 | The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection
Buy new: $35.49 / Used from: $28.95 Referenced in David Kilcullen's "Fundamentals of Company-level Counterinsurgency". A look at the nearly-successful urban Algerian terrorist campaign in the 1950s and how the French ultimately crushed it. I personally love it, but it's black and white, has subtitles, and no English. If you're a grunt just skip and watch "The Blood of My Brother".
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 | Battle for Haditha
Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $4.24 Love it or hate it, it shows what can happen on a really bad day in Iraq. A fictional representation of the 2005 Haditha Massacre. I've been really pushing this video with my command (and reviewed it on Amazon), but watch it with a grain of salt: the director definitely has an anti-US political agenda.
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 | Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 REQUIRED! A beginner's guide to urban combat in modern warfare using the Army's 1993 aborted raid in Mogadishu, Somalia. Referenced in David Kilcullen's "Fundamentals of Company-level Counterinsurgency". Probably more useful in 2003/2004 since we have a lot of vets now but if you're a boot or butter bar you should at least skim it.
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 | Black Hawk Down
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $0.39 Of course if you're too lazy to read the book the movie is a decent substitute (Even though you really should read the book).
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 | The Blood of My Brother
Buy used from: $1.85 This DVD was shot with members of the Mahdi Army in Baghdad. The filmmaker isn't that objective and be prepared to call B.S. on a lot of what you see. However, it does show daily life in Baghdad over an extended period of time and the kind of people you may have to engage.
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 | Combat Diary - The Marines of Lima Company
Buy new: $14.49 / Used from: $16.84 REQUIRED. When I was a boot, this was what our seniors who were in Haditha in '06 showed us. It documents an inexperienced company of reservists going to Iraq and getting chewed up and spit out. (No offense intended) Basically a what-not-to-do video.
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 | Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks
Buy new: $11.18 / Used from: $3.52 So I said I was going to try and avoid the big ponderous history books, so time to break the rules. Only read if you want to see the big picture of Iraq from 2002-2005 and what not to do. Not required or recommended for grunts.
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 | Frontline: Rules of Engagement
Buy new: $22.49 / Used from: $16.63 STRONGLY RECOMMENDED: This documentary covers the 'Haditha Massacre'. There are no real villains. The US Marines were correctly following their ROEs which hadn't been changed since 2nd Fallujah. In simple terms, it shows how you need to use your head more than your weapon.
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 | The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 by Thomas E. Ricks
Buy new: $17.98 / Used from: $7.00 Part III of Iraq's History for Grunts (And a sequel to "Fiasco"). Explains how the US strategy was failing in Iraq and how the Army and Marine Corps turned it around. Focuses on the victory in Anbar and the surge.
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 | Generation Kill by Evan Wright
Buy used from: $5.64 Part I of Iraq's History for Grunts. A nice book about OIF-1 which sums up the campaign from the view of a company of Force Recon Marines and shows some of the initial mistakes and problems we had in Iraq. Not required (And the miniseries also works). If you want a big book with lots of words that tells you almost the exact same thing get "Cobra II".
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 | Generation Kill
Buy new: $28.99 / Used from: $24.32 If you don't care and have money to burn, get it. I think this was the best film making done on Iraq, but it's more of a reference than a how-to. Again, not required but recommended.
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 | Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $0.62 REQUIRED READING! A little-known account by the wife of an American anthropologist (For you grunts that means "someone who studies people and cultures") living in the rural parts of Shia Iraq in the 1950s. Explores in depth the Iraqi tribal system and culture in clear and concise manner. It assumes you know nothing about the Middle East and I HIGHLY recommend it.
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 | An Invitation to Laughter: A Lebanese Anthropologist in the Arab World by Fuad I. Khuri
Buy new: $19.00 / Used from: $6.64 This is a follow-up if you've read "Guests of the Sheik" but it's not as good. It focuses more on Arab culture outside Iraq but can provide some insights.
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 | Islam for Dummies by Malcolm Clark
Buy new: $14.95 / Used from: $3.90 The quick and dirty - just learn the basic tenets of the religion, its customs (so nothing takes you by surprise), and how not to offend people. Almost any book on Islam will work as long as it's not titled "The Sword of the Prophet," "A Deviant Culture" or some crap like that.
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 | Lawrence of Arabia (Single Disc Edition)
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $4.10 Referenced in David Kilcullen's "Fundamentals of Company-level Counterinsurgency". Technically he recommends T.E. Lawrence's book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" but it's a real snore and this will get the gist across. Plus it's one of the greatest movies of all time!
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 | No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah by Bing West
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $7.48 Part II of Iraq's History for Grunts. Shows how the nationalist insurgency started and ultimately hit its high-water mark at Fallujah. After Fallujah Al Qaida began running the show and things changed dramatically.
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 | On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman
Buy used from: $4.74 To most infantrymen it does seem a little retarded that you can do an academic study about something so simple. However, without going into details, you need to learn how to break this most sacred taboo without going nuts and breaking a bunch of others in the process.
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 | Paradise Now
Buy new: $5.79 / Used from: $2.79 A movie about suicide bombers - wow! Set in the occupied territories of Palestine, this is more about Palestinian culture but does focus on two young men who decide to blow themselves up. Recommended, but not required.
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 | Persepolis
Buy new: $21.99 / Used from: $3.89 Yeah, I know, it's Farsi/Iranian culture and the Iraqis are Arabs - different as night and day. However, it's still a good intro to Middle Eastern culture and the struggle between modernity and the old-school religious types. Just skip the parts where she's getting high and living on the street in Europe. Recommended, but not required.
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 | The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $8.98 Technically required reading but it's more for officers.
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 | War Surgery in Afghanistan and Iraq: A Series of Cases, 2003-2007 (Textbooks of Military Medicine)
Buy new: $59.18 / Used from: $81.81 This is a very technical book, but the pictures speak for themselves. There's a good chance you're going to see blown up bodies and spend at least one afternoon shoveling someone into a trash bag. Most people don't know how to handle such things. You might as well start getting used to it.
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Listmania!
