Imperial Grunts

In Imperial Grunts, journalist Robert Kaplan presents the perspective of US soldiers stationed around the world. On the positive side, it’s good to hear the perspective of the “grunts”, in this book Army Special Forces and Marines, who are assigned difficult, arduous, and dangerous responsibilities. In addition to the expected time Kaplan spent in Iraq and Afghanistan, Kaplan also visited Yemen, Colombia, Mongolia, the Philippines, and the Horn of Africa.

My main frustration was Kaplan’s extreme conservative, pro-military stance, in which the soldiers are presented as flawless heroes. I wouldn’t characterize anyone in the worshipful tones Kaplan applies to every American soldier he comes across. He’s dismissive and contemptuous of academics, liberals, the mass media, and everyone else, none of whom can compare to his beloved soldiers.

Plus, he’s a 100% embedded journalist who makes no effort to seek outside information that could conflict with what the soldiers are telling him. For example, he quotes a local Afghan leader praising US efforts while surrounded by soldiers, without considering that five years ago the official was probably praising Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in similar terms. If you want to understand what’s going on somewhere, you shouldn’t just listen to how an occupying army views the situation.

When Kaplan gets to Iraq and Afghanistan, subjects that I’m familiar with, the disconnect between his vantage point and mine is enormous. He praises the exemplary efforts of the military to avoid civilian casualties during the US assault on Fallujah. In Afghanistan, Kaplan complains that the rules of engagement force American soldiers to treat captured insurgents too leniently, when a more aggressive interrogation would provide needed information.

Kaplan is a vivid writer, and I do trust his observations of the daily lives and attitudes of soldiers. Still, the book gets repetitive after a while, and the continual military jargon gets tiresome. Women are presented from an ogling perspective, always described in terms of their attractiveness and their skimpy attire. The most infuriating aspect of the book was Kaplan’s jingoist attitude, and I wouldn’t recommend the book to anyone. As an antidote, I’m now reading Robert Fisk’s new book on the Middle East.