From generals to G-men: A trio of military-themed reads - Entertainment, Books - Navy Times

From generals to G-men: A trio of military-themed reads

Three recent book releases worth noting:

Drowning in the Desert: A JAG’s Search for Justice in Iraq

“Drowning” refers both to an incident in Samarra in which U.S. soldiers forced two Iraqi detainees to jump into the Tigris River, and to the thankless workload and countless roadblocks confronting a judge advocate general officer in a war zone.

It’s not easy being green and a lawyer, too, and in order to do her duty, co-author and former Capt. Deborah A. Gembara has to fight for everything from a place to hold court (one trial recesses when a sanitation truck arrives “to empty the porta-potties located conveniently close to the courtroom”) to a place to sleep and keep sane (her first hooch away from home was a 4-by-7-foot canvas-topped trailer, and she has pictures to prove it).

The real drama begins halfway through the book, when Gembara puts two and two together and comes up with 1-8. Learning about two separate and unfortunate events involving soldiers from Lt. Col. Nathan Sassaman’s 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, Gembara believes someone is not following the rules of engagement. She must walk a political-military straight line to keep from being ignored — personally and legally — in the fog of war.

“Nothing in Samarra happens as it should,” she writes, and her case for the prosecution presents a counterpart to Sassaman’s own memoir, the compelling “Warrior King” (St. Martin’s Press, 2008).

The Art of Command: Military Leadership from George Washington to Colin Powell

“The Art” is the talent to lead, and this collection of scholarly essays offers “aspiring and experienced leaders, especially those in the military but also civilians in every field and profession ... a historically grounded exploration of leadership development, giving special attention to nine essential qualities.”

In other words, “The Art” is Leadership Lite, a description that is not pejorative. The chronological chapters are mostly convincing and occasionally captivating — especially those on the qualities of two World War II heroes:

• Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who worked around a less-than-friendly relationship with British Field Marshal Bernard “Monty” Montgomery.

• Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Puller, who got Marines to “follow him to hell” at a time “Chesty” was mourning the death of his brother in Guam.

Alas for the reader, a peacetime leader’s chapter is dull compared to one about a wartime leader. And Admiral Hyman G. Rickover’s need to see copies of everybody’s correspondence seems like obsessive-compulsive disorder rather than exemplary management.

Nine men — no women — conveniently illustrate the leadership attributes: integrity, determination, organization, cross-cultural awareness, charisma, vision, technological sense, adaptability and being a good follower.

Yes, being a good follower. This review won’t tell you which leader receives this dubious distinction — dubious, that is, until you have read the chapter.

Homeland Insecurity: How Washington Politicians Have Made America Less Safe

Nixon started it.

And it’s hard to argue with FBI veterans Terry D. Turchie and Kathleen M. Puckett, who maintain that President Richard M. Nixon started the politicization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation when he “put his own man (L. Patrick Gray) in control of an organization that had proven to be a thorn in the sides of politicians for nearly half a century.”

But Nixon is not the only villain threatening the FBI’s methods and rules, and not all the public enemies are household names.

One major culprit is Assistant Attorney General Jamie Gorelick’s 1995 order restricting “criminal and intelligence sides” from sharing information. It was the icing on the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s cake, a dessert that doesn’t recognize “the true nature of working on the front lines, where law enforcement, terrorism and intelligence analysis collide.”

Collisions continue. The list of politicians who prefer power over national protection tries hard to be nonpartisan, featuring Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Dick Cheney (“the ‘Godfather’ for secrecy in government”), George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, among others.

Both Bushes? “Given the actions of the first Bush White House in pardoning the principals of the [Reagan] Iran Contra scandal, it’s not surprising that President George W. Bush would commute the sentence of Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby after his conviction for leaking the identity of a CIA officer to the media.

“Politicians of all stripes have critically endangered national security by favoring their political allies in the intelligence community — the CIA and the military — over the FBI.”

In this book, the FBI is the good guy, the White House and Congress are the bad guys, and John Q. Public is the loser. The facts in “Homeland Insecurity” make you feel insecure.

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The Art of Command: Military Leadership from George Washington to Colin Powell. Edited by Harry S. Laver and Jeffrey J. Matthews (University Press of Kentucky, $32.50), 276 pages.

Drowning in the Desert: A JAG’s Search for Justice in Iraq. By Vivian H. Gembara with Deborah A. Gembara (Zenith Press, $26.95), 310 pages.Homeland Insecurity: How Washington Politicians Have Made America Less Safe. By Terry D. Turchie and Kathleen M. Puckett, Ph.D. (History, $25.95), 320 pages.

Drowning in the Desert: A JAG’s Search for Justice in Iraq. By Vivian H. Gembara with Deborah A. Gembara (Zenith Press, $26.95), 310 pages.Homeland Insecurity: How Washington Politicians Have Made America Less Safe. By Terry D. Turchie and Kathleen M. Puckett, Ph.D. (History, $25.95), 320 pages.