Defense Technology International - July 2007 - (Page 48)

DT_08_01_2007_p48_index.qxd 7/25/07 5:30 PM Page 48 REVIEW BOOK REVIEWED BY DAVID AXE INSIDE THE DANGER ZONE: THE U.S. MILITARY IN THE PERSIAN GULF 1987-1988 BY HAROLD LEE WISE U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2007 272 pp., $36.95 In 1 9 8 7 , t h e U.S. militar y d i d n’t h a v e the worldwide reputation for tactical prowess that it does now. The disastrous hostage rescue attempt in Iran in 1980 still hung like a pall over the four services. So the Pentagon had a lot to prove when a joint task force assembled to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers that were placed in harm’s way by the Iran-Iraq war. In Wise’s compelling book, the tense escorts, daring special forces raids, and intelligence operations represent the tentative ﬁ rst steps of the reborn post-Vietnam U.S. military that would go on to trounce Iraq’s army twice in 12 years and successfully invade landlocked Afghanistan with a tiny sea-based force of Marines. To be sure, U.S. military activities in the Persian Gulf in 1987 and 1988 were not all clear successes. The frigate Stark was hit by an Iraqi Exocet missile in an apparent accident in May 1987 that claimed 37 sailors’ lives, and in April 1988 Stark’s sister ship Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine. Three months later the cruiser Vincennes accidentally downed an Iranian Airbus jetliner, killing 290 civilians. “This period began, and ended, with tragedy and unnecessary death,” Wise writes. “The middle, however, was mostly triumphant, showing anyone who paid attention that America would not ‘cut and run’ when challenged, and that its military was something to be feared once more.” The U.S. involvement in the so-called Tanker War saw the breathtaking combat debut of the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and the ﬁrst combat use of night-vision goggles by helicopter pilots. But perhaps most impressive was the rushed outﬁtting of a 1960s-era oil support platform as an adhoc “sea base” supporting choppers, pa- trol boats and signals-intelligence troops. The unorthodox ﬂoating base inspired a fair amount of hand-wringing among senior Pentagon ofﬁcials who felt it was too vulnerable and too weird, but the idea not only worked, it presaged the Navy’s current sea-basing and “Global Fleet Station” concepts. Wise deserves kudos for highlighting this nearly forgotten, but important, naval development. But as Wise points out, the era’s tactical victories and battlefield innovations belied the beginnings of a “lasting entanglement” in the region. A string of serious defeats at the hands of the U.S. military—not to mention exhaustion after eight years of war with Iraq—effectively sidelined Iran for more than a decade. These actions, however, planted some of the seeds of the present confrontation over Iranian nuclear intentions and the country’s support of Iraqi and Afghan insurgents. Morever, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, emboldened by Iran’s military collapse and convinced that the U.S. was on his side, in 1990 ordered the invasion of Kuwait. Seventeen years later, the U.S. and its allies are still grappling with the consequences of that miscalculation. � ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE Upcoming: In Print- Sept issue Land: Anti-Armor Weapons, MRAP Sea: Naval Surface Fire Support, Strategic Sea Lift Air: Air-to-Ground Missiles Online Join the DTI community on AviationWeek.com - including defense blogs, forums, galleries, comments, ratings/recommendations, and more. Visit: www.aviationweek.com/aw/community Event DSEi, September 11-14, London Bonus distribution and editorial coverage of the leading defense technology show focused on emerging technologies and global needs. 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Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - July 2007

Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Parallax Ghost Ship Low Visibility Red Tape Sub Catcher Boom Time Broad Access Fight or Flight Cut Loose Loud and Clear Drone On Postmortem The Net Cutting Edge On the Record In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - July 2007

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