>>I have been reading a lot lately and will try to contribute posts here regularly in hope of invigorating this section. Mostly I read fiction, lots of escapist fare lately, but this recommendation is about a nonfiction book.
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>>Today's book is "The Good Soldiers" by David Finkel. He spent nearly a year with an Army battalion, the 2-16, deployed to one of the most dangerous areas of Baghdad in 2007 as part of the surge. It is not a political book or a should-we-or-shouldn't-we-have polemic. It is a grunt's view of everyday life in a war zone.
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>>The most vivid impact it made on me was to dispel my belief that this has been a peacekeeping mission, much less a gentle phaseout. Our soldiers still come back in boxes and we are still distrusted by the people we claim to be saving. The mission has been much uglier than most of us have understood. Kudos to David Finkel for making it specific.
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>I find it amazing that you EVER actually held that belief.

Which belief?

Redacted, thanks to your bold. I will have to think about that.

UPDATE: Was the surge not promoted as an effort to stabilize Iraq? I take that as a peacekeeping mission. And just reiterating, this is not a political book. It is a book about and a tribute to soldiers.