Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
Book Review: Excellent Book - A Real Page-Turner
Summary: 5 Stars
I won't bother with a lot of comments. Put it this way, if you want to read one book that explains how we ended up where we are with Islamic extremism, this would be the one. It is real thick and has small type, but you will tear through it. It is excellent.Book Review: Good background info, fascinating reading
Summary: 5 Stars
For many, Afghanistan seems to exist solely in the context of 9/11. This book reminds us that the West owes the people of Afghanistan, big time, for bleeding the Soviet bear into submission. Many people are so caught up in the War on Terror hysteria that they believe the CIA made a Faustian pact in supporting the Afghanis and got the short end of the straw. That's silly. The USSR, with its vast army, nukes and gulags, was always much more of a threat than Mr. Bin Laden and his delusional cohorts will ever be. Losing Afghanistan was probably a large factor in the USSR's collapse and helping the Afghanis expel their very oppressive occupiers was the moral thing to do.
The book shows that the outcome could have been much better, for the US and for Afghanistan. Rather than running its own spies and weapon distribution network on the ground, the CIA was lazy and over-reliant on technology and dubious allies in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Once the USSR was out, the US very quickly lost all interest in Afghanistan and allowed Pakistan to promote the fundamentalists. Islamic fundamentalists in turn are shown to be less an inherent Afghan tendency than a Saudi import.
It also clearly states that Bin Laden was never supplied by the CIA, which seems to be a persistent urban legend.
Another interesting aspect is the dissection of the, well-meaning, domestic legal constraints on CIA assassinations and their effect on plans to target Bin Laden. While the intent is good and noble, you can't help but wonder why it is OK to kill enemy soldiers, but not OK to lethally target "civilian" enemies. Even though political assassinations can be a veritable Pandora's box, causing rather than solving problems and generally dishonoring the country carrying them out. And despite the fact that the extra-legal shortcuts endorsed by the Bush administration have been a huge and lasting blow to the US reputation throughout the world.
To be clear: I do not condone torture, renditions, Guantanamo and all the other Bushian abominations. But, reading this, you can't help but think that the world would have been better off if Osama's days on it had been shortened in 1998.
Also mentioned is how the US anti-terrorist analysts were just getting flooded with warnings, starting around 97-98. For all the bureaucratic incompetence involved, the failure to act on the 9/11 advance warnings also needs to be looked at in the context of large volumes of repeated false alarms.
Book Review: very good
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is extremely interesting and intriguing. I have to keep reminding myself that its nonfiction, because it reads like fiction. very, very good!Book Review: Excellant book, well written, excellant references, one of the best I've read on the topic
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellant book, well written, excellant references, one of the best I've read on the topicBook Review: Excellant Current History Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
Very much an in-depth history of our times. This book describes activities that were lightly or never reported in the news yet had and have extreme bearing on US policy and current conditions in the Middle East. Well researched book with lengthy reference list.