The Horror - Black Hearts

[Affentitten]

I commend to forum members the book "Black Hearts" by Jim Frederick. Just finished reading it.

The book covers the deployment of Bravo Company, 1/502nd, 101st AB to Iraq in 2005-6. Specifically it shows the gradual descent into madness that occurred with 1st Platoon of that unit, culminating in four of the men murdering and raping members of an Iraqi family in what became known as the Mahmudiyah killings.

The book is not a criticism of the US military or some sort of liberal Bush bash. Rather it explores what went wrong in that particular unit due to a host of command failures right on up the line. The battalion CO particularly seems like the weakest link. The author is at pains to point out that all human organisations are flawed, but in large organisations like the military, flaws and bad decsions tend to get averaged out as they move through the hierarchy. But just occasionally, all the bad numbers come up in a line, as was the case here: bad strategic decisions, unlcear mission, indifferent and weak leadership, mounting psychological distress and lastly, some real bad apples at the squad level.

The book is a great study in the ideas that command is more than just moving pins on a map and infantry leadership is more than just being the first to charge the bunker. There are also some interesting points made about the 'warrior monk' mentality that seems to pervade professional militaries these days, with young men expected to go without any release at all, whilst labouring under the Hollywood portrayal of living up to "the greatest generation".