GRUNT WORK:

Bringing the peace: a review of The Good Soldiers by David Finkel (Steven Martinovich, October 26, 2009, Enter Stage Right)

The Good Soldiers is a searing piece of reportage that can be difficult at times to read. The story that Finkel tells is of men suffering both physically and mentally in an unforgiving battle zone and the toll it took on their families. Just as with Rick Atkinson's masterpiece In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat in Iraq or Evan Wright's Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War, Finkel thrusts the reader into the Humvee alongside the soldiers and effectively unfolds a story that both tires and inspires, often for the same reasons.

There is one considerable failing with The Good Soldiers and it is that Finkel actually concentrated too much on the action on the ground and ignored the wider picture. Although some of the soldiers became increasingly discontented with their mission, the end result is that the surge did quell the worst of the violence. And although Finkel attempts the neat trick of editorializing without doing so by contrasting the increasingly optimistic Bush quotes he picked to headline each chapter with the horrible violence the soldiers are experiencing, Finkel never illustrates the other actions taken that made the mission a success. It's difficult to square Finkel's reportage on the ground with the reality of what actually happened on the strategic level.

It's a weakness but not a fatal one. At the end of the day we know Bush's surge actually was successful and that leaves us to concentrate on the individual soldiers and their stories. The surge's success came at considerable expense when measured in lives and limbs and although it can be unbearable at times to read as soldiers are shredded by IEDs and RPG fire, we can thank Finkel for chronicling the exceptional bravery and determination of the men on the ground. Regardless of where one stands on the war in Iraq, The Good Soldiers is a testament to those who served their nation and refused to fail.