THE SNAKE EATERS

Third-generation Marine Owen West's thrilling war narrative puts readers into the boots of advisors and Iraqi soldiers fighting side by side in Anbar Province, where the people they are trying to protect and the insurgents who are trying to kill them are indistinguishable.

From the outset of the war, some Iraqi units were paired with advisor teams, usually composed of reservists and National Guardsmen whose job it was to train the local troops to bring and keep peace and security in Iraq. Owen West, son of bestselling author Bing West and a third-generation US Marine, was deployed as an advisor to Iraqi Battalion 3/3-1, the "Snake Eaters," who became the first Iraqi soldiers granted independent battle space. Here, West takes readers inside the humvees and patrols in volatile Anbar Province, into the towns where the civilians the troops are trying to protect and the insurgents who are trying to kill them are indistinguishable. The unit suffered for over a year; many died in what their leadership called a lost effort. But they continued to patrol and gather intelligence, finally convincing local tribesmen to patrol with them, and gradually turning the tide against al Qaeda in Iraq. Unlike other Iraq war narratives, where there is always a clear distance between the Americans and the Iraqis, here these lives are intertwined – American and Iraqi soldiers fight side by side and know the names, faces and stories of the locals who are trying to kill them. This situation creates a rare intimacy and a poignancy that reflects the complexity of this conflict that has kept American troops engaged for almost a decade. But there’s more – this inextricable closeness led to what is one of the few success stories to come out of the war on terror. The town that West's unit was patrolling is now finally at peace and local security there is provided by the Iraqi battalion. This advisor model rippled across Anbar and eventually into Baghdad, resulting in a turnaround in the war.