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Wrong Turn: America's Deadly Embrace of Counterinsurgency, by Colonel Gian Gentile
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Colonel Gian Gentile’s 2008 article “Misreading the Surge” in World Politics Review first exposed a growing rift among military intellectuals that has since been playing out in strategy sessions at the Pentagon, in classrooms at military academies, and on the pages of the New York Times. While the past years of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan have been dominated by the doctrine of counterinsurgency (COIN), Gentile and a small group of dissident officers and defense analysts have questioned the necessity and efficacy of COIN—essentially armed nation-building—in achieving the United States’ limited core policy objective in Afghanistan: the destruction of Al Qaeda.
Drawing both on the author’s experiences as a combat battalion commander in the Iraq War and his research into the application of counterinsurgency in a variety of historical contexts, Wrong Turn is a brilliant summation of Gentile’s views of the failures of COIN, as well as a searing reevaluation of the current state of affairs in Afghanistan.
As the issue of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan inevitably rises to the top of the national agenda, Wrong Turn will be a major new touchstone for what went wrong and a vital new guide to the way forward.
Note: the ideas in this book are the author’s alone, not the Department of Defense’s.
- Sales Rank: #679066 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-07-30
- Released on: 2013-07-30
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
"Here in this timely, incisive, and unflinchingly honest volume, the essential task of dismantling the myths already enshrouding America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan begins. . . . An important book that will give Washington’s war-mongers and militarists fits."
—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country
"Colonel Gentile asks us to confront some blisteringly urgent questions. Have COIN tactics ever worked the military magic their proponents claim? Or have they merely provided cover for beating exits from wars that never should have been fought in the first place? . . . Wrong Turn deserves a wide readership by all who must make these supremely important strategy decisions—as well as those who will live with the consequences."
—David M. Kennedy, professor of history, Stanford University, and editor of The Modern American Military
"Counterinsurgency rises over and over again from the ashes of defeat. It is Gian Gentile’s ambition to 'drive a stake through its heart,' and in Wrong Turn he has succeeded—brilliantly."
—Marilyn Young, professor of history, New York University
"A brilliant and persuasive book . . . offers by far the most convincing explanation extant of why America has not succeeded recently with COIN.”
—Sir Colin Gray, professor of international relations and strategic studies at the University of Reading
"A lively, provocative and readable book . . . never misses its mark."
—Hew Strachan
"Based on his personal experience in Baghdad as well as some fine historical scholarship, Colonel Gentile takes aim at America’s current COIN doctrines and shows how ineffective they really are. An exceptionally courageous book, clearly and forcibly written."
—Martin van Creveld, author of The Transformation of War
"Gentile finds the common flaw in our failed strategy as evidenced in our last three military misadventures. . . . We did not lose the Vietnam War—it was never ours to win. Is Afghanistan becoming a repeat performance?"
—Volney Warner, General (Ret), U.S. Army
"How I wish we’d had this telling critique of counterinsurgency warfare before Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It would have been far harder to make those tragic mistakes. A must-read for our national security experts, and U.S. citizens."
—Leslie H. Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and former columnist for the New York Times
About the Author
Colonel Gian Gentile is an army colonel, a former Iraq War commander, and a professor of history at West Point; he was also a 2010 Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Gentile is a contributor to the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Small Wars Journal, and the World Politics Review. He lives in West Point, New York.
Most helpful customer reviews
41 of 49 people found the following review helpful.
Refreshing, Passionate, Well Reasoned Account
By Writing Historian
As I read this book, I wondered about COL Gentile's motives for writing it. Whether I am right or wrong, it seemed to me that as a professional historian and professional soldier he distinctly does not like cookie-cutter explanations of why events turned out the way they did in Iraq and why they have turned out the way they did in past counter-insurgencies (which some analysts point to as the reason why COIN "worked" in Iraq). The twisting of the truth about past events, which is designed to "sell" counterinsurgency as the wonder recipe for success in past conflicts is clearly repugnant to the author. I also do not think that he cares to be lumped into the "pre-Petraeus" U.S. military in Iraq which, according to some, obviously did not do things in an "enlightened manner." I guess soldiers who fought in North Africa wouldn't like being lumped into the "they were inexperienced and got their butts kicked by the Germans" category either, though I make that comparison only in an illustrative sense.
