Book Description

Tigers of the Tigris: An American Advisor's Journey Through Culture, Religion and Intrigue in Building the Iraqi Armyis a remarkable memoir of a military advisor with a military advisory team referred to as a Military Transition Team (MiTT) in Iraq. It is required reading for those interested in understanding how U.S. forces used military advisory teams to achieve unity of effort to build legitimacy and strengthen security forces. It is also required reading to understand Iraqi cultural and religious aspects and the center of gravity for the war - the concept of winning and changing of hearts and minds in Iraq. The author carries readers behind closed doors to witness negotiations, intrigue and the struggle to win the hearts and minds of local sheikhs and religious leaders. He describes meetings with prominent religious leaders such as Abd El Azziz Al Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and Ayatollah Hussein Al Sadr, a powerful Shi'a cleric in Baghdad. Experience the daunting tasks faced by the MiTT to advise, coach, teach and mentor Iraqi security forces and provide direct access to coalition capabilities such as fire support, medical evacuation, and intelligence gathering. Enjoy the sweet success in getting the first Iraqi Army Brigade to achieve full responsibility for its own battle sector in Iraq. Live through what it is like dealing with sectarian problems between the Sunni Arab majority who had held power for many centuries and the Shi'a Arabs, the nation's long-repressed majority. Understand the role that culture and religion play in Iraqi society and how American soldiers adapted to overcome these problems. Tigers of the Tigrisis an informative read that provides first-hand accounts from military advisors in the field who go about their day-to-day duties of both fighting the insurgents and winning hearts and minds of Iraqis. "There has been a lot written about day to day combat operations, but this book will take you inside the little publicized effort to build an Iraqi force for stabilizing the country. It is a must read if you have someone in Iraq or if you just want to know what it is like for an American soldier in Iraq working side by side with Iraqi soldiers to build a new Army." Stephen E. Henthorne, FRUSI Senior Advisor, Civil-Military Centre of Excellence (CCOE-NATO), Joint-Interagency-Multinational Stability Operations (Joint CA/CIMIC/CMO Interoperability) "An insightful book. Tigers of the Tigrisprovides not only an exciting memoir of an American military advisor, but also a manual for effective counterinsurgency. Through personal stories the author describes the impact of culture and religion and the ever important non-lethal interaction with Iraqi citizens." Huntington Blair (Hunt) Downer, Major General, Louisiana Army National Guard. "Mark Kerry has opened a window into the cultural inner-workings of Iraqi society and its army that illuminate the challenges Iraqis are facing in rebuilding their society as free and democratic. He also illustrates the cultural undercurrents that lead to phenomena that otherwise mystify a Western observer. Kerry's book is a must-read for American officers detailed to advisory positions. I also recommend it as an exemplar of a model of counterinsurgency that demonstrates the considerable gains made from simply visiting religious and tribal opinion leaders, answering their questions and addressing their concerns, and persuading them to support the goals and activities of the counterinsurgent." Dr. Adam Shilling