War Against the Taliban

Since the days of Alexander the Great, Afghanistan's strategically significant lands have been fought over by foreign invaders. Today, as yet another generation risks life and limb in this inhospitable territory, an ever-rising death toll puts back under the spotlight almost daily the way the modern war in Afghanistan is being run, and demands answers. Drawing on over a hundred interviews with Afghan politicians, businessmen and ordinary people, and British, American and European diplomats and soldiers, Sandy Gall shines fresh light on the failure to capture Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora and - equally disastrous - American and British gullibility in the face of Pakistan's continued tolerance of the Taliban. He asks why the reconstruction of Afghanistan has withered on the vine; and how we have allowed a Presidential style of government to concentrate power in one man's hands, under whom - amid cronyism and corruption - the Taliban insurgency only grows ever stronger. But is it too late? Examining the emotive issue of equipment shortages, exposing the extent to which the drug trade has corrupted the country, and assessing the accusation of endemic, systemic failure within the MOD, Sandy Gall addresses the challenges - political, religious, military - that face those now fighting on the most dangerous frontier in the world.

ISBN 1408809052   Pages 400 ISBN13 9781408809051 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 730 Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC   Published in London Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLC   Height (mm) 234 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 153 Publication date 19 Jan 2012   Spine width (mm) 37 DEWEY 958.1047   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

What makes this book stand out from all the other current writing about the war in Afghanistan is the depth of Sandy Gall's knowledge of the country and his intense sympathy for its people ... Anyone who wants to understand what is happening in Afghanistan cannot afford to ignore this book Times Literary Supplement Highly readable ... a well-informed account of the litany of disastrous miscalculations that have befallen the West's involvement since the September 11 attacks Daily Telegraph Gall knows the Afghans as well as anyone alive Scotland on Sunday What emerges most sharply ... is Sandy Gall's love for these people, his pain on behalf of their devastated country Doris Lessing on Afghanistan: Agony of a Nation A passionate tribute to the spirit of the Mujahideen Sunday Express Sharply focused and crisply written Financial Times Reminded me of Hemingway Punch

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