Afghanistan Declassified

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Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 0812206150
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (122 download)

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Book Synopsis Afghanistan Declassified by : Brian Glyn Williams

Download or read book Afghanistan Declassified written by Brian Glyn Williams and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2011-09-22 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly 100,000 U.S. soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan at the height of the campaign, fighting the longest war in the nation's history. But what do Americans know about the land where this conflict is taking place? Many have come to have a grasp of the people, history, and geography of Iraq, but Afghanistan remains a mystery. Originally published by the U.S. Army to provide an overview of the country's terrain, ethnic groups, and history for American troops and now updated and expanded for the general public, Afghanistan Declassified fills in these gaps. Historian Brian Glyn Williams, who has traveled to Afghanistan frequently over the past decade, provides essential background to the war, tracing the rise, fall, and reemergence of the Taliban. Special sections deal with topics such as the CIA's Predator drone campaign in the Pakistani tribal zones, the spread of suicide bombing from Iraq to the Afghan theater of operations, and comparisons between the Soviet and U.S. experiences in Afghanistan. To Williams, a historian of Central Asia, Afghanistan is not merely a theater in the war on terror. It is a primeval, exciting, and beautiful land; not only a place of danger and turmoil but also one of hospitable villagers and stunning landscapes, of great cultural diversity and richness. Williams brings the country to life through his own travel experiences—from living with Northern Alliance Uzbek warlords to working on a major NATO base. National heroes are introduced, Afghanistan's varied ethnic groups are explored, key battles—both ancient and current—are retold, and this land that many see as only a frightening setting for prolonged war emerges in three dimensions.

Afghanistan 20/20

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Publisher : The New Press
ISBN 13 : 1620977672
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (29 download)

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Book Synopsis Afghanistan 20/20 by : Tom Blanton

Download or read book Afghanistan 20/20 written by Tom Blanton and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2024-11-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative exposé of twenty years of U.S. failures in Afghanistan, based on twenty declassified documents The summer of 2021 saw the lid blown off twenty years of deception, obfuscation, and delusion in America’s war in Afghanistan. By analyzing twenty key declassified documents covering twenty years of the U.S. effort, this slim volume offers concise answers to our most basic questions about the debacle and defeat that played out in August 2021 at the Kabul Airport. Compiled by the director of the National Security Archive, the nation’s leading foreign policy watchdog, Afghanistan 20/20 reveals that the U.S. government under four presidents misled the American people for nearly two decades about progress in Afghanistan, while hiding the inconvenient facts about ongoing failures inside confidential channels—facts that are revealed here in sobering detail. Tom Blanton guides the reader through each document, providing expert insights and historical context. The documents in Afghanistan 20/20 include highest-level “snowflake” memos written by then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the George W. Bush administration, critical cables written by U.S. ambassadors back to Washington under both Bush and Barack Obama, the deeply flawed Pentagon strategy document behind Obama’s “surge” in 2009, and multiple “lessons learned” findings by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)—lessons that were never learned.

Understanding the War in Afghanistan [Declassified Press]

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781536957129
Total Pages : 174 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (571 download)

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Book Synopsis Understanding the War in Afghanistan [Declassified Press] by : Joseph Collins

Download or read book Understanding the War in Afghanistan [Declassified Press] written by Joseph Collins and published by . This book was released on 2016-08-07 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As we confront [future] decisions, it is well to remember what is at stake. If we fail in Afghanistan, the state will fragment; there is no power center yet standing on its feet and capable of taking our place. If Afghanistan fragments, then parts of the country will again become the natural base for those who have attacked not only us but also London and Madrid and who have planned to blow up planes over the Atlantic. And a fragmented Afghanistan will become the strategic rear and base for extremism in Pakistan, a nation of 155 million people that is armed with nuclear weapons. This will allow and facilitate support for extremist movements across the huge swath of energy-rich Central Asia, as was the case in the 1990s.-Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan1Similarly, a setback in Afghanistan would be enormously empowering to jihadists everywhere in the world but would also inflict enormous reputational damage on the United States (as the perception of U.S. failure in Iraq in 2003-2006 did). Failure after the President recommitted the United States to succeed in Afghanistan would support the notion that America is incapable of capitalizing on its military power and advantages (including the development of an extremely capable force for conducting counterinsurgency operations). It would make dealing with potential problems in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia (to name a few) enormously harder.

