Synopses & Reviews
Ten U.S. Marines are assigned to live, train, and go into battle with more than five hundred raw and undisciplined Iraqi soldiers. A member of this Adviser Support Team, Capt. Eric Navarro, recounts their tour in vivid and brutally honest detail. Their deployment comes at a particularly important time in the war. The Battle of Fallujah is raging, and President Bush has proclaimed training the Iraqi forces is the key to winning the war. Once they stand up, we can stand down, or so the theory goes. Navarros team, nicknamed The Drifters, faces countless roadblocks—no interpreters initially, limited supplies, little contact with other U.S. forces, and a vast cultural gulf with the Iraqis. One hackneyed and fatalistic Arabic phrase seems to sum up the mission, “Insha Allah,” which translates as “God willing” or “if God wills it.” Whether riding into downtown Fallujah in an unarmored Nissan pick-up truck, living in squalor in abandoned buildings, dodging trigger-happy troops, sharing FHM magazine with Iraqi soldiers to boost morale, or getting attacked by insurgent rockets less than an hour after arriving, life is never easy and more often surreal. The Drifters trials and tribulations help shed light on this most under-reported aspect of the war: What is wrong with the new Iraqi Army? The answer is not as pretty as the politicians would like.
Review
“Captain Eric Navarro vividly describes the challenges we face in Iraq as we nation-build a stable republic atop the wreckage of the Saddam Hussein era. During his tour, Captain Navarro and his Marines served at ground zero of this effort, living and working right alongside our allies while standing-up the New Iraqi Army. Navarro’s story is full of heart-stopping action, head-shaking mistakes and ultimately, words of warning over the future of our effort in the Middle East. This book is a must-read for every American.”—John Bruning, author of The Devil’s Sandbox and co-author of House to House
Review
“Bravo to Navarro! A fast-paced, honest, insightful, and funny description of what it’s like to train an Iraqi battalion.”—Bing West, author of The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the U.S. Marines and No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle of Fallujah
Review
“In his book, God Willing, [Navarro] offers a raucous and lively tale as only can be told from the ground up.”—Officer
Review
“This is a fast-paced, well written, highly readable and candid firsthand account of life with the new Iraqi Army. This book needs to be read widely, from the halls of Congress to the corner coffee shop.”—Military Magazine