, tortured, maimed, raped, or born with birth
defects, the result of devastating chemicals wreaked on the land by
the U.S. military. The reason for this appalling disconnect of
consciousness lies in an unremitting public relations campaign
waged by top American politicians, military leaders, business
people, and scholars who have spent the last sixty years justifying
the U.S. presence in Vietnam. It is a campaign of patriotic conceit
superbly chronicled by John Marciano in The American War in
Vietnam: Crime or Commemoration?A devastating follow-up to
Marciano's 1979 classic Teaching the Vietnam War (written with
William L. Griffen), Marciano's book seeks not to commemorate the
Vietnam War, but to stop the ongoing U.S. war on actual history.
Marciano reveals the grandiose flag-waving that stems from the
"Noble Cause principle," the notion that America is "chosen by God"
to bring democracy to the world. Marciano writes of the Noble Cause
being invoked unsparingly by presidents - from Jimmy Carter, in his
observation that, regarding Vietnam, "the destruction was mutual,"
to Barack Obama, who continues the flow of romantic media
propaganda: "The United States of America ...will remain the
greatest force for freedom the world has ever known."The result is
critical writing and teaching at its best. This book will find a
home in classrooms where teachers seek to do more than repeat the
trite glorifications of U.S. empire. It will provide students
everywhere with insights that can prepare them to change the world.
Contemporary Military Strategy and the Global War on Terror offers
an in-depth analysis of US/UK military strategy in Afghanistan and
Iraq from 2001 to the present day. It explores the development of
contemporary military strategy in the West in the modern age before
interrogating its application in the Global War on Terror. The book
provides detailed insights into the formulation of military plans
by political and military elites in the United States and United
Kingdom for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Alastair Finlan highlights the challenges posed by each of these
unique theatres of operation, the nature of the diverse enemies
faced by coalition forces, and the shortcomings in strategic
thinking about these campaigns. This fresh perspective on strategy
in the West and how it has been applied in recent military
campaigns facilitates a deep understanding of how wars have been
and will be fought. Including key terms, concepts and discussion
questions for each chapter, Contemporary Military Strategy and the
Global War on Terror is a crucial text in strategic studies, and
required reading for anyone interested in the new realities of
transnational terrorism and twenty-first century warfare.
The war in Vietnam, spanning more than twenty years, was one of the
most divisive conflicts ever to envelop the United States, and its
complexity and consequences did not end with the fall of Saigon in
1975. As Peter Sills demonstrates in "Toxic War," veterans faced a
new enemy beyond post-traumatic stress disorder or debilitating
battle injuries. Many of them faced a new, more pernicious,
slow-killing enemy: the cancerous effects of Agent Orange.
Originally introduced by Dow and other chemical companies as a
herbicide in the United States and adopted by the military as a
method of deforesting the war zone of Vietnam, in order to deny the
enemy cover, Agent Orange also found its way into the systems of
numerous active-duty soldiers. Sills argues that manufacturers
understood the dangers of this compound and did nothing to protect
American soldiers.
"Toxic War" takes the reader behind the scenes into the halls of
political power and industry, where the debates about the use of
Agent Orange and its potential side effects raged. In the end, the
only way these veterans could seek justice was in the court of law
and public opinion. Unprecedented in its access to legal, medical,
and government documentation, as well as to the personal
testimonies of veterans, "Toxic War" endeavors to explore all sides
of this epic battle.
A secret mission sends the author to Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the
bread basket of old Indo - China. He uncovers a sophisticated enemy
supply network unknown to our military hierarchy.
Using intelligence data covertly gathered in Cambodia and
analyzed at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Virginia
they discover and destroy Vietcong forces and interdict VC supply
lines with a mixture of intrigue and romance.
A U. S. Naval story never told, complete with declassified maps
from the Office of Naval Intelligence, and illuminating pictures of
Saigon and archaic areas of the Delta taken by the author forty -
six years ago, a depiction of "old Saigon" and real relationships
between North and South Vietnam are related.
Headquartered in Saigon, the true interaction between our Navy
and Army ( MACV ) brass couched in the background of wartime
Saigon, often referred to as the "Paris of the Orient," and
Washington, D. C. is insightfully told.
"Wounded" is an eloquent, gritty account of the ordeal suffered
by injured American soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The
human elements of courage, love, fear, and sacrifice paint an
intriguing picture of the reality of war. Author Ed Hrivnak, a
flight nurse witness to the pain and suffering, offers a heroic
narrative for the reader. There are valiant accounts of battle
followed by the reality of life altering injuries, and how troops
support each other and persevere.
"Wounded" closes all gaps between the reader, the injured troops
in the field, and the medevac personnel helping them during their
darkest hours. The book offers a unique look at what it was like to
evacuate wounded at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Hrivnak
wants the reader to fully understand the price of war. This
international odyssey transcends the casualty statistics forgotten
in the news. A wounded soldier is a human being who is vulnerable
and weakened. Those who care for them, at times struggling to
maintain life, are also scarred. These men and women are an
incredible source of strength, courage, and devotion.
"Wounded" completes Captain Hrivnak's original journal, featured
in the Emmy winning and Oscar nominated film, "Operation
Homecoming. "
|
You may like...
53rd Street
Robert Kaddouch & Gary Peacock
CD
R113
Discovery Miles 1 130
Marc Vaux
Norbert Lynton
Hardcover
R668
Discovery Miles 6 680
|