Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 | 
| Author: Steve Coll
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  128 reviews
Sales Rank: 1686
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 738
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.7
ISBN: 0143034669
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.1045
EAN: 9780143034667
ASIN: 0143034669
Publication Date: December 28, 2004
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Amazon.com
Steve Coll's Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 offers revealing details of the CIA's involvement in the evolution of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the years before the September 11 attacks. From the beginning, Coll shows how the CIA's on-again, off-again engagement with Afghanistan after the end of the Soviet war left officials at Langley with inadequate resources and intelligence to appreciate the emerging power of the Taliban. He 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. Coll balances accounts of CIA failures with the success stories, like the capture of Mir Amal Kasi. Coll, managing editor for the Washington Post, covered Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992. He demonstrates unprecedented access to records of White House meetings and to formerly classified material, and his command of Saudi, Pakistani, and Afghani politics is impressive. He also provides a seeming insider's perspective on personalities like George Tenet, William Casey, and anti-terrorism czar, Richard Clarke ("who seemed to wield enormous power precisely because hardly anyone knew who he was or what exactly he did for a living"). Coll manages to weave his research into a narrative that sometimes has the feel of a Tom Clancy novel yet never crosses into excess. While comprehensive, Coll's book may be hard going for those looking for a direct account of the events leading to the 9-11 attacks. The CIA's 1998 engagement with bin Laden as a target for capture begins a full two-thirds of the way into Ghost Wars, only after a lengthy march through developments during the Carter, Reagan, and early Clinton Presidencies. But this is not a critique of Coll's efforts; just a warning that some stamina is required to keep up. Ghost Wars is a complex study of intelligence operations and an invaluable resource for those seeking a nuanced understanding of how a small band of extremists rose to inflict incalculable damage on American soil. --Patrick O'Kelley
Product Description
To what extent did Americas best intelligence analysts grasp the rising threat of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Based on scrupulous research and firsthand accounts by key government, intelligence, and military personnel both foreign and American, Coll details the secret history of the CIAs role in Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of bin Laden, and the failed efforts by U.S. forces to find and assassinate bin Laden in Afghanistan.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 123 more reviews...
 Excellant Current History Reading March 11, 2008
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.
How "Morning in America" Became "War of the Worlds" February 16, 2008
"Ghost Wars" is an excellent, exciting, and very carefully researched and footnoted documentation of how the United States government, from the time of Reagan, supported and encouraged the forces that became the Taliban. The writer, Steve Coll, is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and writer who was managing editor of the Washington Post from 1998 to 2004.
This is very important information for understanding why and how international relations have become so very complex and violent, and why simple yes/no and us/them declarations miss the point entirely.
Should be required reading in high school and college, immediately.
politcal cause and effect January 7, 2008
An excellent book for those interested in the politics of The Afghanistan - Russian conflict and its out come setting the seeds for 9/11.
Great Book, Read Detained Differences November 25, 2007
This was a great novel, go buy Detained Differences by J. Robert Rowe. It is about Detainee Operations inside Afghanistan.
Well-documented lead-up to 9-11 November 1, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"Ghost Wars" is a very good, well documented, presentation of facts leading up to 9-11, focusing mainly on the CIA's involvement in Afghanistan starting with the anti-Soviet rebellion in the early 1980's.
What comes through very clear is how complex the situation was, presenting very little options which could ever work out well. Probably the USSR would have broken apart even if we weren't involved in Afghanistan. Plus, in the early 80's the US was so paranoid of Afghanistan going communist and therefore a secular society, we were distributing CIA-printed Korans to the Afghan rebels. Muslim jihadis must have been laughing at us.
As the book points out, the real reason we wanted to be involved in Afghanistan was because of eventual control of a proposed Afghan oil pipeline, where the oil company, Unocal, was front and center in influencing our actions, even wanting in the late 90's to negotiate and partner with the Taliban.
One thing kind of funny in it is when Bush was campaigning before the 2000 election, reporters/journalists were asking Bush pop questions to see his responses. One journalist mentioned "Taliban". Bush just shook his head in silence. Then the journalist gave him a hint, and Bush said something about repression of women in Afghanistan, but then said he first thought it was a band.
This book definitely belongs in one's collection of books trying to understand things related to 9-11 and as a basis for understanding the 'War on Terror'.
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