War on Two Fronts: An Infantry Commander's War in Iraq and the Pentagon

Although his battle memoir is conventional, Hughes also offers an insightful review of our problems in Iraq as a loyal supporter of President Bush who does not conceal his opinion that the war is a disaster. The first half of his book adds little to the flood of patriotic battle accounts pouring off the presses. Readers are introduced to Hughes's men in the 101st Airborne as they pack their gear, bid good-bye to their wives and travel to a freezing desert encampment to await the invasion. Plunging enthusiastically into battle, they fight with courage and skill against an enemy Hughes describes as having no skill whatsoever. His unit apparently took its objectives with no casualties. After Hughes rotates home to serve in the Pentagon and attend the National War College, his book becomes genuinely thoughtful as he concludes that, while America was absolutely right to invade Iraq to depose an evil dictator, our ignorance of that nation's history and religion has led to chaos. He concludes with a familiar-sounding program for stabilizing the nation that includes specific benchmarks and a timetable for withdrawal—which he suspects may take years. (Oct.)