Military Review English Edition November-December 2014 | Page 147

BOOK REVIEWS

lost in the detailed cast of characters. Al-Ali also tends
to overemphasize the positive aspects of the Republican
and early-Ba’athist periods of Iraqi history.
Al-Ali pulls no punches when describing the
incompetence and ignorance of the U.S. government,
military, contractors, and businessmen who did much
to create an environment in which the violent extremists and the incompetent and corrupt Iraqi politicians
could destroy what was left of Iraq after the mismanagement of Saddam Hussein and the “evils” of the U.S.sponsored international blockade. This is not a book
for the faint of heart or the thin skinned. It is, however,
a book that paints a unique picture—Iraq from the
perspective of Iraqis.
Citizens and service members need to read this
book and take heed of the dangers that come from executing plans created from ignorance and developing
policies at the behest of disgruntled exiles.
Lt. Col. Brian L. Steed, U.S. Army, Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas

FROM ABOVE:
War, Violence and Verticality
Peter Adey, Mark Whitehead, and Alison J. Williams
(Editors), Oxford University Press, United Kingdom,
2013, 356 pages, $35.00

W

ith the disappearance of Malaysia
Airlines flight 370 on 8 March 2014, the
timing to begin reading From Above was
ironic. The irony was that the book evokes reflection
on past, present, and future intelligence collection
techniques from the air. From Above is a compilation
of well-researched topics that are ordered to provoke
critical thinking.
The anthology provides a comprehensive look at the
advantage intelligence from the sky (and higher)—including political, military, economic, and social, and
informational factors—has provided naval and ground
force commanders during their development of the
operational environment.
The initial thing that drew me to the book was the
cover and title. In all of the aviation literature I have
read over the years, I have found it extremely difficult
to avoid the romanticism of putting yourself in the
MILITARY REVIEW  November-December 2014

story. There is something about that bird’s-eye view
that provides the vivid scenes and situations from the
air.
Going through the contributions of several authors made the book an enjoyable read. It is a work
with multiple ideas that individually could be further
researched. The chapters are short, but so packed with
old and new references that even a veteran collector
can learn of new sources, information, and ideas to
approach a problem from the air.
Although each chapter covers a different aspect of
airborne collection, they each have a particular flair of
romanticism that pulls the reader into the topic.
A reoccurring theme through the book is operational art and design. Although these are modern
terms, Sun Tzu and Clausewitz knew battlespace
management. Gen. George Washington also knew
battlespace management as he had his troops on high
terrain along the Hudson River during the Battle of
New York on the East River as Great Britain’s fleet
made its landing.
Among other intriguing topics, the chapters discuss
balloon technology of old, mediums of image compilations, airborne systems, space (to include thoughts
on satellite information operations), strategic politics
between nations, released secrets, and, the intricacies
that are generally not available to open sources.
I cannot help but think that there had to be a
collection system that knew the exact location of
Malaysian flight 370; but in this day and age of cyber
warfare, it is too risky for any nation to reveal how
they might have obtained that information. Once that
source is revealed and that capability demonstrated,
there will be a countertechnology developed. From
Above will make readers believe these systems are
available.
During the search for flight 370, countries called
for tapes of conversations, radar images, satellite images, and other media. Social media networking groups
that have commercial access to satellites also jumped
into the search. As more and more records are released
to the public, I could see a second From Above written.
This book is highly recommended to all those interested in past and post-modern collection techniques and
ideas.
Lt. Cmdr. Scott Dantzscher, U.S. Navy, Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas
145