When 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano's story first hit the press in February 2005 - the "preppy" marine who allegedly cold-heartedly murdered two Iraqis, I was completely shocked. Ilario was a classmate of mine from Horace Mann. I had always known him to be very honorable with a highly developed sense of character. The odds that there could be any truth to such outrageous allegations for someone like Ilario were slim to none. And as I learned more details, it only served as confirmation for what I already believed. My greatest fear for Ilario was that someone was trying to set him up to make an example of him - perhaps to appease some liberal anti-warmongering pussies for the sake of being "politically correct" [politicians and media hounds posturing and crying foul with little or no basis, with the goal of promoting their own personal agendas]. I had images of the movie "Rules of Engagement" with Samuel Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones running through my mind. People have such short memories. Don't we ever learn? The system always seems to find a way to alienate our country's finest individuals - those who fight for our rights and freedoms. Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot. Is this a testament to freedom or a sign of our fall from grace?

We always hear about security being stepped up after something happens, never before. India's trains were just bombed, step up the security on Manhattan's subways. Who gets the credit for the fact that we haven't been hit again since 9/11 - certainly not Bush. How can you take credit for stopping something that didn't really happen? And if it was so easy to stop, well, maybe it wasn't a real threat in the first place. That's what makes Ilario's new book "Warlord" so interesting to read. His insights are impeccable and his logic second-to-none - that of a true leader. To think that someone like Coburn - the key witness against Ilario - could have almost taken him down is truly disheartening. And that Ilario claims to hold no animosity for the Marine Corps after what he and his family were subjected to is another testament to his character. However grateful for the fact that the charges were dropped and that, in this case, justice did prevail, I don't know that I would have been quite as forgiving. [Despite all the testimony in his favor, the final nail in the prosecution's coffin likely came from the fact that they were luckily able to exhume the bodies and the autopsies performed verified that the Iraqis had been shot in the chest - page 389].

As an example of some of his insights, he describes how instead of greeting Iraqis with the simple phrase "Marhaba" (hello) as described by the Corps' phrase book, he had his platoon greet people with "As-sallam alaikum" (Peace be unto you), which would then lead to the expected response "Wa alaikum salaam" (And unto you, peace). He figured that hard-core, American-hating insurgents would have an awfully hard time giving the respectful answer. [page 113] While still in training, when asked to write an essay about a leadership quality, he chose to write about integrity. He described an "ironic inconsistency" at work in the Corps, where "people idealized the guy who broke the rules and would do anything for his troops, yet violators were court-martialed". Little did he likely realize at the time how true that was. However, the issue was not about breaking the rules. It was about questioning his choices and decisions in the heat of battle.

What are the repercussions of this? In one case, ten Marines were trying to stop a vehicle that ran a checkpoint by running beside it and yelling for them to stop! What does it say about the Marines when soldiers are more afraid of being punished than of being killed? [page 310] War is grizzly business, and this must already be the cleanest war ever faught. And that's in the context of a battle where the enemies look just like everyday civilians. Forget about the tortures of embarrassing photographs at Abu Ghraib [page 246], in Iraq the bad guys would behead you, cut off your limbs, set you on fire, or hang you from bridges. [page 390] How about inviting those who claim that terrorists should have the same "unalienable rights" as everyone else come join an insurgent for a nice cup of tea. Toward the end of the book, Ilario summarizes the US's two most important failures in Iraq: "our reluctance to use decisive and overwhelming force, AND our inability to capitalize on and publicize our victories." [page 300]

From reading the book, there is little question why his platoon excelled under his command and had no serious casualties. People like Coburn would actually complain that Ilario was too meticulous and would investigate everything. If Ilario had not acted this way, and his platoon had experienced casualties, he would have likely been labeled an incompetant fool. Perhaps in some twisted way, as an unfortunate tribute to his leadership abilities, his platoon experienced their first casualties just days after he was removed from active duty pending the investigation.

As a final note, and to tie this topic to trading, Ilario was also an energy trader for Goldman Sachs before he chose to move on to pursue other goals. As such, the book exemplifies the similarities in character and demeanor that not only lead to great military leaders, but to great traders as well (though of course you can't compare the consequences of making a mistake: loss of life versus loss of capital). I thought Ilario's interview at Goldman was especially interesting. "I can see here that you're pretty tough, huh? Maybe we should go outside..." Ilario immediately responds "We don't have to go outside. We can go right now!" [page 58] Those who don't flinch from risk, who investigate, research and calculate the potential rewards, stand to make fortunes, while the Coburns of the world are likely to go broke gambling the longshot at the roulette table. If Ilario doesn't end up as our next President, he would probably do great managing a large hedge fund - but that may be a step down for him. Semper Fidelis, Lieutenant!


Great Interview with Ilario Pantano and Euphoric Reality