Book Review

Those Who Face Death: The Untold Story of Special Forces and the Iraqi Kurdish Resistance
By Mark Grdovic
Published by Copper Mountain Books
08/15/2025
254 pages
Available for purchase in hardbound, paperback, audiobook, and Kindle at Amazon.com

By How Miller

LTC (Ret.) Mark Grdovic (pronounced grid-uh-vich) has written an exciting and knowledgeable account of the U.S. Army Special Forces’ remarkable efforts in Kurdistan that contributed to the success of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He and his 10th SFG (A) Battalion Commander, LTC Ken Tovo, are probably the only two who saw the operation from conception to conclusion as active participants.

They took painstaking efforts to ensure each ODA knew that the real mission was to tie up several of Saddam Hussein’s divisions in the north so they could not be used to combat the ground offensive taking place in the south of Iraq. During pre-mission planning conducted in isolation, he and Ken were able to visit each team early and at the end to make sure they were asking questions without judgment so they could be confident in knowing the commander’s intent, and they could act largely independently. This was a key to their remarkable success.

Mark keeps us always abreast of the larger picture, including his many maps, so you feel like you really know what is going on, as though you were actually there. He describes personal interactions, moods, and the thread of gaining trust with the hardened veterans leading the Peshmerga, which translates to “Those who Face Death”.

There were many factors to contend with, including a threat from Ansar al Islam, a sizeable Islamic extremist group affiliated with Al Qaeda. They had to be dealt with to allow the Peshmerga the freedom to then turn south and face the Iraqis at the “Green Line”, the de facto border between Saddam’s control and Kurdish control.

There was the fragile peace between the Kurdish PUK, with whom Mark was embedded, and the KDP, with whom Ken was embedded. They had recently been in a civil war between the two for control of Kurdistan.

Not to mention the U.S. conventional army units having their own priorities, culminating in the PUK taking Kirkuk weeks before the very formidable 173rd Abn Bde was planning to strike.

Mark recaps and summarizes lessons learned at the end of the book. This will be a valuable resource going forward for SF and others in future conflicts, large and small.

Those Who Face Death is both a celebration of the joint achievements of the Peshmerga and Green Berets and all the allied forces, and a clear-headed assessment of lessons learned.

At this link, Mark shares with us Chapters 11 and 12, from the personal and immediate lead-up to Operation Viking Hammer to eliminate Ansar al-Islam, and the exciting beginning parts of the battle.

From Dr. Dennis Walters
Director U.S. Department of Defense, Irregular Warfare Center

History is replete with stories of soldiers doing the seemingly impossible in the face of overwhelming odds. Mark has created a riveting account of this critical piece of US Army and special operations history, finally providing some long overdue context and perspective.