Redeployment

In the story “Money As a Weapons System,” the narrator says “[s]uccess was a matter of perspective” (77). In each story, there are examples of why success in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars is hard to quantify. There is no clear sense of what winning the wars would conclusively look like. Because there are no clear metrics, each group, unit, or organization must choose what it will measure in order to gauge its progress. The lack of consensus is what gives rise to absurd situations like the baseball program for the Iraqi children or the disturbing use of the Most Contact board to prove that progress is real. Mismanagement can exacerbate even the most horrible situation, and without an obvious progression to victory, the stories in Redeployment show the resulting chaos.

This line is spoken by the narrator of “Psychological Operations,” but the truth of it is apparent in every story. People will act on whatever they believe to be true, and circumstances; history; religion; the influence of parents, peer pressure, trauma, basic training; and more can shape their beliefs. Many of the Iraqis in the stories have the perception that the American occupation has made things worse, and there is little reason to argue with this perception.