The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War

Really well researched evidence based account of the war on terror in Afghanistan from a US perspective. Based largely on information given during “lessons learned” exercises and obtained through freedom of information requests, this outlines what happened on the ground according to the people that were actually there in one capacity or another.Really good overview of the 20 years without spin or favour. Brilliant.

Based on primary sources this book charts how the US never had any real chance in Afghanistan. It made every possible mistake and thought it could repair things by just pouring more money into the huge money pit of Afghanistan. There is a lot more to be written about the subject and hopefully people will wake up to the disastrous neoconservativism that destroyed several countries, protected others and poured at least $5,800,000,000,000 down the drain.

Had Whitlock waited a month or two, he would have a complete book on the American misadventure in Afghanistan. Perhaps it is best this way because the debacle of the American troop withdrawal in September 2021 is still lucid in our minds, and this book’s analysis makes it so clear that the end was not surprising. The Americans invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of the Al Qaeda, especially its head, Osama bin Laden. Having achieved their objective in May 2011, the Americans, according to Whitlock, ought to have declared victory, and left. Somehow, they remained, and the reasons and objectives became unclear. Somewhere along the line, in spite of official denial in some quarters, America embarked on a mission of nation-building. That became a massive problem because no one in America understood Afghanistan and its people. Afghanistan is a tribal nation and has no inclination to adopt a central government. The Americans assume that everyone in Afghanistan hates the Taliban. They also do not know why they ended up fighting the Taliban when they went in to attack Al Qaeda. Quoting a senior State Official, Whitlock writes: ‘America goes to war without knowing why it does’. Eventually, after 20 years, it became clear that they had to leave. President Obama then made the mistake of announcing an 18-month deadline. With that, the Taliban just laid low and ran down the clock. Their backup plan – raising an Afghan army and police force to take over ran into difficulties because the Afghans were too illiterate, too corrupt, and too factionalised to develop the security force that the Americans envisaged for them. Yet the military leaders kept reporting that things were going well. In a congressional hearing, Senator Warren remarked that Congress had been told that the US military operation had turned the corner so many times, it seemed that it is going round in circles. In actual fact, the military had lots of problems, from bombing and killing civilians and allies by mistake, to being killed by Afghan soldiers and police who were supposed to be their allies. One other major mistake was to embark on an opium war – an attempt to end the heroin trade in Afghanistan. They could not because the Afghan leaders were benefitting from the opium trade, and many had relatives in charge of the heroin production and trade – including President Karzai himself. Finally, America also assumed that money solves everything. They pumped billions of dollars into a country that had no idea what to do with the money. Naturally, the leaders siphoned the money. The details exposed in this book are shocking. It makes one wonder how it is that lessons from Vietnam were so quickly forgotten. And the disastrous withdrawal in September 2021 can be clearly understood against the background that Whitlock provides in this book. A revised edition will be welcome.

Craig Whitlock's superb unearthing of the War On Terror in Afghanistan shows that is was the War On Truth. Other than the killing of Bin Laden and his followers, Afghanistan mirrors and in some ways, exceeds the outright hubris, self deception, incompetence and downright BS of the Vietnam War.Following Bush's over-reaction to 9/11 (it should ALWAYS have been a police action) that gave this insane 20 year old war its title, president after president, general after general, advisor after advisor mislead the American people and the international community with its tales of Afghan progress. Whitlock peels back the crazy tactics of Bush - 'we're not nation building BUT we're nation building' - the surging Obama - 'have as many troops, cash and opium as you like' - Trump - 'we're going to crush them, but I want out now' - till we finally get clarity from Joe Biden - who said out and meant out, damn the consequences. Of course, the idiots who supported this hopeless effort - the GOP in particular - now attack Biden over his incompetence and lies as a result of the chaos involved with the 31 August withdrawal date. The same GOP is silent over Trump's role, completely supportive of the generals who lied like rugs for 20 years (including General Mark Milley) and wants to cry over the fate of the poor Afghani people.Never have the American people been lied to in such a way over such a period of time. We couldn't make Afghanistan a modern, democratic state, no matter how much money and time. Over 90% of Afghans support Sharia law, and now they are getting what they wish for. Their government collapsed, their army and police ran away - Biden was 100% right to withdraw and leave them to their fate. If they start to be a threat to the US again, deal with the threat.I am amazed that I also agree with Trump - he DID know more than the generals, whose pronouncements were always wishful thinking. Of course, once they got their hooks into him, he wanted to bomb his way to victory. Then, when that didn't work, he made a deal with the Taliban. Biden, an opponent of the war for 10 years, pulled the plug at last. The Band-Aid has been ripped off, and we'll see. It was not worth thousands of lives, over a trillion dollars and 20 years of BS

Islamic Jihad & Extreme Terrorism - part of my reading on the subject.

Highly recommend.This book along with Steve Colls’s, Directorate S and The Achilles Trap provide a comprehensive picture of the inability of presidents and generals to understand the nature of the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq and develop a coherent strategy.Each book highlights how an initial rush to vengeance in Afghanistan and Iraq resulted in Iran, Pakistan and others exploiting American’s long-term involvement for strategic gains.The parallels to the mistakes made in Vietnam are uncanny. American leaders of the future would be wise to remember that the enemy gets a vote in the outcome.

The first account to make sense of this futile war, and why Afghanistan was Vietnam 2.0. A worthwhile read for anyone.

What an amazing compilation of information from various sources strung together like a colorful quilt. Beware: this book might make you mad about the repeated mistakes and incompetence, but if we refuse to acknowledge past mistakes, we are doomed to keep repeating them. Should be required reading for US leaders.

Un ouvrage très riche basé sur des documents officiels de première main longtemps inaccessibles. Page après page, on voit le manque de vision stratégique, et même de bon sens de base, des militaires et des politiques impliqués dans la conduite de cette guerre américaine inutilement longue et cruelle pour les populations civiles afghanes. On pourrait reprendre la formule de Georges Clémenceau: "la guerre est une chose trop sérieuse pour être laissée aux militaires", si ce dernier n'avait pas aussi un palmarès odieux en matière de visions stratégiques aux conséquences désastreuses.

Tramite testimonianze e rapporti confidenziali desecretati negli anni, l’autore riesce a dare un’ottima idea di quello che è andato storto e ha prolungato la permanenza americana per due decadi.