Leave no man behind - David C Isby

If the big wars of the 20th century were about saving civilization and countries, small wars are about saving people. Instead of defeating Hitler, they are concerned with the capture of international pariahs like Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Radovan Karadic or Colonel Aideed. The capture of such people and the rescue of hostages or prisoners-of-war: this is the two-fold mission of the US Army's Special Forces, the 'Green Berets'. David Isby investigates their most famous missions from POW rescues at the end of the Second World War to the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch from the Iraqi secret police in 2003. LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND is a collection of vivid battle narratives, but it does more than tell dramatic war stories. Based on the latest evidence released under the Freedom of Information Act, it reveals why some missions were such great successes while others turned to tragedy. It compares them to other rescue operations, e.g. the British Army's recent action in Sierra Leone and questions how an increasingly 'zero defect, no tolerance for risks' US military can continue to carry out such perilous operations. As the author observes, raids and rescues will be more typical of warfare i