Operation Iraqi Freedom was one of the most confusing conflicts in US history. The high command could not be sure who to fight, who was attacking Coalition troops, or who among the different Iraqi groups were fighting each other. Yet there were a few astute officers like Lt. Col. Christopher Hughes, commanding the 2nd Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, who sensed the complexity of the task from the beginning. In War on Two Fronts Colonel Hughes writes movingly of his'no-slack' battalion at war in Iraq. As Hughes's battalion forged its way into Iraq they successfully liberated the city of Najaf, securing the safety of Grand Ayatollah Sistani and the Mosque of Ali. The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne then implemented creative programs in the initial postwar occupation, including harvesting the national wheat and barley crops, while combating nearly invisible insurgents.
Transferred to Washington after his tour in Iraq, Hughes then writes an illuminating account of the herculean efforts of many in the Pentagon to work around the corporatist elements of its bureaucracy in order to better understand counter-insurgency and national reconstruction, which Lawrence of Arabia characterized as'like learning to eat soup with a knife'. To read this book will help understand the sources of mistakes made-and still being made-and the process needed to chart a successful strategy. Written with candour and no shortage of humour, and intermixed with descriptions of brutal scenes of combat, this book is a must-read for all those who seek insight into the current war in the Middle East.