About:
Black Hearts: One Platoon’s Descent into Madness in Iraq’s Triangle of Death by Jim Frederick is an extraordinary account of one platoon’s breakdown in Iraq and the crimes perpetrated by four soldiers, which tarnished their unit. Mr. Frederick is an author and journalist, as well as editor of Time Magazine.
- 464 pages
- Publisher : Crown
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 0307450767
My rating for Black Hearts — 5
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More Books by Jim Frederick*
Thoughts:
The book is not a simple story of four rouge American soldiers who went out and raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdered her family. It is a story of leadership’s psychological erosion and failures, which allowed a culture in which something like this could even be thought of.
War crimes have been happening in every war since the beginning of warfare itself. Black Hearts by Jim Frederick does not blink, nor make excuses for this act which occurred in the village of Yusufiya in March 206.
The platoon was badly undermanned, stressed, overwhelmed, and believed they were the “black sheep” of the brigade. The book’s biggest strength is the way it shows the state of mind of regular, well-trained American men who have been stripped of their sense of humanity.
There were numerous factors that allowed 1st Platoon to abandon their humanitarian values and commit this atrocious crime. They felt that the organization they belonged to pushed down all responsibility on them, appropriate resourcing and prioritization were abandoned, and that they were no longer accountable for their actions, among others.
The events leading up to the crime are riveting and should be studied by every person who wants to lead anyone in uniform. While the soldiers cannot be excused for their crimes, this account makes it clear that their leaders, all the way up, created the conditions that caused them to lose their sense of value.
Buy Black Hearts from Amazon.com*
More Books by Jim Frederick*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer:I bought this book
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