| Popis: |
The chapter begins on April 18, 1991, during Operation Provide Comfort commander Lieutenant General John Shalikashvili’s first overflight of the Iraqi-Turkish border. It lays out the scope of this post-Gulf War humanitarian crisis—over 500,000 Kurdish refugees trapped within deadly border mountains—and explains how especially fear of Saddam Hussein’s chemical attacks prompted the Kurds to flee Iraq. The chapter’s second half flashes back to Shalikashvili’s first assignment as an officer, in Alaska in 1959–60, to show his exceptional job performance, his struggles with arrogance and ambition, and his incipient development of a leadership style based on the “three pillars of leadership” or “love, character, and professionalism.” It also shows his loneliness and search for belonging—including how, five years since being betrayed by her, Shalikashvili tracks down Blondie and offers a marriage proposal that is rebuffed, further raising the theme of unrequited love. |
