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: For those who want to understand how it happened
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is in one word: Superb. It is an easy to read, well-researched, in-depth and amazing account and historic background of how international terrorism on the Islamic front developed, evolved, was linked to agencies
and policitical decisions. If you ever wanted to understand why Afghanistan is where it is today, who bin Landen is and where he came from, which ties exist between the US and Saudia Arabia, how Islamic fundamentalist terror is justified - you get it all in this one book. Highly credible, authentic, gripping. A must-read by all means.
Book Review: Outstanding book
Summary: 5 Stars
A great background of Afghanistan leading up to OEF. The author just presents the facts and doesn't offer his own political opinion.Book Review: Desperate attempt by the ill-prepared ...
Summary: 5 Stars
Ghost Wars is a very well researched account of the events leading up to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11 2001. It illustrates how the attacks were the culmination of the worst failure by the US intelligence community since Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Here is a sobering description of how it was a failure at all phases of the intelligence cycle, from the setting of priorities and tasks, through the gamut of collection activities, to the analytical, assessment and dissemination processes. As the book illustrates, it encompassed not only the traditional national security and military intelligence agencies but also the myriad law enforcement and specialized agencies involved in counter-terrorist activities.
"The opportunities missed by the United States on the way to September 2001 extended well beyond the failure to exploit fully an alliance ...indifference, lassitude, blindness, paralysis, and commercial greed too often shaped American foreign policy in Afghanistan and South Asia during the 1990's." P 570
"Nor did the United States have a strategy for engagement, democratization, secular education, and economic development among the peaceful but demoralized majority populations of the Islamic world. ...In this way America unnecessarily made easier, to at least a small extent, the work of al Qaeda recruiters." P 571
In retrospect, there is much which could and should have been detected before September 11. This is a work that is well worth reading for a better understanding of how we can fix the intelligence and foreign policy issues.
Book Review: Well Researched
Summary: 5 Stars
Coll's book is so well researched. I believe that although "Charlie Wilson's War" is more sensational, it is also worth a look. Also, if this material interests you, Cooley's "Unholy Wars" is also valuable, as it was written in the pre-9/11 era, yet sets the stage for those with eyes to see and ears to hear...Book Review: Understand America's history in the Middle East
Summary: 5 Stars
If you want to understand the background of U.S. involvement in the Middle East and South Asia, get a copy of Ghost Wars. Scholarly writing backed up by heaps of footnotes and sources, Coll is exceptionally readable and the material is gripping. Don't listen to current media and admininstration rhetoric without understanding the past.