Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

After reading a number of rush to print books on the Iraqi War, mostly written by embedded reporters, I have been waiting for this book. None of the earlier works included the war we knew was going on in the west, north and northeast while our conventional forces drove north to Baghdad. Indeed, during the buildup and the first few months after the invasion started, I only came across one or two news accounts that even mentioned SOFs being in the area. Having read Robin Moore's, "The Hunt for Bin Laden", I knew that SOFs had to be active behind the lines in those areas.

The author, Linda Robinson, having covered numerous guerrilla conflicts and Special Forces operations before, was one of the few journalists allowed to cover the Special Forces as an embedded reporter during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She accompanied the SFs from Umm Qasr to Basra, from Nassiriya to Kut and on to the Iranian border. This fact is revealed only in the introduction as she wisely and selflessly avoids the first person in the telling of the soldiers' unique story.

As other reviewers have pointed out, the book begins with a brief but informative history of Special Forces including their formation, their training, Nam, the Balkans and ends with Afghanistan and Iraq. The larger portion of the book deals with Afghanistan and Iraq. As for the Afghanistan War, a truly remarkable story, greater depth is required and this reviewer recommends the Robin Moore book above.

Before the official Iraq invasion date, 1st Battalion of 5th Group launched the first operations of Iraqi Freedom. They were in country the day before the early "decapitation strike" of March 20th. It was their job to search an area the size of New Jersey and locate potential Scud missile sites that could reach Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In so doing, they engaged in the war's first big fight: the taking of the airfield designated H3 and the nearby city of Ar Rutba. Unlike SOFs elsewhere in Iraq, these teams did not have limited air support.

In the south other members of 5th Group moved north on Pave Low helicopters and MC-130s Combat Talon planes to conduct reconnaissance on the vital Karbala Gap. This dangerous mission, hundreds of miles behind enemy lines, was briefed on CNN two hours before it began by a retired U. S. general. Iraqi TV, apparently picking up the CNN story, broadcast the possibility of their presence to our enemy. Well done gentlemen.

In the north 10th group, with 50 teams and limited air and a force of lightly armed Kurdish militias, performed the impossible. Under Lt. Col. Waltemeyer they took on Ansar al-Islam of Zarqawi fame and racked up unprecedented victories. A Special Forces Battalion along with 26,00 pesh merga captured Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, defeated six enemy divisions, captured 600 and killed 859 enemy soldiers and seized 6,000 square kilometer's of territory. Two hundred Kurds died and only four of Waltemeyer's men were wounded.

The SOF teams performed outstanding accomplishments and deserve an entire book detailing their efforts. But this fine book will more than do until that other book comes along.

Linda Robinson has penned an impressive and highly readable work of military journalism. "Masters of Chaos" chronicles various operations the U.S. Army's Special Forces over the past 15 years through the eyes of the Special Forces operators. Those operations include El Salvador, Panama, counter-drug operations, both Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Somalia. Still mostly secret, even after the author's investigation, is their work with the FBI after September 11th.

The theme of the book is the sheer skill and maturity of the men who make up the Green Berets. Unlike other special operators (such as Marine Force Recon, SEALs, or the Rangers), the Green Berets are more than just commandos. Robinson shows them engaging in raids, functioning as crack light infantry, and most important, performing their primary role: organizing and training local friendlies into viable military forces. The author clearly has deep admiration for the Special Forces, and drives home the vast pool of experience and skill embodied in even a single A-Team. Robinson's writing is crisp, and she brings out the drama of the many Special Forces operations in pleasing style.

My only complaint with the book is a relatively small one, and is directed at whoever makes marketing decisions at Public Affairs: what is with the title of your book? "Masters of Chaos?" I know it is a quote drawn from the text, but combined with the two bearded-and-ballcapped operators on the cover, I could not help but make an instant association with heavy metal. Beavis and Butthead were literally chortling in my head. Furthermore, since the main theme of the book is the judgement, poise, maturity and professionalism of America's corps of unconventional warriors, "chaos" has very little to do with it. Adaptability and self-control are the two over-riding personal themes of the text.

Anyway, that is a very small gripe, but I hope someone from Public Affairs reads it. Get yourself a copy of this enjoyable book.

"De oppresso liber"--Free the Oppressed--the motto of the fabled Green Berets--has stood for over half a century as a beacon to bold Americans who believe that freedom is a universal blessing for all people.

Robinson portrays the challenges and complexities of the global insurgency that threatens that freedom and provides rare insights into America's Green Berets and their special operations comrades in the Navy SEALs and Air Force Air Commandos. Drawing on extensive experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, Robinson has produced the best yet account of these daring warriors.