Ghost Wars

[Roguish Lawyer]

I can't believe we don't have a thread on this yet. I know it has been mentioned in other threads, but it needs one of its own.

Steve Coll, a Washington Post editor, just won a Pulitzer Prize for the book. It covers the history of our involvement in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion (and a little before that) through 9/10/01. Extensive interviews and footnotes. I thought it was awesome. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the region.

Any thoughts from those who know more than I?

[Jimbo]

I thought it was an excellent book.

Airbornelawyer knows many of the personalities in the book, so hopefully he will chime in.

[CommoGeek]

Great book. It puts a lot if things in context and provides some great background info.

[Roguish Lawyer]

Earth to Dave . . .

[Solid]

Hello all and Happy New Years,
I finished reading Steve Coll's Ghost Wars a little while ago, and was actually quite astonished by what I had heard was a 'boring, long winded book'. Ghost Wars covers in detail pretty much all the decision making, intelligence intake, and context of the U.S.' contact with islamic extremism and terrorism since the very start of U.S. covert envolvement in Astan (Carter admin).
I felt that the book was worth a recommendation based on two merits.
1. The book has no discernable political bias. It tells it like it is, and does not attempt to make judgements- I really feel that the reader is simply given full information and left to make decisions for his or herself. Because the book spans several political leaderships and approaches to the nascent GWoT, the lack of prejudice really highlights how history can turn on political nuance and complexity.

2. The second reason is just that: the book reveals extreme complexity. It does so in a way that makes the information easy to absorb, but really gives the reader a broad and deep understanding of just what was happening at all relevant levels of government and civilization, foreign and our own. This is above all the reason I loved the book. It really does demonstrate that the beating of a butterfly's wings can bring a hurricane to the other side of the globe.

A tangent:
I will probably get a lot of flak for this, but I feel that the movie Syriana (starring everyone's beloved George Clooney ) conveys the complexity of the U.S.-ME oil situation in an equal depth relative to the duration of the film. People will probably say that the movie is a liberal rant against oil companies and U.S. foreign policy, but instead what I see it as is a realistic demonstration of the difficulties this country faces, the webs it must weave and negotiate, and ultimately the ugly cost of preserving our national interests. Although the characters could be seen as stereotypes, with a more careful eye for detail it seems that the majority are complex characters who simply wear their motives on their sleeves to make the film easier to absorb. I also liked that the bombers at the end of the movie were not the typical 'evil terrorist' character, but were instead representative of what a lot of people say a certain kind of terrorist is like.

ANYWAY. Bottom line is that Ghost Wars and Syriana are excellent because they give a look into the extreme complexity that the U.S. faces and will face in all of its decision making.

Solid

[Roycroft201]

Solid,

I haven't seen the movie but recently finished Ghost Wars.

In addition to the two points you made, I think it is also worth mentioning that the 'notes' for each chapter contain a wealth of information, as well. They are worth looking over.

If anyone is truly interested in recent US history, this is one book that should be included on one's reading list.

It's interesting to read some of the points you made re: Syriana. I'll keep them in mind when I see the film.

Happy New Year to you, too, Solid.

Roycroft201

[Solid]

Uh... um... I... I read the book with the POST-9/11 section... so I thought it deserved.. it's own topic thread.

Appreciate the move, RL. I am ashamed of my weak search skills.

Roycroft,
Very true, the notes provide a wealth of information worth following-up on. I'm now reading Gen Sir Rupert Smith's The Utility of Force. His thesis is that the war-fighting model is now not based around state-state conventional conflict, and for this reason the utility of force has changed- but the use of force has not. He says that this disconnect is one of the problems the U.S. is facing in Iraq and, less so, Astan. Sir Smith was in charge of a UK armor division in Desert Storm and was Supreme Allied Commander for NATO.

Also interesting, but I find the writing to be like mine: long winded and needlessly dense. Of course, it's always a laugh when you hear him use some verbage from the Old Empire as if it's still current...

Have a good morning,

Solid

[Huey14]

It's Sir Rupert, you use their first name not their last.

I wish we still had Knighhoods

Anyway, I'll have to pick up Ghost Wars. It sounds good.

[L51]

I read Ghost Wars earlier this year and thought that it was an excellent book.

Another book that I recently finished was Sleeping with the Devil by Robert Baer. It details America's dealings with Saudia Arabia as well as the problems that the Saudi government has with the Islamic fundamentalists within Saudi Arabia. I was impressed by both of Baer's books.

[Solid]

L51-
I haven't been able to find Sleeping with the Devil despite wanting to read it, but Hear No Evil gave great insight into that world. Did you get a feeling that the arguments presented in Sleeping with the Devil were a bit more tenuous than those in Hear No Evil?

Thanks,

Solid

[Cincinnatus]

While "Sleeping with the Devil" is worth reading, and the scenario he presents in the opening pages is truly frightening, I felt it was rushed to publication to capitalize on the success of Baer's previous book and the interest in the subject post 9/11. More research, more depth, and better editing and it could have been a really good book.

[gtcrispy]

Received it as a gift from a neighbor. Both my father and I enjoyed reading it.

[MtnGoat]

Steve Coll's Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, and Soviets is revealing in details of the CIA's involvement in the evolution of the Afghanistan with the local population and the becoming of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the years before the September 11 attacks. The book can be "dry" at times; in the first 100 pages or so, but over all the information in provides on the historical side in very knowledgeable. Every 18-Student should be handed this book during the SFQC. It shows from the beginning, how the CIA's on-again, off-again engagement with Afghanistan and Pakistani ISI; during to after the end of the Soviet war. It shows how officials at Langley left with inadequate resources and intelligence to appreciate the emerging power of the Taliban. Coll also demonstrates how Afghanistan became a deadly playing field for international politics where Soviet, Pakistani, and U.S. agents armed and trained a succession of warring factions.

At the same time, the book, though opinionated, is not solely a critique of the agency but the it balances the accounts of CIA failures with the success and failures of stories. He shows how events from the eighties and nineties are now having the same impact as they did then as they do today. Great book on the historical part and have today's Warlords fought back against the Soviet, then fought for control after their departure, to have the Taliban and Al Qaeda provide the base line for the setup of the future.
Coll also provides a seeming insider's perspective on personalities like George Tenet, William Casey, and antiterrorism czar, Richard Clarke worked back then.

Look I don't really like to read 500(+) books but, Coll does it in the book. He keep me reading, in a way that makes the information easy to absorb, but really gives the reader a broad and deep understanding of just what was happening at all relevant levels of government and civilization, foreign and our own.

Get your highlighter out, and it's good to have you lap top handy so you can Goggle names and/or people Mr. Coll lists within the book. Think it as like covering American history; if you didn't know who or how President Washington or Lincoln looked like, or what they did. How can you talk about them with others. So many times lately American History comes up during discussions about the country your Operating in. SO you your History and find out about others. Like knowing who Najibullah or Mossoud for Afghanistan, or whatever country your working in.

Area Studies!!!


A good topic link is: The out-of-print U.S. Department of Defense publication by Lester Grau - The Bear Went Over the Mountain
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6453/afghanistan.html

[jatx]

Agreed, MtnGoat. Ghost Wars was a real education and eye opener for me, and I've since given it as a gift to quite a few people with the tenacity and interest level to see it through. Not many authors are able to put recent history into the perspective that Coll does. His grasp of detail and use of facts are impressive, but it was the synthesis that I really appreciated. I should probably read it again.

[Team Sergeant]

I find it amazing that while some are swore to secrecy others go on to win a "Pulitzer Prize" for writing a book.

Just another reason we are referred to as "Quiet Professionals".

TS