1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910457898303321

Autore

Ledwidge Frank

Titolo

Losing small wars [[electronic resource] ] : British military failure in Iraq and Afghanstan / / Frank Ledwidge

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, : Yale University Press, c2011

ISBN

1-283-27990-8

9786613279903

0-300-18022-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (304 p.)

Disciplina

956.7044/3341

Soggetti

Iraq War, 2003-2011 - Participation, British

Iraq War, 2003-2011 - Campaigns - Iraq - Baṣrah

Afghan War, 2001-2021 - Participation, British

Afghan War, 2001-2021 - Campaigns - Afghanistan - Helmand River Valley

Strategic culture - Great Britain

Electronic books.

Great Britain Armed Forces Management

Great Britain Military policy

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [270]-298) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: 'Ridiculous Expectations' -- Chapter 2: 'Defeated, Pure and Simple' -- Chapter 3: 'Where's Helmand?' -- Chapter 4: 'A Bleeding Ulcer' -- Chapter 5: Dereliction of Duty: The Generals and Strategy -- Chapter 6: Cracking On: British Military Culture and Doctrine -- Chapter 7: 'Tactics without Strategy?' The Counterinsurgency Conundrum -- Chapter 8: Doing No Harm? The Question of Force -- Chapter 9: Civvies -- Chapter 10: Bad Influences -- Chapter 11: Opening Networks -- Conclusion -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Partly on the strength of their apparent success in insurgencies such as Malaya and Northern Ireland, the British armed forces have long been perceived as world class, if not world beating. However, their recent



performance in Iraq and Afghanistan is widely seen as-at best-disappointing; under British control Basra degenerated into a lawless city riven with internecine violence, while tactical mistakes and strategic incompetence in Helmand Province resulted in heavy civilian and military casualties and a climate of violence and insecurity. In both cases the British were eventually and humiliatingly bailed out by the US army.In this thoughtful and compellingly readable book, Frank Ledwidge examines the British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking how and why it went so wrong. With the aid of copious research, interviews with senior officers, and his own personal experiences, he looks in detail at the failures of strategic thinking and culture that led to defeat in Britain's latest "small wars." This is an eye-opening analysis of the causes of military failure, and its enormous costs.