Intel Wars

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1608194817
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (81 download)

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Book Synopsis Intel Wars by : Matthew M. Aid

Download or read book Intel Wars written by Matthew M. Aid and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2012-01-03 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the monumental growth of the American intelligence community after the September 11 attacks, citing the billions that have been spent on intelligence efforts while explaining why its sophisticated systems are still being eluded by ragtag enemies. By the author of The Secret Sentry.

Counter Jihad

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Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 0812248678
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (122 download)

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Book Synopsis Counter Jihad by : Brian Glyn Williams

Download or read book Counter Jihad written by Brian Glyn Williams and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Counter Jihad provides a sweeping account of America's military campaigns in the Islamic world and fills a gaping void in our understanding of the War on Terror.

Bleeding Afghanistan

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Publisher : Seven Stories Press
ISBN 13 : 1609800931
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis Bleeding Afghanistan by : Sonali Kolhatkar

Download or read book Bleeding Afghanistan written by Sonali Kolhatkar and published by Seven Stories Press. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through in-depth research and detailed historical context, Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls report on the injustice of U.S. policies in Afghanistan historically and in the post-9/11 era. Drawing from declassified government documents and on-the-ground interviews with Afghan activists, journalists, lawyers, refugees, and students, Bleeding Afghanistan examines the connections between the U.S. training and arming of Mujahideen commanders and the subversion of Afghan democracy today. Bleeding Afghanistan boldly critiques the exploitation of Afghan women to justify war by both conservatives and liberals, analyzes uncritical media coverage of U.S. policies, and examines the ways in which the U.S. benefits from being in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan Papers

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1982159014
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (821 download)

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Book Synopsis The Afghanistan Papers by : Craig Whitlock

Download or read book The Afghanistan Papers written by Craig Whitlock and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-08-30 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Washington Post Best Book of 2021 ​The #1 New York Times bestselling investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about America’s longest war, foreshadowing the Taliban’s recapture of Afghanistan, by Washington Post reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Whitlock. Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforward and clear: defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives. Distracted by the war in Iraq, the US military become mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. But no president wanted to admit failure, especially in a war that began as a just cause. Instead, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations sent more and more troops to Afghanistan and repeatedly said they were making progress, even though they knew there was no realistic prospect for an outright victory. Just as the Pentagon Papers changed the public’s understanding of Vietnam, The Afghanistan Papers contains “fast-paced and vivid” (The New York Times Book Review) revelation after revelation from people who played a direct role in the war from leaders in the White House and the Pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines. In unvarnished language, they admit that the US government’s strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the Afghan government. All told, the account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the US government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground. Documents unearthed by The Washington Post reveal that President Bush didn’t know the name of his Afghanistan war commander—and didn’t want to meet with him. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld admitted that he had “no visibility into who the bad guys are.” His successor, Robert Gates, said: “We didn’t know jack shit about al-Qaeda.” The Afghanistan Papers is a “searing indictment of the deceit, blunders, and hubris of senior military and civilian officials” (Tom Bowman, NRP Pentagon Correspondent) that will supercharge a long-overdue reckoning over what went wrong and forever change the way the conflict is remembered.

Understanding War in Afghanistan

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Publisher : NDU Press
ISBN 13 : 016088831X
Total Pages : 141 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (68 download)

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Book Synopsis Understanding War in Afghanistan by : Joseph J. Collins

Download or read book Understanding War in Afghanistan written by Joseph J. Collins and published by NDU Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text aims to provide military leaders, civil servants, diplomats, and students with the intellectual basis that they need to begin to prepare for further study of or an assignment in Afghanistan.

