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War on Two Fronts: An Infantry Commander's War in Iraq and the Pentagon
Winner of The Army Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award for Excellence in U.S. Army History Writing- Journals, memoirs and letters, June 2008
Shortly after the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the war in Iraq became the most confusing in U.S. history, the high command not knowing who to fight, who was attacking Coalition troops, and who among the different Iraqi groups were fighting each other. Yet there were a few astute officers like Lt. Col. Christopher Hughes, commanding the 2d Battalion of the 327th Inf. Regiment, 101st Airborne, who sensed the complexity of the task from the beginning.
In “War on Two Fronts” Col. Hughes writes movingly of his “No-Slack” battalion at war in Iraq. The war got off to a bang for Hughes, when his brigade command tent was fragged by a Muslim sergeant in the 101st, leaving him briefly in charge of the brigade. Amid the nighttime confusion of 14 casualties, a nearby Patriot missile blasted off, panicking nearly everyone while mistakenly bringing down a British Tornado fighter-bomber.
As Hughes’ battalion forged into Iraq they successfully liberated the city of Najaf, securing the safety of Grand Ayatollah Sistani and the Mosque of Ali, while showing an acute cultural awareness in doing so that caught the world's attention. It was a feat that landed Hughes within the pages of Time, Newsweek and other publications. 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.
Conscious that an army battalion is a community of some 700-plus households, and that when a unit goes off to war the families are intimately connected in our internet age, Hughes makes clear the strength of those connections and how morale is best supported at both ends.
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 counterinsurgency 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 candor and no shortage of humor, intermixed with brutal scenes of combat and frank analysis, this book is a must-read for all those who seek insight into our current war in the Mideast.
Shortly after the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the war in Iraq became the most confusing in U.S. history, the high command not knowing who to fight, who was attacking Coalition troops, and who among the different Iraqi groups were fighting each other. Yet there were a few astute officers like Lt. Col. Christopher Hughes, commanding the 2d Battalion of the 327th Inf. Regiment, 101st Airborne, who sensed the complexity of the task from the beginning.
In “War on Two Fronts” Col. Hughes writes movingly of his “No-Slack” battalion at war in Iraq. The war got off to a bang for Hughes, when his brigade command tent was fragged by a Muslim sergeant in the 101st, leaving him briefly in charge of the brigade. Amid the nighttime confusion of 14 casualties, a nearby Patriot missile blasted off, panicking nearly everyone while mistakenly bringing down a British Tornado fighter-bomber.
As Hughes’ battalion forged into Iraq they successfully liberated the city of Najaf, securing the safety of Grand Ayatollah Sistani and the Mosque of Ali, while showing an acute cultural awareness in doing so that caught the world's attention. It was a feat that landed Hughes within the pages of Time, Newsweek and other publications. 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.
Conscious that an army battalion is a community of some 700-plus households, and that when a unit goes off to war the families are intimately connected in our internet age, Hughes makes clear the strength of those connections and how morale is best supported at both ends.
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 counterinsurgency 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 candor and no shortage of humor, intermixed with brutal scenes of combat and frank analysis, this book is a must-read for all those who seek insight into our current war in the Mideast.
- GenresMilitary Fiction
423 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
6 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 14, 2013
Colonel Hughes was recently promoted to Brigadier General, and I believe he is now serving in Afghanistan with the Third Infantry Division. Despite his describing himself at one point in this book as "field smart and book stupid", he seems to be a talented and impressive officer. The book is a straight-to-the-point, no frills combat narrative, and what it may lack in style is easily made up by substance. Hughes is certainly no David Hackworth, but I'd like to think that Hack would have approved of the way he led the 2/327th Battalion in Iraq...
April 29, 2022
When Hughes says "the United States is not an Empire, just a reluctant Superpower with a conscience", i wonder if he realises he is echoing older British historians, who likewise protest that theirs was a "reluctant Empire", that they had only taken the burden of a civilising mission to bring light and freedom to their colonies...
His prose comes across as very sincere and genuine. He seems very serious and committed about his Mission and Duty. By all accounts Hughes comes across as a caring, wise, and competent commander.
But for someone as well-read as Hughes claims to be, the echoes of Empire ring uncomfortably loud in his writing. No matter how respectful Hughes appears to be of occupied Iraqis in this text, i think it's important to situate this work more deeply in the broader sectarian violence and anti-American sentiment of the place and period.
Useful to remember that these are the memoirs of a general of a conquering army, from the world's only superpower, looking to find the most efficient, the most economical way to accomplish his mission.
His prose comes across as very sincere and genuine. He seems very serious and committed about his Mission and Duty. By all accounts Hughes comes across as a caring, wise, and competent commander.
But for someone as well-read as Hughes claims to be, the echoes of Empire ring uncomfortably loud in his writing. No matter how respectful Hughes appears to be of occupied Iraqis in this text, i think it's important to situate this work more deeply in the broader sectarian violence and anti-American sentiment of the place and period.
Useful to remember that these are the memoirs of a general of a conquering army, from the world's only superpower, looking to find the most efficient, the most economical way to accomplish his mission.
August 1, 2019
I'm getting th e impression that most of the author's writings were meant to help him get some of the stresses of command off his chest. Still, it was casually entertaining to learn about the development of the war from the Pentagon's perspective
October 15, 2013
Well written book detailing the experience of an infantry battalion commander in the initial months of the Iraq war and insights into a follow-on assignment as a member of the Army Initiatives Group working directly for the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Army G3/5/7. The first half, detailing Hughes' experience in Iraq is insightful but no more so than several others who have written of their experiences. Hughes insights become unique when detailing how he carried out his mandate to ensure that forces fighting in Iraq were getting all the support needed and possible from the Army bureaucracy.
May 16, 2017
Great book on leadership, tactics, and an overall insight into the mind of a commander on and off the battlefield.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews