The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001–2014 - Softcover

Gall, Carlotta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0544538560 ISBN 13: 9780544538566

Publisher: Mariner Books, 2015

Synopsis

“An enthralling and largely firsthand account of the war in Afghanistan.”—Financial Times
 
Few reporters know as much about Afghanistan as Carlotta Gall. She was there in the 1990s after the Russians were driven out. She witnessed the early flourishing of radical Islam, imported from abroad, which caused so much local suffering. She was there right after 9/11, when the US special forces helped the Northern Alliance drive the Taliban out of the north and then the south, fighting pitched battles and causing their enemies to flee underground and into Pakistan. She knows just how much this war has cost the Afghan people. And she knows just how much damage can be traced to Pakistan and its duplicitous government and intelligence forces. