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Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Gulf War Illnesses," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Gulf War Illnesses in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Gulf War Illnesses when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Gulf War Illnesses, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

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Despite ongoing instability and underdevelopment in post-Saddam Iraq, some parts of the country have realized relative security and growth. The Kurdish north, once an isolated outpost for the Iraqi army and local militia, has become an internationally recognized autonomous region. In The Kurdish Quasi-State, Natali explains the nature of this transformation and how it has influenced the relationship between the Kurdistan region and Iraq's central government.

This much-needed scholarship focuses on foreign aid as helping to create and sustain the Kurdish quasi-state. It argues that the generous nature of external assistance to the Kurdistan region over time has given it new forms of legitimacy and leverage in the country. Since 2003 the Kurdistan region has gained representation in the central government and developed commercial, investment, and political ties with regional states and foreign governments.

Drawing on extensive field research, Natali explores how this transition has had positive and unintended consequences on Kurdish state relations. Greater complexity in the regional political economy has demanded new forms of compromise with the central government. The Kurdistan region may have become a distinct political entity that challenges Baghdad; however, the benefits of aid and logic of quasi-statehood ensure that it will remain part of Iraq.

Acutely familiar with the nuances of Kurdish politics, society, and culture, Natali has produced a timely and immensely important book for policy makers, scholars, and practitioners interested in the region. ... Read more

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History of the United States (1991¿present). Gulf War, Dot-com bubble, September 11 attacks,Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Ike, Presidency of Bill Clinton, Presidency of George W. Bush, United States elections,2008, Presidency of Barack Obama ... Read more

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In a provocative analysis written during the unfolding drama of 1992, Baudrillard draws on his concepts of simulation and the hyperreal to argue that the Gulf War did not take place but was a carefully scripted media event -- a "virtual" war.

Patton's introduction argues that Baudrillard, more than any other critic of the Gulf War, correctly identified the stakes involved in the gestation of the New World Order.

Customer Reviews (12)

The war happened, but didn't take place...
Provacativively titled book either impresses or deeply angers people, I read this years ago and retained only a few points of interest.

Yes, the war happened, as in bombs were dropped, people died, buildings were destroyed, many suffered, etc.But it differed markedly from previous wars in that it was mainly an event to be manipulated by different sides in the media.Therefore, it did not take place the way previous wars had, in that the suffering and even a uniform understanding did not penetrate the population at home who watched the events on CNN.

Unfortunately, all of this business about the 'realness' of the war, and the simulacra, and the hyper-reality we're now mired in, is written in a frustrating and unnecessarily bloated style that makes even this slim work a slight chore at times.Can certainly be expressed in a simpler way, therefore appearing less profound, but then it wouldn't be the work of French postmodern philosopher.Interesting 'take' on a modern war, with points that would only resonate more in the years since, it's hit-or-miss for most readers of current events (more for the philosophy crowd).

Short and Sweet
This book basically describes how the first Iraq war differed from traditional wars of the past. It is not for everyone, Baudrillard has the unfortunate position of being too loose with ideas to be taken very seriously by 'real' academics while at the same time writing in a style that is not easily accessible to a popular audience. His thesis is that the 'war' was primarily a media event that was useful in different ways to both sides of the conflict. He does not dispute that violence and suffering took place, but suggests that the event was not a war as was defined in the past by Clausewitz. Any review that states he is trying to 'hide' the essential suffering of those at the ground of the event is just wrong. There is nothing in the book that questions or calls into doubt the experiences of soldiers or civilians; at the same time it does not dwell upon them.

Opinion never constitutes reality!
My! And yes of course he must be right! It never ceases to amaze me how 'self aggrandized' intellectuals can sit back (in the relative safety of their ivory towers) and tell themselves 'stories' generated from their own imaginations, conclusions or biases.Unfortunately they often portray these self conjured stories or opinions as reality.Equally amusing is that there are always those (safely out of harms way as well) who are quick to conclude that the opinions of someone with 'credentials' are indeed actual fact, and that of course, the U.S. Government in particular, is corrupt.After all, we all need a good `hate target' to satisfy our own needs of self righteousness. So we might as well pick the biggest target we can find, right?As someone who has been involved in the global intelligence equation for a number of years, I would conclude that any rational human being capable of thought, would agree that "All Governments" on this planet are corrupt . . . without exception.That corruption would be most readily recognized as self-serving agendas of leaders, want-to-be's, and in many cases the religious power mongers, and even the people, for power, wealth, control, fame, notoriety, etc. etc..(Sound anything like real life?) Any way, I still applaud the writer in his ability to make a few bucks on his `fantasy' work, and it is very well written.

So what?
Yeah, so there was a lot of tv coverage of the Gulf War.Yeah, so some people confuse the tv coverage with what actually went on to the point where the real war is irrelevant.Yeah, so there is a level on which there is a war for public opinion, a purely media war.Beaudrillard says all of this in the tortured language of continental philosophy.Since I love continental philosophy, I appreciate the points he makes about images and simulacra.But he offers not the slightest recognition of the fact that the war DID take place, people, animals, and buildings were destroyed, money and years of work erased, longlasting suffering and illness a legacy among all countries involved .And for that reason, this book made me VERY angry.

The Gulf War Did Not Take Place.
No one can lack commonsense as much as an intellectual, especially a leftist one, and perhaps most of all a renowned French professor of sociology.To show his brilliance, Baudrillard takes a perfectly obvious fact and devotes a book to proving it wrong.In saying that the Kuwait war "did not take place," he means that the fighting was so lopsided, it did not constitute a war.Brushing aside American fears of heavy casualties, he deems that the war "was won in advance." It was, in his view, "a shameful and pointless hoax, a programmed and melodramatic version of what was the drama of war." From the American point of view, he claims, "no accidents occurred in this war, everything unfolded according to a programmatic order." In all, the events of early 1991 stood in relation to war as computer erotics do to actual sex.

Baudrillard's exceedingly slight essay (a compilation of three articles published in the newspaper Libération) ceaselessly hammers away at these themes.He stands midway between the United States and Iraq, faulting each of these main actors about equally.For him, it is all aesthetics and ideology; the deeply important human, economic, and strategic issues raised by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait disappear under the weight of his relentless abstraction.Thus unconnected from reality, Baudrillard mangles everything from the French president's name to the number of traffic fatalities in the United States. The result is a book of profound error and transcendent stupidity, the most inane ever reviewed in these pages.

Middle East Quarterly, March 1996 ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Pleased with Purchase
I was very pleased with my purchase and would recommend seller.I received my item good condition.

Iraq Since the Gulf War
An all-Iraqi cast of eighteen authors has combined to put together the single most informative book on today's Iraq.In outlook, the authors (all in exile, of course, except for a few in the Kurdish autonomous region) extend from Marxist to Kurdish nationalist, but all of them share a seriousness of purpose spawned by Saddam Husayn's horrors.Their subjects range from the abstract (Kanan Makiya on the need for tolerance) to the specific (Rend Rahim Francke on the makeup of the Iraqi opposition).

Two articles particularly stand out:Suha Omar argues that the improvement of women's rights in Iraq is a sham.The government insists on at least five children per mother and uses the General Federation of Iraqi Women to police women and to procure them for high officials.Omar concludes that, given the realities of Saddam's Iraq, "women's equality before the law and their right to vote and hold office are sources of pain and oppression rather than pleasure and liberation."Faleh `Abd al-Jabbar explains that the anti-Saddam revolt of March 1991 (called the intifada) failed because the exiled opposition leadership misjudged the mood in Iraq, "overestimating the strength of Saddam's appeal to Iraqi patriotism."Had the exiles been more bold, he writes, they could have led the Kurds and Shi`is to victory over the despot.

Middle East Quarterly, March 1995 ... Read more

Product Description
Because of the metal's density and metallurgical properties, depleted uranium(DU) saw widespread use during the Persian Gulf War in improved armor and antiarmorrounds of increased penetrating power. This report examines the scientific literatureregarding possible health effects on U.S. troops of exposure to DU. While very littleliterature directly addresses DU, a wide body of literature deals with the health effects ofnatural uranium and enriched uranium. DU is toxicologically identical to natural uranium andradiologically more benign because it is less radioactive. No increase in overall deaths hasbeen observed as a result of exposure to natural uranium in several epidemiologicalstudies. The literature review paid close attention to the ongoing study of a group of GulfWar Veterans who received the highest exposure to DU. Those with embedded fragmentshave elevated urine uranium levels, but researchers report neither adverse renal effectsattributable to DU nor any adverse health effects related to DU radiation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

THE FIRST AUTHOR IS NAOMI HARLEY, NOT B. GOLOMB
click on the thumbnail to view the book cover - see? ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

A good gift for my husband
Since my husband's father was stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific during WWII and was actually in this battle, I thought this book would be a good bet for a birthday gift.That doesn't necessarily mean it would be a good read, though.Good thing that he loves this book; practically read it in one sitting.

Naval Warfare to the Death!
This is one outstanding legacy to the Naval crews who fought in this great battle.Once the attack began, it was almost relentless till the end.Courageous fighting from the PT Boats, Destroyers, Submarines, Battleships, Cruisers, Large and Jeep Carriers.The Japanese were being beaten so badly that they finally resorted to kamakaze attacks.Each side took a horrible beating, but our Navy prevailed.They even encountered the Japanese Battleship Yamato, which was firing with horrifying accuracy from fifteen miles away!Once the battle begins, the book is terribly difficult to put down.

Old Old Book
Woodward first published this book in 1947 copyright MacMillian.My Old copy is Ballantine with browning pages falling out that cost 35 cents. Woodward was a history professor who served in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as an Intelligence Officer during WW2.This is a quite servicable account of the battle that is a little short on background, but so far it's the clearest that I have read, if somewhat dated.I don't think a reader who knows the general course of the Pacific war will be disappointed reading it.I would recomend it as a good place to start.As for it's maps even ancient original is aided by having a map of the Philippines and western Pacific available.Leyte is after all a complex action taking place over an enormous area.You will not find much here about controversy.It's a book written primarily to inform a popular audience about a large event in the War that their country had just won, an event that probably was out of common knowledge and which only a minority of even it's participants understood in total.

Crossing the T for the last time
"Oh Hell, they got away!" - A signalman aboard the U.S.S. Fanshaw Bay after the Japanese battleships and cruisers that had been savaging two American escort carrier divisions during the Battle off Samar (Leyte Gulf) inexplicably broke off contact and retired

In October 1944, troops commanded by General MacArthur invaded the Philippines. Knowing that the loss of these islands would cut their empire in half and render inaccessible to their naval forces the fuel stores of Southeast Asia, the Japanese decided on a last ditch, do-or-die sortie of the Imperial Fleet to destroy the American naval force directly involved with the Philippine invasion, i.e. the Seventh Fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Thomas Kincaid, while luring off the covering naval force, the Third Fleet commanded by Admiral William Halsey. Thus, the Japanese unleashed a three-pronged attack on the American landing sites in Leyte Gulf involving three naval commands: the "A" (Northern) Force under Admiral Ozawa, the #1 Diversion Attack (Central) Force under Admiral Kurita, and the #2 Diversion Attack (Southern) Force under Admiral Shima.

THE BATTLE FOR LEYTE GULF is author C. Vann Woodward's superlative account of the U.S. Navy's repulse of an enemy approaching from the north, west and south. It was, because of poor decision making, faulty communications, and disunited command chains, both a near thing for the Yanks and the ultimate source of defeat for the Japanese. Certainly nearer than the final disproportionate tally of ships lost on both sides would indicate.

The Battle for Leyte Gulf was actually four separately defined and described confrontations over three days: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle off Cape Engano, and the Battle off Samar. In both tonnage engaged and tonnage sunk, the Battle for Leyte Gulf was the largest naval clash in history. Larger even than World War I's Battle of Jutland.

The preponderance of the American defensive action was destroyers and/or aircraft versus the Japanese carriers, battleships, and cruisers. However, the Battle of Surigao Strait saw the last time in naval warfare that opposing capital ships would fire their heavy guns at each other, and the last time that the venerable "crossing the T" would be accomplished (although, by the time the crossbar fired, there was little remaining of the vertical leg). An era was over.

For the American reader, the most compelling of the four engagements is perhaps the Battle of Samar, during which two divisions of the Seventh Fleet's "jeep'' carriers, unprotected by the battleships and cruisers of the Third Fleet that had scampered north to engage Ozawa's decoy Northern Force, were gallantly and stalwartly defended by their hopelessly outgunned destroyer screen against the attack of the massed battleships and cruisers of Kurita's Central Force. More honor is due the men in those small ships than can possibly be conveyed by mere words.

Woodward's prose and storytelling abilities are thoroughly engaging and the redeeming reasons that I'm awarding five stars instead of (perhaps) a more realistic four as the few battle maps range from being above average to outright wretched, the latter characterized by an appearance as if they were copied (badly) from larger originals and then shrunk in size. A photo section is non-existent. Look up the Wikipedia entry for the battle on the Internet and reader interest in those two aspects of the historical record will be well satisfied.

Good Historical Facts but a Dry Read
As the previous reviewer stated this boook is filled with excellent documentaion and would be a great read for WWII buffs and people who may already be somewhat familiar with the battle.I found the writing style dry and difficult to follow at times.This material in the hands of a more interesting writer such as Ian Toll (Six Frigates) would have been spectacular.The maps included on some of the pages were almost impossible to read, too bad because quality maps would have made it infinitley easier to follow what was written on the pages.Not recommended for a casual reader unless you become more familiar with the battle from other sources first. ... Read more

Product Description
While the United States government made noisy preparations to go to war against Saddam Hussein, it was also purposefully planning another war. But this enemy, unlike Hussein, was strangely passive in the face of these threatening maneuvers. John R. MacArthur scrutinizes the government's unprecedented assault on the constitutional freedoms of the American media during Operation Desert Storm. With a reporter's critical eye and a historian's sensibility, he traces decades of press-government relationsduring Vietnam, Grenada, and Panamawhich helped set the stage for restrictions on Gulf War reporting and for a public-relations triumph by the government. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Read this book!
I wish the author of this book had gotten more media coverage prior to Gulf War Redux. It is a fascinating look at the inner workings of the so-called free press, and the difficult and dysfunctional relationship a journalist has with the DOD, Pentagon...all those governmental "powers that be"....Check it out. Definately.

Piece of junk...
Having to read this book as part of a club for discussion is the only reason I would even spend my time for reading this piece of rubbish. The author is obviously putting his own political leftist views into his view of thewar. The author simply spews out outrageous claims with no factual data to back it up. I, being a centrist and not left/right leaning, found this book to be a biased attempt by a leftwing author to denegrate the accomplishments of the US in their attempts to solve problems in this complex world. Based on the authors views the US is responsible for the world's problems. Total BS coming from a guy who probably benefits from the global policies of the country he denounces so readily. The most amazing part of the book is that if he really believes the crap he writes he should get the heck out of here and move to an eastern block or middle eastern country.

It took guts...
And that's a lot more than the press had in its coverage of Gulf War I: The Prequel. For those of us old enough to have survived the Vietnam Era, we can recollect that some military and intelligence types blamed the loss of that police action on the media. (Even in that era, I found the media to be pretty wishy washy, but they got much worse.) Volumes have been released--some even by the Pentagon--that dispute that claim, but it was popular among Establishment types who argued that the US can do no wrong.

Then there was Granada. That I recall because it was so transparently censored--while US medical students in Granada, the ones whose parents could afford to send them there after they'd been rejected by US med schools, were praising the military's arrival just in time, an obvious placement of the right message at the right time. I thought things couldn't get any worse than this. But then there was Panama...

Up to the present, Gulf War II, following the subject matter of the book, we've evolved to "embedded" journalists, i.e., media personnel accompanying the brave military in staged events to make Cecil B. DeMille jealous. The process and material of this "war" was provided by PR professionals!

This book documents a mid point in that process. And I remember it because I was frequently furious during Desert Storm that every local VFW chapter was called upon to comment while even major newspapers abstained from printing letters critical of the event!

There's a lot in this spectacular volume. The author begins with explaining how the media plan was designed, the "pooling" of journalists covering it, to the objection of few! There is a chapter on the dubious dead babies story (covered in some detail by "Weapons of Mass Deception" in which I heard of this book). The author distinguishes between the journalistic and business voices of the major media. There is even a chapter on Vietnam, to document some of the history to which I've already referred. And one appropriately entitles "Desert Muzzle," a pseudonym to which the author frequently returns.

There's a lot in the book. And be prepared to stay awake if you read it in bed. Lots will make you extremely mad, particularly the absolute gutlessness of some of the "journalists" on whom we rely for the limited information we receive and are allowed to process.

The bottom line is that, if we are to maintain any sense of "democracy," we need information provided by true journalists, not media personalities more intent on getting generals'autographs and invitations to expensive White House dinners than on one-sided, gutless coverage provided by Pentagon PR specialists. And that's all we have now.It's pathetic but true. This book documents it all. Read it and weep.

The book ends with a valuable observation: in the early 90s, just after the "liberation" of our wonderful ally, Kuwait, that little emirate ranked second, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in its incarceration and torture of journalists. Second to China, which is only slightly more populous than Kuwait... Tough to be liberated.

If you want to begin to ponder where changes are needed, i.e., where honesty and integrity in media, prevail, this is a place to start.

A must read before the start of the second Gulf war
For anyone who still believes that we have a free, open, and unbiased press in this country, read this book. Before we go to war again against Iraq and start getting the government's highly censored version of events, it will be helpful to understand what we were told last time and why.

Something Wicked This Way Comes
A kinder, gentler nation? A compassionate country? Sounds like repeat season. Propaganda indeed, Mr. Bush! Highly recommended! ... Read more

Product Description
Scholars of international relations tend to prefer one model or another inexplaining the foreign policy behavior of governments. Steve Yetiv, however, advocates anapproach that applies five familiar models: rational actor, cognitive, domestic politics,groupthink, and bureaucratic politics.

Drawing on the widest set of primary sources and interviews with key actors to date, he applieseach of these models to the 1990-91 Persian Gulf crisis and to the U.S. decision to go to war withIraq in 2003. Probing the strengths and shortcomings of each model in explaining how and whythe United States decided to proceed with the Persian Gulf War, he shows that all models (withthe exception of the government politics model) contribute in some way to our understanding ofthe event. No one model provides the best explanation, but when all five are used, a fuller andmore complete understanding emerges.

In the case of the Gulf War, Yetiv demonstrates the limits of models that presume rationaldecision-making as well as the crucial importance of using various perspectives. Drawing partlyon the Gulf War case, he also develops innovative theories about when groupthink can actuallyproduce a positive outcome and about the conditions under which government politics will likelybe avoided. He shows that the best explanations for government behavior ultimately integrateempirical insights yielded from both international and domestic theory, which scholars haveoften seen as analytically separate. With its use of the Persian Gulf crisis as a teachable casestudy and coverage of the more recent Iraq war, Explaining Foreign Policy will be ofinterest to students and scholars of foreign policy, international relations, and related fields. ... Read more

Product Description
“Eddington’s book comes off as a well-written, well-documented account of what happens when a CIA employee rocks the boat. It raises concerns that go beyond Desert Storm, a fear that the CIA has given up its independence from the Pentagon.”—The Birmingham News 7/13/97 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

An Important Book For Everyone To Read
"Gassed In The Gulf" is one of the most important books I have read in recent memory.As an independent journalist who's written on the subject of Gulf War Syndrome, I found Mr. Eddington's book to be enormously insightful.Most of my research and writing on this topic revolved around the exposure of our troops to depleted uranium, and how that is directly connected to GWS; however, my knowledge of the release of chemical/biological agents during the war was, as this book has shown me, sadly lacking.

The notion that depleted uranium and chemical/biological weapons both interacted, lowering the immuno response of the troops and thus making them much more susceptible to the effects of one another, as well as creating symptoms that might not match simply one type of exposure, is highly likely.This would, of course, explain why often there are examples of symptoms not directly linked to simply chemical/biological exposure of just depleted uranium.The result is no doubt the cause of much of the confusion about the true nature of GWS.

Mr. Eddington's book serves to provide what, for me, is the "missing link" in all of this.He and his wife are to be commended for their courage and dedication to this issue, especially in light of the enormous burden and subsequent personal risk they have endured to make this information available to the veterans of the war and to all Americans in general.I offer my thanks, as well as my sympathies for their struggles in dealing with the after-effects of their revelations.

Anyone serious about understanding the degree to which political considerations and a complete lack of humanitarian considerations propel U.S. policy decisions must read "Gassed in the Gulf".We owe it not only to ourselves, and to the many Gulf War veterans and their families, but to the very promises of liberty and truth which we all hold so dear.

Andrew Poe
Washington, DC

One of the most important books about the Gulf War
This is one of the most important books about the Gulf War.

Pat Eddington tells the story in this book of his and his wife's odyssey within the CIA, working to adjust official policy to reflect the actual facts on the ground.Unfortunately, truth was one of the first casualties of the Gulf War.

Interviewing veterans, including key source documents and detailing the shameful way the government dealt with returning veterans of the Gulf War, Eddington reveals a different side of Washington -- a Washington that waves flags in time of war but hides behind accountants when the warriors secure peace.

Let us hope those deployed in the future are treated better.As a long-time activist on behalf of veterans and the author of an upcoming novel on the Gulf War (Prayer at Rumayla: A Novel of the Gulf War) I offer thanks to Pat and Robin Eddington for their dedication on behalf of our country and its defenders.

Don Quixote
This book reminds me of the tale of " Man of La Mancha" or Pat and Robin against the intelligence community.I cannot believe that an imagery analyst was able to find and reveal all this information to CIA and other government officials and no one else was able to see the light.Mr. Eddington sounds like a disgruntled employee out for his own glory.He keeps saying how the Agecy killed his career but it may of been his own undoing. Just keep attacking those winmills!!! wait for the movie!!!

Not a big help to sick veterans
Interesting read, fair editing, but I wouldn't put too much stock in this story.Mr. Eddington sounds almost amateurishin his insistence that nerve agents are responsible for the illnesses that many of us veterans face everyday, and hysterical in his insistence that this was "the case" which got him the boot from the CIA.This is even more interesting since he has changed his tune to fit the "cause du jour" - signing onto the anti-DU lobby, the anti-anthrax vaccine groups, and whatever else will keep him around and on the op-ed page.This book makes some grand assumptions and leaps of logic from two underlying facts - yes, there was a Gulf War, and yes, some folks are sick.I suspect if what he says is true, the symptoms us vets face would be plain and simple.But they are not, despite how some shrill voices (see other reviews) wish them otherwise.Bottom line - take this book more as fiction adventure thriller, and you'll be getting just that.Read at the beach, if you must.

Responding to the review by Mr. Columbus Ohio.
Dear Readers,

I urge you to read this book if you are truly concerned about this issue and then get the Senate Committee book indicated at the end of this review.I grew up in Ohio as well as the other reviewer and I can tell you and especially him that he is wrong.I spent 17 months hospitalized after being "gassed in the gulf" and medevacced out unconscious to Germany following a total body seizure and over 6 hours of loss of consciousness.The 12 eyewitness written accounts of what had happened to me were gathered by my Brigade Commander and he included a personal statement that accompanied my medevac file.That portion of the file was sealed and CLASSIFIED was written over its outer jacket. I personally saw over 300 seriously wounded long term nerve gas related patients come in and out of the research ward of one of the military's largest hospitals for over one year.I didn't even recognize my own wife at 2 months after the medevac and could barely speak.Mr. Clueless from Columbus may believe whatever bull Schwarzkopf or any General wants to feed him, but it will never dispute the true eyewitness facts of that war that have rarely been told.In fact many of us now retired army and marine disabled veterans from the Gulf question whether he even received the reports of chemical contamination or whether he wanted greater confirmation due to the relatively low number of serious nerve agent injuries.Columbus should know how the military works and how reporting up the chain of command sometimes gets turned around right on top of you because most careerists are too worried about their ratings to report anything negative to, for example, a Brigade level commander.YOU MUST REMEMBER, the Media was under complete military control during the Gulf War.Had they been with the Saudi unit I was with they would have seen a number of serious injuries in verified areas of chemical detection--that were verified by the Select Senate Committee in eyewitness testimony from Americans and Foriegn Coalition NCO's and Officers--just like the book indicates.If Mr. Columbus wants to keep on believing his own version due to his prior service visits to the local N.B.C. chemical training chamber he can do so without remorse and continue on with his merry life.If Mr. Columbus cares about the truth and wants the real facts and not just from this book, he should write his Senator and get the following factual 160 page testimony and then he can repeal his bogus words and review:

U.S. Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and Their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War.A report of Chairman Donald Riegle, and Ranking Member Alfonse D'Amato, United States Senate, May 25, 1994.

In fact, please send me another copy for one of my disabled friends so that I can give it to him for his pending lawsuit.

By the way, if any of you are concerned, the Veteran's Administration and their hospitals have done a lot of really excellent work with sick veterans and does not believe the released Army and CIA reports from the war.Go see them if you need any help and don't take no for an answer.

By the way Mr. Columbus, the Army is paying me one hell of a lot of money for the rest of my life for what happened.Unfortunately that is the only Admission they will ever make of what really happened over there and YOU end up paying for it. ... Read more

Product Description
An insider's perspective by the first member of the Saudi royal family to write a book describes the decision-making process of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-American relationship, and the prince's personal experience in the Desert Kingdom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The view from Saudi Arabia
I was very surprised and pleased when I first read this book. It is not simply "the Saudi view of Desert Storm" but also an interesting biography of one man in Saudi society and how that society functions. Parts of it were a revelation to me. Many things that I had read or saw myself while in Saudi Arabia made sense when put in the context provided by the General. Parts of the book also made sense of some of the events of Desert Storm. A pretty good book in its own right.

Desert Storm from the Saudi point of view
I found this to be an immensely readable account of Desert Storm from the Saudi point of view, ...I was prepared for an egotistical, ham-handed account of how the Saudis won the war, with a little back up from other friendly countries-what I found was a far more balanced and perceptive accounting by a man who-even taken cum grano salis-performed an immensely difficult task.Yes, there was apple polishing on his own behalf, but I would encourage readers who may be tempted to snipe at the Saudi version of this story to question how Ameri-centric our own versions of Desert Storm are.Keep in mind that while we defeated Saddam militarily in six weeks of bombing and 100 hours of ground combat (I will leave it to others to debate who won the peace), the coalition did so only after six months of build up that without the considerable Saudi infrastructure-and checkbook-would have taken much longer.

Yes, he does go into great detail about his efforts to remain-at least in terms of protocol-on par with Schwarzkopf (no easy task, given his personality!) but I never got the sense that Khaled believed it was for anything more than show-even as he acknowledged that the show was important.All the world was watching, and Saudi Arabia was in a difficult position in both living up to its self-appointed role as crucible of the Muslim world and requiring military help from a country that couldn't be more different from S.A.In fact, Khaled should be commended for his perceptiveness of just how important politics and show would be in this, the first war of the 10-minute news cycle, information age.

For anyone who wants to understand Desert Storm, I would recommend first reading "The General's War," by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor, then reading this book.I found reading each account of the Battle of Khafji side by side fascinating for each account's spin on facts.

This book is entertaining, but in an unexpected way...
What makes this book interesting is Prince Khalid.He speaks of how important it was for him to be descended from Ibn Saud, and how critical it has been for his country to place his family members in governing positions - completely unaware of the unflattering image he is revealing of his inflated ego.

This book is an unusually good illustration of how someone who lives a pampered life can grow from a spoiled brat of a child into an impossible adult who cares more about his image and himself than the well-being of his charges or assigning credit where it is due.If wearing a uniform and driving around the desert in an air-conditioned Mercedes while your troops sweat it out in trenches...If avoiding the front lines or any dangerous area because you are "too important to be risked", if earning the title of General due to your family connections..if these things make you a warrior, then Prince Khalid fits the bill.

But after reading this book, I think that his definition of warrior, i.e. this book/his life..illustrates that he has little understanding of what that word really means. ... Read more