The Last Warlord

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Publisher : Chicago Review Press
ISBN 13 : 1613748035
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (137 download)

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Book Synopsis The Last Warlord by : Brian Glyn Williams

Download or read book The Last Warlord written by Brian Glyn Williams and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Last Warlord tells the story of the brotherhood forged in the mountains of Afghanistan between elite American Green Berets and Dostum that is told in the movie 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horsesoldiers The Last Warlord tells the spellbinding story of the legendary Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, a larger-than-life figure who guided US Special Forces to victory over the Taliban after 9/11. Having gained unprecedented access to General Dostum and his family and subcommanders, as well as local chieftains, mullahs, elders, Taliban prisoners, and women's rights activists, scholar Brian Glyn Williams paints a fascinating portrait of this Northern Alliance Uzbek commander who has been shrouded in mystery and contradicting hearsay. In contrast to sensational media accounts that have mythologized the "bear of a man with a gruff laugh" who "some Uzbeks swear, has on occasion frightened people to death," Williams carefully chronicles Dostum's rise from peasant villager to Uzbek leader and skilled strategist who has fought a long and bitter war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda fanatics that have sought to repress his people. Also revealed is Dostum's surprising history as a defender of women's rights and religious moderation. In riveting detail The Last Warlord spotlights the crucial Afghan contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom: how the CIA contacted the mysterious warrior Dostum to help US Special Forces wage a covert war in the mountains of Afghanistan, how respect and even friendship quickly grew between the Afghan and American fighting men, and how Dostum led his nomadic people charging into war the same way his ancestors had—on horseback. The result was one of the most decisive campaigns in the entire war on terror. The Last Warlord shows that, far from serving as an exotic backdrop for American heroics, it was these horse-mounted descendents of the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan that allowed the American military to overthrow the Taliban regime in a matter of weeks. .

Hubris, Self-Interest, and America's Failed War in Afghanistan

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Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1498506208
Total Pages : 414 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (985 download)

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Book Synopsis Hubris, Self-Interest, and America's Failed War in Afghanistan by : Thomas P. Cavanna

Download or read book Hubris, Self-Interest, and America's Failed War in Afghanistan written by Thomas P. Cavanna and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-07-22 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes the conduct of the US-led post-9/11 war in Afghanistan. Adopting a long-term perspective, it argues that even though Washington initially had an opportunity to achieve its security goals and give Afghanistan a chance to enter a new era, it compromised any possibility of success from the very moment it let bin Laden escape to Pakistan in December 2001, and found itself locked in a strategic overreach. Given the bureaucratic and rhetorical momentum triggered by the war on terror in America, the Bush Administration was bound to deploy more resources in Afghanistan sooner or later (despite its focus on Iraq). The need to satisfy unfulfilled counter-terrorism objectives made the US dependent on Afghanistan’s warlords, which compromised the country’s stability and tarnished its new political system. The extension of the US military presence made Washington lose its leverage on the Pakistan army leaders, who, aware of America’s logistical dependency on Islamabad, supported the Afghan insurgents – their historical proxies - more and more openly. The extension of the war also contributed to radicalize segments of the Afghan and Pakistani populations, destabilizing the area further. In the meantime, the need to justify the extension of its military presence influenced the US-led coalition into proclaiming its determination to democratize and reconstruct Afghanistan. While highly opportunistic, the emergence of these policies proved both self-defeating and unsustainable due to an inescapable collision between the US-led coalition’s inherent self-interest, hubris, limited knowledge, limited attention span and limited resources, and, on the other hand, Afghanistan’s inherent complexity. As the critical contradictions at the very heart of the campaign increased with the extension of the latter’s duration, scale, and cost, America’s leaders, entrapped in path-dependence, lost their strategic flexibility. Despite debates on troops/resource allocation and more sophisticated doctrines, they repeated the same structural mistakes over and over again. The strategic overreach became self-sustaining, until its costs became intolerable, leading to a drawdown which has more to do with a pervasive sense of failure than with the accomplishment of any noble purpose or strategic breakthrough.

12 Strong

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1501179950
Total Pages : 576 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (11 download)

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Book Synopsis 12 Strong by : Doug Stanton

Download or read book 12 Strong written by Doug Stanton and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-12-19 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this riveting account, journalist Stanton recreates the miseries and triumphs of specially trained mounted U.S. soldiers, deployed in the war-ravaged Afghanistan mountains to fight alongside the Northern Alliance against the Taliban. Tall Premium Edition.

