Editors' pick
Ghosts of Afghanistan: the Haunted Battleground by Jonathan Steele
"Steele, former chief foreign correspondent for the Guardian,
surveys 30 years of war in Afghanistan in this impressionistic history.
Drawing upon 14 trips to the country over the past 30 years, dozens of
interviews with Afghans, and revelations from the trove of official U.S.
diplomatic documents released by WikiLeaks, the author claims that the
ghosts of Afghan wars past—i.e., the “catastrophic mistakes made by
earlier invaders”—haunts Obama’s war today. [...]
Ultimately, Steele concludes, the U.S. must acknowledge the “folly” of its intervention and seek a negotiated settlement that will establish a sovereign but neutral Afghanistan. Even he, however, admits that after 30 years of armed intervention and civil war such a grand bargain “will not be easy,” and he neglects to offer any concrete steps to get there." Reviewed by Publishers Weekly
Ultimately, Steele concludes, the U.S. must acknowledge the “folly” of its intervention and seek a negotiated settlement that will establish a sovereign but neutral Afghanistan. Even he, however, admits that after 30 years of armed intervention and civil war such a grand bargain “will not be easy,” and he neglects to offer any concrete steps to get there." Reviewed by Publishers Weekly
An Enemy we created: The myth of the Taliban/al-Qaeda merger in Afghanistan, 1970-2010 by Alex Strick and Felix Kuehn
Read about the authors and the book here:
“There is an urgent need to re-examine the known facts of the Taliban-al-Qaeda relationship and to tell the story of the Taliban's encounter with internationalist militant Islamism. [An enemy we created] responds to the overheated rhetoric that sustains a one-sided interpretation of the alleged merger between the two groups as well as the policy implications for Afghanistan that flowed in the wake of its acceptance by Western governments and their militaries. The relationship between the two groups and the individuals who established them is undeniably complex, and has remained so for many years."
“There is an urgent need to re-examine the known facts of the Taliban-al-Qaeda relationship and to tell the story of the Taliban's encounter with internationalist militant Islamism. [An enemy we created] responds to the overheated rhetoric that sustains a one-sided interpretation of the alleged merger between the two groups as well as the policy implications for Afghanistan that flowed in the wake of its acceptance by Western governments and their militaries. The relationship between the two groups and the individuals who established them is undeniably complex, and has remained so for many years."
Captive: My time as a Prisoner of the Taliban by Jere Van Dyk
A reminder of Jere
Van Dyk’s gripping account of his experience inside the Taliban strongholds in
February 2008. Jere Van Dyk was interviewed on RT:
[About the summer attacks in Kabul] “Insurgents want to show very clearly that they can penetrate the so called ‘American ring of steel’ around Kabul and that there is no place in Afghanistan where they cannot go”.
[Comparing the Soviet war and the operation Enduring Freedom] “What the Allies have not done this far, although they are trying, is to create something of grandeur, a dam or a major factory, something to show that they have really maintained a successful environment that would intimidate the Taliban, like the Russians did”.
[About the summer attacks in Kabul] “Insurgents want to show very clearly that they can penetrate the so called ‘American ring of steel’ around Kabul and that there is no place in Afghanistan where they cannot go”.
[Comparing the Soviet war and the operation Enduring Freedom] “What the Allies have not done this far, although they are trying, is to create something of grandeur, a dam or a major factory, something to show that they have really maintained a successful environment that would intimidate the Taliban, like the Russians did”.
Amitiés afghanes, Dix ans de vies partagées by Charlotte Dufour
The author about her book:
"A l’heure où l’on fait le bilan des dix ans d’intervention internationale en Afghanistan depuis la chute du régime taliban, certains pourraient être surpris de voir ces deux mots associés. « Terrorisme », « corruption », « soldats tués », « échec de la reconstruction», « drogue », sont les mots qui prédominent, à la une des journaux, aux côtés de ce nom, « Afghanistan ». Ceux qui ont eu la chance de connaître ce pays savent pourtant bien qu’il rime avant tout avec attachant, voire envoutant. L’Afghanistan ne laisse jamais indifférent."
"A l’heure où l’on fait le bilan des dix ans d’intervention internationale en Afghanistan depuis la chute du régime taliban, certains pourraient être surpris de voir ces deux mots associés. « Terrorisme », « corruption », « soldats tués », « échec de la reconstruction», « drogue », sont les mots qui prédominent, à la une des journaux, aux côtés de ce nom, « Afghanistan ». Ceux qui ont eu la chance de connaître ce pays savent pourtant bien qu’il rime avant tout avec attachant, voire envoutant. L’Afghanistan ne laisse jamais indifférent."
Opium Nation: child brides, drug Lords, and one woman's journey through Afghanistan by Fariba Nawa
"When veteran reporter Fariba Nawa returned home to Afghanistan—the
nation she had fled as a child with her family during the Soviet
invasion nearly twenty years earlier—she discovered a fractured country
transformed by a multibillion-dollar drug trade. In Opium Nation,
Nawa deftly illuminates the changes that have overtaken Afghanistan
after decades of unbroken war. Sharing remarkable stories of poppy
farmers, corrupt officials, expats, drug lords, and addicts, including
her haunting encounter with a twelve-year-old child bride who was
bartered to pay off her father’s opium debts, Nawa offers a revealing
and provocative narrative of a homecoming more difficult than she ever
imagined as she courageously explores her own Afghan American identity
and unveils a startling portrait of a land in turmoil." (Review from the editor)