This slim volume is organized with a preface entitled "A Personal Note - the Hell of Baghdad," an introduction entitled "The Conceit of American Counterinsurgency," five chapters (each about 25 - 30 pages) respectively - 1.) The Construction of the Counterinsurgency Narrative, 2.) Malaya: The Foundation of the Counterinsurgency Narrative, 3.) Vietnam: The First Better War That Wasn't, 4.) Iraq: A Better War, Version 2, 5.) Afghanistan: Another Better War That Wasn't and an afterword entitled "Truth is the Casualty of COIN." Notes on sources begin on page 142, with "Notes" on p. 145 and the index starting on page 181.
Making his point: I believe that COL Gentile very effectively makes the point that a slick "Historical Public Relations Campaign" (so to speak) has resulted in a view of Malaya and Vietnam that is very different from the actual truth. The British government sold its "success" to the Free World, which stood in sharp contrast to Vietnam and Algeria, to the point where some former British officers were advising the Americans in Vietnam. Post-war U.S. Historians, on the other hand, wove a tale of GEN Creighton Abrams' "success" in Vietnam, contrasting his astute use of "Counterinsurgency" to defeat the Viet Cong - an approach which GEN William Westmoreland apparently hadn't even tried to undertake (not true). Gentile's dismantling of the oft-told tale by Counterinsurgency enthusiasts which goes something like "when (Abrams/Templer - pick one) arrived things were done very differently and that is why the Americans 'won' under GEN Abrams and why the British 'won' in Malaya". He has astutely sifted through the relevant collections and archives in the United States and the United Kingdom to build a very strong case against the "COIN-istas" holding Malaya and Vietnam up to a very un-critical light when explaining what happened in those countries. Additionally, I believe the author makes an equally strong case that the publication and institutional embrace of the U.S. Army's FM 3-24 was surrounded by a lot of hype.
Where he is not as effective (in my opinion) when making his point: Iraq. COL Gentile, in keeping with the debunking of the Malaya and Vietnam Counterinsurgency Narrative, is bound to present the Surge as "ineffective" and GEN George W. Casey as more astute/effective than the current "popular" narrative (Thomas Ricks, Linda Robinson, Gordon & Trainor, Cloud & Jaffee, et al) portray. COL Gentile is more persuasive showing that GEN Casey's image has suffered more than it should have than his attempts to portray the surge as "ineffective."
Why am I not totally convinced of the "Surge" really turning out to be more of a "Drift along with Other Events?" Gentile's recounting of Iraq in 2007 through late 2008 seems a bit selective to this reviewer. If the Sunni Awakening was a "done deal" in Al Anbar, why did another full year of tough battle in western Iraq follow the departure of COL Sean McFarland's 1/1 AD? The experiences of COL John Charlton's 1/3 ID, as narrated in Ltc. (Ret.) Michael E. Silverman's "Awakening Victory: How Iraqi Tribes and American Troops Reclaimed al Anbar Province and Defeated al Qaeda in Iraq" paints a vivid picture of a fight still somewhat in question as the Surge began. Gentile's theme also does not explain how a second Sunni awakening simultaneously ignited in South Central Iraq once the rest of 3ID took the fight to the insurgent sanctuaries south of the Iraqi capital while maintaining an adequate number of U.S. troops within Baghdad.
