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Moment of Truth in Iraq: How a New 'Greatest Generation' of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Yon
Publisher: Richard Vigilante Books
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  106 reviews
Sales Rank: 2578
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0980076323
Dewey Decimal Number: 956
EAN: 9780980076325
ASIN: 0980076323
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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Book Description
Never underestimate the American soldier. That's the moral of former Green Beret Michael Yon's brilliant battle-by-battle, block-by-block tale of how America's new `greatest generation' of soldiers is turning defeat and disaster into victory and hope in Iraq. The American soldier is the reason General David Petraeus's brilliant strategy of moving our soldiers off isolated bases and out among the Iraqi people is working. Working to find and kill terrorists, reclaim neighborhoods, and help lead Iraq to democracy. Yon is no cheerleader. According to the New York Times, he has logged more time in combat situations in Iraq than any other reporter. When failed American leadership was driving Iraq into chaos and civil war, nobody told the story earlier or better than Michael Yon. The top brass was so mad that twice the U.S. military denied him access to Iraq. So Yon has supreme credibility when he says that we are finally winning, not primarily with our overwhelming technology, not with shock and awe destruction, but with the even more powerful force of American values--with the courage and leadership, strength and compassion of our soldiers. Iraqis respect strength, says Yon. They know American soldiers are "great-hearted warriors" who vanquish the Al Qaeda terror gangs that "raped too many women and boys, cut off too many heads, brought drugs into too many neighborhoods." But Iraqis also discovered that these great warriors are even happier helping rebuild a clinic or a school or a neighborhood. They learned the American soldier is not only the most dangerous man in the world, but the best man too. That's what turned defeat into victory. Here is the true, untold story of the American soldier and the courage and values that are bringing victory for America--and Iraq.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 101 more reviews...
 Well Done! August 17, 2008
Michael Yon ends his book, The Moment of Truth in Iraq, with a question: "The war isn't over yet. Victory remains in question. The choice is ours, the time is now - for a moment of truth in Iraq. What are we going to do?" Preceding this interrogatory, Yon relates the recent developments in Northern Iraq generally and Mosul in particular. The question he poses - whether we will withdraw forces from Iraq or remain there in significant numbers to see the mission through - is one that looms like a shadow through the entire book.
Yon argues relentlessly that successes are occurring in Iraq on both the battlefield as well as in the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and that precipitously withdrawing U.S. forces would have devastating consequences. The situation in Mosul serves as a sterling example of successful counterinsurgency and the heroic efforts of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis alike. However, mainly a result of the gradually diminishing presence of American soldiers there since the war's outset, Mosul, like much of the country, is experiencing a fragile, tenuous peace interrupted by the seemingly random car or suicide bomb. Yon's basic message is that as goes Mosul, could well go the rest of the country if we were to pull out prematurely...
The Moment of Truth in Iraq essentially covers major campaigns in the war from the point of view of a combat journalist embedded with some of the fiercest, most capable U.S. infantry and cavalry units to venture outside a Forward Operating Base (FOB). Throughout his book, Yon offers his insights and opinions, leaving the reader with little doubt as to how he feels about the need to stay the course. He argues compellingly that the surge of U.S. forces led by GEN David Petraeus, along with the Sunni Awakening, not only in Al Anbar, but in other parts of Iraq - e.g., Diyala - has paid enormous dividends for U.S. and Coalition interests.
Nothing particularly new or earth-shattering so far...
Where Yon's book breaks new ground is in his praise for Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police units who he contends are "owning" more of the fight than most Americans are led to believe. Yon acknowledges that some senior leaders remain inept and that there are members of the Iraqi National Police, in particular, who are corrupt and abusive. Nevertheless, he offers a positive "ground truth" assessment regarding the prospects for our success in Iraq which is refreshing given we are inundated with negative mainstream media accounts. Without question, however, the Coalition still has a long way to go in stabilizing and rebuilding the country, training Iraqi security forces, and neutralizing the wide array of threats that includes Al Qaeda and Iran-sponsored Shi'ite militants.
Most enjoyable about The Moment of Truth in Iraq is Yon's on-the-ground reporting. His vivid accounts of valiant U.S. soldiers battling Sunni insurgents and Al Qaeda in Ba'qubah and tenacious British soldiers battling Shi'ite militiamen in Basra are superb. He offers us an insider's view of what, through 7 years of continuous, sustained ground combat, has become one of the most highly trained, battle-tested military forces in the history of modern warfare. Pound for pound the American G.I. is the most fearsome warrior on the planet, and he, along with his Iraqi Army and Police counterparts, is giving Al Qaeda all they can handle.
While easy-to-read and at times exciting, The Moment of Truth in Iraq lacks the balance characteristic of good reporting. Yon fails to offer any competing point of view. This ensures the book reads like a long political tract. Like many readers, I pick up a military book in order to learn how a particular battle or campaign was fought. The Moment of Truth in Iraq generally met my expectations in that regard, but I would have appreciated a bit more action and perhaps less commentary.
Although I agree with Yon's central argument - that we have come too far and paid too heavy a price to quit Iraq now - I found his persistent commentary about the need to remain in Iraq to be monotonous.
Most important about Yon's work is that he gives the American soldier a voice... He reports the story from his position next to that soldier in the HMMMV or Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle - not from interviews taking place after the fact in the safer confines of a FOB.
Yon is a soldier's journalist on a par with a Bill Mauldin or an Ernie Pyle - men from an earlier, bygone era (WWII) whose intrepid reporting from the front captured the hearts of soldiers throughout the battlefields of Western Europe and the Mediterranean. Yon's dispatches resonate with the same sights and sounds of battle, and he offers his and his soldiers' frank opinions about what's going right and what's going wrong. No sugarcoating or whitewashing here...
Today's American fighting men and women deserve more advocates such as Michael Yon who fairly and honestly communicate what is actually happening on the fields of battle... who turn the spotlight on those who actually deserve it - not the generals or colonels, but the privates and corporals... those fine Americans who have turned the tide in the Iraq War and who in Yon's words represent the country's "New Greatest Generation."
Well Done!
Mike gets it right July 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having worked with Michael firsthand over in Iraq as he was on the ground and reporting from one of the real hotspots in Southern Baghdad, I can tell you that he gets it right in this book. It is an honest portrayal of the war as I knew it in 2007 as a member of one of the surge brigades.
If you want what is the closest account of the ground truth over there, this book delivers. Yon spent more than 2 months total in our OE (operational environment) with various units at different times from March 07- January 08, so he brings honesty, accuracy and a fresh perspective to the table here.
Pulitzer Prize! This book is dead on! July 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Want to read war reporting that is not influenced by politically influenced editors or media? Buy this book! I am a slow reader and I finished it in less than a week! It was impossible to start a chapter and not finish it, only then to be stuck with the difficulty of resisting reading the next chapter. This is book compliments "Shadow Warriors" in a few ways while also telling its own story at the same time.
Forget the mainstream media--this is the straight story on Iraq July 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is probably the most important book written on the Iraq War. Michael Yon does an outstanding job of telling it like it is--no politics, no right or left, no spin, just the facts. He also reports the facts that the mainstream media usually deems unfit to print. Yon is critical about mistakes that were made, but at the same time shows that the Iraq War is in the process of being won. He credits the surge and a successful "community-policing" style of counterinsurgency strategy. The turnaround in events in Iraq is nothing short of spectacular. This book is easy to read, a page turner and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The stories and pictures Yon uses are especially powerful. Highly recommended. For those that support an immediate withdrawal of troops, this book will change your mind.
 Extremely well written, but a shortsighted view of the Iraq War July 23, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is an extremely exciting tour from the grunt's point of view. Since this point of view is often overlooked, it is nice to see it done so well.
HOWEVER, If you want to understand how we got into the war or who we are fighting now you will not get any idea from this book. It seems that MOST of our enemies are either Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda sympathizers. There is almost no discussion with any of our enemies, so what little information is provided about our enemies either says that they are fanatics or dismisses them as illevant. If there had been an index, you would see that there is exactly one reference to Moqtada al Sadr... (who was even cut from Yon's otherwise excellent coverage of the execution of Saddam!) and a few, minor references to Nouri Al Maliki. Considering this, it would seem that Yon expects the Americans to stay in Iraq forever, solving problems, eliminating insurgents, etc. There is no Iraqi political presence.
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