Freedom Line Blog

In today’s Bookshelf section of The Wall Street Journal, former Marine combat infantryman and Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West reviews Matt Gallagher’s new book “Kaboom.” The title “Kaboom” may sound familiar to many, because it’s the same name of Gallagher’s compelling blog about his combat tour in Iraq.  West offers a glowing review of Gallagher’s book, but one passage in particular stands out as a testament to the effectiveness and contribution of our troops in Iraq, for which all Americans should be grateful:

Mr. Gallagher is too modest, and too ironic, to tout his own accomplishments, so I’ll do it for him:  He is a classic representative of the U.S. military, a force that imposed its will, both physical and moral, to shatter al Qaeda in Iraq and quash the Shiite-Sunni civil war and that is now withdrawing with honor, leaving Iraq a much better place than under Saddam Hussein.”

What a fantastic tribute to Gallagher and our military more generally, and a welcome contribution to the literature on their service there.