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Chargement... Condor Blues: British Soldiers at War (édition 2007)par Mark Nicol (Auteur)
Information sur l'oeuvreCondor Blues: British Soldiers at War par Mark Nicol
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Condor Blues is an action-packed, dramatic, and true account of contemporary soldiering. It also shatters the conspiracy of silence over the direction of British operations in post-war Iraq. Gallantry medals may have been awarded on a scale unprecedented for half a century, but in winning the battles the British Army lost the peace. Author Mark Nicol focuses on the lives of two platoons based at the isolated Camp Condor in Iraq's Maysan Province. The soldiers' task was to live with and train Iraqi Civil Defense Corps recruits. Their lives jack-knifed from moments of force to farce, and they engaged in disturbing yet amusing pranks on a daily basis. They were also plunged into the biggest and bloodiest battles involving British forces in Iraq. After one firefight, they carried the broken bodies of those they had slain from the battlefield--the emotional impact was devastating. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, Condor Blues is an honest and visceral account of soldiering in a brutal environment. The flawed thinking, the missed opportunities, and the "heavy metal" tactics that proved so counter-productive are all laid bare, making this essential reading for anyone seeking an impartial account of the most violent and controversial period of modern British military history. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)956.7044340941History and Geography Asia Middle East IraqClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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From the content of the book it is clear that it was not authorised by MOD as it is highly critical in places. Also none of the main players come out of it looking terribly good, you see their flaws and the bad side as well as the bravery and the compassion in places (as well as other emotions at other points). For example, after a severe contact two of the Iraqi insurgent casualties were found to be carrying ICDC identity cards – which spelt the end of the Argylls trying to teach them military skills.
It is a warts and all portrayal, which makes it all the more convincing. Life in the camp appears to be well described, and feels honest in its descriptions of what the Jocks get up to in combating the boredom they suffered from. I can’t be sure not having been there myself, but having grown up in the same area as some of the Argylls (with references to places I went to as a teenager myself) I can see some of the soldiers I met as a territorial 20 years ago in these men. The perceived authenticity of the camp life makes the stories of the contacts with insurgents more believable.
However although there are proper war stories in here, the book is as much a lament to the lost opportunity to get a peaceful settlement and a sort of disbelief that the British Army apparently abandoned its own doctrine and instead pursued a heavy metal retaliation to incidents, which drove the locals to be insurgents.
Definitely worth reading. ( )