My Six Years with Gorbachev

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Publisher : Penn State Press
ISBN 13 : 0271058110
Total Pages : 462 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (71 download)

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Book Synopsis My Six Years with Gorbachev by : Anatoly C. Chernyaev

Download or read book My Six Years with Gorbachev written by Anatoly C. Chernyaev and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2012-03-30 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on his own diary as well as secret documents and transcripts of high-level meetings, Anatoly Chernyaev recounts the drama that swept the Soviet Union between 1985 and 1991. As Gorbachev&’s chief foreign policy aide for most of that period, he played a central role in efforts to halt the arms race, discard a confrontational ideology, and open his country to the world. And as Gorbachev&’s confidant on many domestic issues as well, Chernyaev offers rare insights into the struggle over glasnost, the growth of separatism, and the rise of Boris Yeltsin. While admiring of perestroika&’s founder, Chernyaev is frank in faulting Gorbachev for his hesitancy in economic reforms, for his delay in decentralizing Union-republic ties, and above all for his misplaced faith in the reformability of the Communist Party. Altogether this book is essential reading for those interested in the Cold War&’s end, the USSR&’s collapse, and especially the role played by ideas, ambitions, and key personalities in these momentous events.

Predicting the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 66 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (31 download)

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Book Synopsis Predicting the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan by : Douglas J. MacEachin

Download or read book Predicting the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan written by Douglas J. MacEachin and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Horse Soldiers

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1476780196
Total Pages : 366 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (767 download)

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Book Synopsis Horse Soldiers by : D. Stanton

Download or read book Horse Soldiers written by D. Stanton and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-01-06 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

The Secret War in Afghanistan

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 085773377X
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (577 download)

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Book Synopsis The Secret War in Afghanistan by : Panagiotis Dimitrakis

Download or read book The Secret War in Afghanistan written by Panagiotis Dimitrakis and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-06-30 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in support of a Marxist-Leninist government, and the subsequent nine-year conflict with the indigenous Afghan Mujahedeen was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Cold War. Key details of the circumstances surrounding the invasion and its ultimate conclusion only months before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 have long remained unclear; it is a confidential narrative of clandestine correspondence, covert operations and failed intelligence. The Secret War in Afghanistan undertakes a full analysis of recently declassified intelligence archives in order to asses Anglo-American secret intelligence and diplomacy relating to the invasion of Afghanistan and unveil the Cold War realities behind the rhetoric. Rooted at every turn in close examination of the primary evidence, it outlines the secret operations of the CIA, MI6 and the KGB, and the full extent of the aid and intelligence from the West which armed and trained the Afghan fighters. Drawing from US, UK and Russian archives, Panagiotis Dimitrakis analyses the Chinese arms deals with the CIA, the multiple recorded intelligence failures of KGB intelligence and secret letters from the office of Margaret Thatcher to Jimmy Carter. In so doing, this study brings a new scholarly perspective to some of the most controversial events of Cold War history. Dimitrakis also outlines the full extent of China's involvement in arming the Mujahedeen, which led to the PRC effectively fighting the Soviet Union by proxy. This will be essential reading for scholars and students of the Cold War, American History and the Modern Middle East.

Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare

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Author :
Publisher : Strategic Studies Institute
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 72 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare by : Stephen Biddle

Download or read book Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare written by Stephen Biddle and published by Strategic Studies Institute. This book was released on 2002 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Ghost Wars

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Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 0141935790
Total Pages : 736 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (419 download)

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Book Synopsis Ghost Wars by : Steve Coll

Download or read book Ghost Wars written by Steve Coll and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2005-03-03 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The news-breaking book that has sent schockwaves through the White House, Ghost Wars is the most accurate and revealing account yet of the CIA's secret involvement in al-Qaeada's evolution. Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll has spent years reporting from the Middle East, accessed previously classified government files and interviewed senior US officials and foreign spymasters. Here he gives the full inside story of the CIA's covert funding of an Islamic jihad against Soviet forces in Afghanistan, explores how this sowed the seeds of bn Laden's rise, traces how he built his global network and brings to life the dramatic battles within the US government over national security. Above all, he lays bare American intelligence's continual failure to grasp the rising threat of terrrorism in the years leading to 9/11 - and its devastating consequences.