The achievements of the Iraqi Army, which performed as it had never done before during the "Charge of the Knights" and "Battle for Phase Line Gold" is also left unexplained. If anything, the fighting in Basra during March - April 2008 acted as a seminal morale booster for the Iraqi Army, which had never before stood its ground against the Mahdi Army. In essence, Basra had the same effect on the IA as the 1952 Battle of White Horse Mountain had on the ROK Army vis a vis their Chinese opponents. All in all, the Iraqi Army went from being a bystander during Together Forward I and II to finding itself in the thick of things during the Surge, e.g. at least one major change from the past.
Do I still recommend this book even though I am not persuaded by all of COL Gentile's arguments? The answer is a resounding "yes." The author makes a number of cogent and informed points that need to be further examined, especially by historians who will write about Iraq (and Afghanistan) in the future. Whether you agree with COL Gentile or not, this bold and refreshing book clearly belongs on the shelf of any military historian and soldier who is comfortable with the notion of critically examining accepted historical narratives.
43 of 51 people found the following review helpful.
Moral Courage
By Bing West
Within the ranks of the US Army, many myths about the efficacy of liberal counterinsurgency - building nations rather than destroying the insurgencies - have grown into conventional wisdom. Colonel Gentile, US Army, has been at the forefront of clear-eyed historians challenging the belief that the US military should be the lead agency in nation-building without any control over the military and political leaders of the host nations. To its credit, West Point has encouraged the analysis of different points of view, such as Gentile's.
(Full disclosure: I know Col. Gentile, have observed him as a commander in battle and believe his critique of nation-building as a core mission and competency of the Army and Marines is correct.0
Gentile writes in a refreshing, candid, no-sugar-added style. He tends toward the outrageous, (compared to the standard anodyne doctrinal texts) His basic thesis is that counterinsurgency is a bottom-up process that begins with explaining to a squad leader what his task is. Instead, Gentile points out that generals concocted liberal but cock-eyed theories, like "you can't win a war by killing people" and "dollars are bullets."
Gentile systematically critiques one high-level bromide after another, leaving the reader to ask: how did we ever convince ourselves for a decade that nation-building by corporals would work under host nation leadership whose behavior abetted the insurgents?
A fast, intellectually-challenging read that pulls no punches. Gentile and West Point have demonstrated moral courage in challenging conventional wisdom.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
A must-read for those interested in military strategy or geo-politics
By Brian Baker
Frankly, I'm amazed that a book so analytically critical of current military strategic doctrine was published by a career Army officer still serving on active duty. Colonel Gentile is a courageous man for doing so, and knowing the Army as I do - I was raised as a military brat and spent three years on active duty myself - I'd guess that his chances of further promotion are probably pretty much nil.
I salute him for doing so.
Further, I think his book is completely correct in its historical foundation, analysis, and conclusions.
Gentile assesses the evolution of our current doctrine of "nation-building" from its roots in the Vietnam War to our present Middle East policies. Essentially, according to Gentile, it's a transition from the pre-Vietnam idea of war as an all-out effort to secure decisive victory-at-arms to one of contained and limited application of military force in order to promote and secure a political victory. This new strategy is rooted in the idea that an indigenous population that isn't directly threatened by the enemy's military forces will naturally coalesce around our own military, and the host nation we're supporting, due to some inherent human quality that naturally yearns for freedom and democracy. In essence, we're now fighting defensive wars.
Gentile is correct, in my opinion, in his assessment that this idea is fundamentally and fatally flawed; that there is no such inherent human quality; that history, in fact, clearly illustrates the very opposite; that we as a country are refusing to learn those lessons of history; and that because of those issues our current strategy of "nation-building" is doomed to failure.
He builds and presents his case impeccably, fully explaining his reasoning and its supporting historical context, and is very logical and persuasive.
I spent five years in Iran in the mid-`60s and went to high school there. I spent a year in the war in Vietnam. I can tell you from my own personal experiences and observations that Gentile got it all exactly right.
If you want to know why we're bogged down in a dead-end military effort in the Middle East (and elsewhere) with no discernible end in sight, and no definable way to determine what "victory" means, you have to read this book.
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