Book Review: Ramadi Declassified: A Roadmap to Peace in the Most Dangerous City in Iraq

 
Title: Ramadi Declassified

Author: Colonel Deane

Stars: 5 out of 5

Review:
"Take Back Ramadi… but don't make it another Fallujah." This was the order Lt. Col. Tony Deane, commander of Task Force Conqueror, received in May of 2006.  
 
Colonel Deane writes a very candid account of his time as commander in Ramadi starting in 2006. This story is very engaging because it is straight forward account. It is not in anyway an action story but Colonel Deane has a way of having the lame man understanding of what happen in Ramadi. It shows the slow and steady build up the military used to be able to help the people of  Ramadi and keep his men stay safe.
 I love the political world so nothing was new but for those who dive in they might be shocked with what they read. The author thankful gave the readers enough information in the back ground of the Sunni-Shia conflict to understand How, What and Why things were happening the way they were.

I have always had respect for the armed forces but this will drive it home.
AC from Netgalley.

Synopsis:
Take Back Ramadi but don't make it another Fallujah." This was the order Lt. Col. Tony Deane, commander of Task Force Conqueror, received in May of 2006. By then Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, had become the most dangerous city in Iraq, The sound of explosions and gunfire filled the air around the clock. The civilian government had collapsed, and the fledgling Iraqi security forces proved incapable of protecting the population from a brutal Al Qaeda murder and intimidation campaign. The city was in chaos and the rule of law non-existent. Pundits, politicians and military leaders, including the division headquarters were declaring the war lost. The men and women of Task Force Conqueror saw some of the heaviest urban combat in Iraq, against a shadowy enemy who preferred improvised explosive devices and sniper fire to standing toe to toe and fighting. It quickly became clear that street fighting with insurgents was not the path to victory. Something more was needed. What happened next was the turning point in the Iraq War and an epic story of combat, courage, leadership and diplomacy that broke the back of al Qaeda in Iraq and wrote a new chapter in the course of Middle East history. The Battle of Ramadi is widely considered the Gettysburg of the Iraq War, and Ramadi Declassified puts the reader into the middle of the fighting. Colonel Deane tells the powerful story of his troops' sacrifice and innovation in raw, gripping detail as he outlines both the path to success in defeating Al Qaeda, and the causes of the unraveling chaos now choking the life out of present day Iraq. (less)

Hardcover, 432 pages

Expected publication: May 30th 2016 by Praetorian Books