Twice Armed: An American Soldier's Battle for Hearts and Minds in Iraq
Twice Armed,by R. Alan King, attempts to explain the challenges, errors, and strategy for ultimate success in Iraq based on its author’s personal experiences as a civil affairs battalion commander and deputy director of the Office of Provincial Outreach, Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). King devotes the first 11 chapters ofTwice Armedto describing his personal experiences during the ground war and the initial occupation of Baghdad and in subsequent stability operations…While King’s personal experiences are certainly entertaining, the final two chapters and postscript comprise the “so what” of the book. They contain King’s thoughts about what went wrong for the United States in Iraq and what must be done to win there and against the broader ideology driving Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups…His thoughts are insightful and giveTwice Armedparticular relevance as the United States continues the fight in Iraq…Unlike the authors of many recent books published about the Iraq war, King was there, in uniform; he has sufficient credibility and experience to make his book authoritative. Moreover, he was involved in many critical aspects of the ground war and subsequent stability operations, including the cease-fire talks during the first Fallujah battle and confrontations with Muqtada Al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. King’s in-depth understanding of Islam and Christianity lends additional credibility to his arguments…WhileTwice Armedis somewhat civil-affairs-centric, it offers unique insights into dealing with the Iraqi population that could contribute to an eventual successful effort. It should be a must-read for all field grade officers bound for duty in Iraq.Military Review,May/June 2007"It offers unique insights into dealing with the Iraqi population that could contribute to an eventual successful effort. It should be a must-read for all field grade officers bound for duty in Iraq.”