A great war writer

Ed West


I have always been obsessed with the Iraq wars and this book by Rick Atkinson is a good way to catch the days leading up and start of the long brutal war in Iraq. In this book Atkinson follows the 101 airborne unit and their drive to Baghdad and conquering Saddam's army. This book goes through a fragging attack from an Islamic convert American soldier to a disastrous Apache helicopter fight in an urban area. Atkinson is able to talk to various members of our military who served in this totally  unnecessary war. In fact, Rick seems to chronicle that this war will be much longer than the original planners thought and the idea that these people would ever accept invaders seems crazy now. rick is one of the premier writers of war and has several books on modern warfare. His writing style is interesting and puts himself in harms way to get good story and in the company of soldiers gets the thoughts and attitudes of the first shipped off to this disastrous war. Atkinson is able to show how intelligence and planning helped destroy easily Saddam's famed republican guard but the army was totally unprepared for the guerrilla street fighting that was yet to come. The early signs of the insurgency appear quickly after the "victory" and capture of several key cities illustrated in this great war book. I wonder if Atkinson has a sequel and details the following years of this war.