83.5 Charing Cross Road: Task Force Black

Task Force Black - the Secret War in Iraq

This book provides a very interesting account of the British SAS' operations in Iraq in the years after the initial invasion. It covers the activities undertaken by the SAS, Special Boat Service (SBS) and associated US special forces units in a surprising level of detail given the sensitivity and recentness of these operations and is well written throughout. Unlike many writers who've covered the SAS, Urban generally maintains objectivity and discusses the shortcomings of the tactics they used and problems caused by leadership tensions. The material on the negative impact of prisoner abuse on the operations of British and, to a lesser extent, US special forces was particularly interesting. This honest approach greatly strengthens Urban's conclusion that the SAS played a role in Iraq which was out of all proportion to the size of the forces it deployed. The book also includes some interesting photos of SAS troops in Iraq, though these are padded out with generic photos of regular US troops which appear to have been included to illustrate the kinds of terrain the SAS operated in.

For all that, the book does have some weaknesses. Notably, Urban seems to have fallen victim to some SAS chauvinism. The SBS are subjected to what appears to be unwarranted criticism, including what appears to be a rumor that the SAS recovered a SBS rifle which had been captured during the invasion and eventually made it into the hands of Abu-Muab al-Zarqawi - it is stated only that this gun "looked suspiciously like" one of the SBS weapons, but surely this should have been confirmed before it was included in print. Moreover, the criticism of the SBS sits uneasily with the book's statements that individual members of the SBS reinforced the SAS in Iraq (apparently without any problems) and the SBS performed well in Afghanistan during the period the SAS was focused on Iraq. The book also doesn't cover the relationship between the SAS and regular 'ground holding' infantry units in any detail - it's noted that SAS raids could stir up difficulties for the infantry, but the role they played in SAS operations is not explained (eg, could they call in the SAS? did they provide support to SAS operations?). The criticisms of the British Army's performance in southern Iraq also seem over-blown given that these forces were subjected to much tighter political restrictions than the SAS were and the statement that the very small SAS detachment in Basra had the same effectiveness as a regular battalion seems dubious. I would have also liked to have seen some more discussion of the rights and wrongs of the decision to focus the SAS on Baghdad rather than supporting the main British force. Taken together, these shortcomings suggest that Urban did not interview many military personnel outside of the SAS community to seek their perspective on the SAS.

In short, this book is well worth reading and provides interesting insights into the activities of special forces units in Iraq, but is probably not going to be the final word on the subject.

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