Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces

by Linda Robinson

Book Overview

Special Forces soldiers are daring, seasoned troops from America's heartland, selected in a tough competition and trained in an extraordinary range of skills. They know foreign languages and cultures... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586482491
• ISBN13: 9781586482497
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Masters of Chaos

Excellent book! It was well written and accurate. I had the opportunity to speak with a friend of mine who is one of the officers featured in the book. He verified that Linda Robinson did a good job of depicting the events as they actually happened on the ground. I highly recommend it!

A surprisingly good read

This is a book that anyone with an interest in Special Forces can read. Easy to follow and understand ( not too technical) I am very pleased with her accounts and discriptions of her "cast of charactures". Having been embedded with some of these men and her interviews with them, you can tell she got to know the men, not just as soliders, but as people. And she did them justice. Most people have the impression of "green berets" as a Rambo type He-man, but not only did the book portray what highly skilled soldiers these men are, but gave them depth and you got to see other sides that the media often fails to show. It is incredible what a 12 man ODA can do, and never take credit for their accomplishments. This is why they are called "The quiet Profesionals", but I have to thank Linda Robinson for giving them a voice. This isn't your typical "war" book, but it offers great insite that both men and woman can appreciate. Would be a nice gift in your husband's stocking for Christmas.

A good book, the unfortunate title notwithstanding.

After reading a number of rush to print books on the Iraqi War, mostly written by embedded reporters, I have been waiting for this book. None of the earlier works included the war we knew was going on in the west, north and northeast while our conventional forces drove north to Baghdad. Indeed, during the buildup and the first few months after the invasion started, I only came across one or two news accounts that even mentioned SOFs being in the area. Having read Robin Moore's, "The Hunt for Bin Laden", I knew that SOFs had to be active behind the lines in those areas. The author, Linda Robinson, having covered numerous guerrilla conflicts and Special Forces operations before, was one of the few journalists allowed to cover the Special Forces as an embedded reporter during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She accompanied the SFs from Umm Qasr to Basra, from Nassiriya to Kut and on to the Iranian border. This fact is revealed only in the introduction as she wisely and selflessly avoids the first person in the telling of the soldiers' unique story. As other reviewers have pointed out, the book begins with a brief but informative history of Special Forces including their formation, their training, Nam, the Balkans and ends with Afghanistan and Iraq. The larger portion of the book deals with Afghanistan and Iraq. As for the Afghanistan War, a truly remarkable story, greater depth is required and this reviewer recommends the Robin Moore book above. Before the official Iraq invasion date, 1st Battalion of 5th Group launched the first operations of Iraqi Freedom. They were in country the day before the early "decapitation strike" of March 20th. It was their job to search an area the size of New Jersey and locate potential Scud missile sites that could reach Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In so doing, they engaged in the war's first big fight: the taking of the airfield designated H3 and the nearby city of Ar Rutba. Unlike SOFs elsewhere in Iraq, these teams did not have limited air support. In the south other members of 5th Group moved north on Pave Low helicopters and MC-130s Combat Talon planes to conduct reconnaissance on the vital Karbala Gap. This dangerous mission, hundreds of miles behind enemy lines, was briefed on CNN two hours before it began by a retired U. S. general. Iraqi TV, apparently picking up the CNN story, broadcast the possibility of their presence to our enemy. Well done gentlemen. In the north 10th group, with 50 teams and limited air and a force of lightly armed Kurdish militias, performed the impossible. Under Lt. Col. Waltemeyer they took on Ansar al-Islam of Zarqawi fame and racked up unprecedented victories. A Special Forces Battalion along with 26,00 pesh merga captured Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, defeated six enemy divisions, captured 600 and killed 859 enemy soldiers and seized 6,000 square kilometer's of territory. Two hundred Kurds died and only four of Waltemeyer's men were wounded. The SOF teams per

An Update Since Viet Nam

As I listened to the Presidential debates, Kerry says that he intends, if elected, to double the size of the special forces. John Edwards in another debate was critizing the administration for using Afgan Warlords to go into the Tora Bora mountains rather than American troops. This would indeed be interesting news to the Special Forces teams that went in with the Afgan troups. It is clear that the history of the Army's Special Forces is just beginning. A lot was written about the Special Forces during the Viet Nam era. Even down to songs and movies. Since then, they've been around, they were in Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia, the Balkans. Lately the center of their activities have been in Afghanistan (Yes, even at Tora Bora) and Iraq. It's clear that they are going to be around for a long time to come. This book kind of brings us up to date on what these forces have been doing for the past 15 years. It's well researche, well written and a very interesting read.

Freeing the Oppressed

"De oppresso liber"--Free the Oppressed--the motto of the fabled Green Berets--has stood for over half a century as a beacon to bold Americans who believe that freedom is a universal blessing for all people. Robinson portrays the challenges and complexities of the global insurgency that threatens that freedom and provides rare insights into America's Green Berets and their special operations comrades in the Navy SEALs and Air Force Air Commandos. Drawing on extensive experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, Robinson has produced the best yet account of these daring warriors.