The Redhunter

16 Oct 0700 hrs I'm out at the range again. I love coming out hre to shoot my rifle. There is a soldier sitting across from me whos name is McKeever. He is loud, obnoxious, and funny. It must be all in the name. I'm sitting here, and it is like listening to me talking. It is silly how similar this guy is to me.

Two points; one, you learn nothing about the army, Iraq, much of what it is like to be there, or whether we are winning about entries like this. Two, by comparing himself to the soldier Kiver describes himself as "obnoxious"; not exactly the way most people would want to be described.

I can't really even say that I'm completely sure what his job was in Iraq. I figured out that he was some sort of army journalist, but beyond that it's not clear. Was he a print or video journalist? Where were his stories published? Nowhere in the text that I found does he say. There are several mentions of interviews he did with high-ranking officers, and of videos that he made, but it's never clear what happened to any of the material. There's also little or nothing of substance about the interviews. What did all these high-ranking officers say?

Kiver is an unabashed supporter of the president and our mission in Iraq. Unfortunately one gets little sense of how the war is going from this book, or what we are doing right or wrong. This too is a bit odd, given that as a journalist he surely saw and heard more than the average foot soldiers.

The only section of real substance was his coverage of the trial of Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick, one of the soldiers eventually convicted in the Abu Ghraib scandal. Kiver was at his trial, and we get a few pages that are worth reading.

The worst aspect of the book is that Kiver constantly criticizes the people around him, especially those in his own unit. Everyone is a dope except for him and a few others. Here are a few quick samples

p. 90-91 Here is what happened when we were outside the fence. I drove out there in a regular Ford Explorer with Specialist Birmingham. She, as usual, did nothing to provide security, just wandered around aimlessly. I however, had my rifle lying across the hood of the vehicle, scanning the highway for any sign of trouble from the passing motorists.

p. 146
I got a serious a**-chewing from my sergeant major today. At least they know I am alive. I really enjoy getting yelled at by people who know I am smarter than them. At least he has a college degree from Texas A & M, I think. My supervisors seemed to be so threatened by anything I proposed. It was as if I was making those suggestings for my own benefit. I wrote some things down on paper about Captain Dunkelberger and his shortcomings and our most recent trip, so the sergeant major got his dander all up.

p.170
Today I had to help officers with very simple tasks, which is funny and sad at the same time. First, I took a DVD over to Brigadier General Pullhman, and had to sit there while they made sure there was sound on it. One of the soldiers appeared to be being a little friendly toward me. She was skinny, with straight lines for a body, except her teeth, which were all crooked. Of course, I blew her off, regardless of what she looked like (Kiver is married - Tom). After that I had to go up to the palace and help a lieutenant colonel play a videotape and record it onto a DVD at the same time. This involved pushing play on the VCR, then pushing record on the DVD player. I know I have a master's degree, but seriously, everywhere I look I see dumb people.

p 189
It seemed that every radio show wanted to interview my commander, Lieutenant General Metz, about what happened in Mozul yesterday. The officers were running around like they were on crazy pills. I was as calm as could be. It just seems that some people need to relax and realize that the war will go on with or without them and their clipboards or notebads. I had just finished a most relaxing lunch hour in Building 25, with my beverage of choice for the afternoon. We got the s&*t ready and put the general in front of the camera. I had to tell him to quit moving around. He has a habit of shifting to this left, because he gets nervous. Afterward, he slapped me on the back and told mne our army is great because anyone can tell a general if he is doing something wrong. Yeah, right!

The italicized portions are what Kiver added after being at home for a year.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point.

Any book will include observances of people that are negative. This is to be expected in any honest portrayal. But in this book it's all rather excessive. Kiver himself is perfect while so many others are dopes. Perhaps Kiver's unit was disfunctional; I am in no position to judge. But after awhile of reading personal criticisms it all gets to be a bit much and one begins to suspect that the situation may be the opposite of what Kiver says it is. It is also telling that there is no serious analysis of the situation, just random personal criticisms.

I recommend that you go read the customer reviews on Amazon of this book. Several are by people who say they served with Kiver in Iraq. They are...interesting.

Kiver does make friends with several soldiers from allied armies, notably Italy, and his experiences with them are vaguely interesting. Again, though, Kiver mostly writes about the small stuff of interpersonal relationships; anyone hoping for information on the difference between the allied armies will have to go elsewhere.

I appreciate that Phil took time to be with us as we countered UPJ.

I cannot recommend this book.

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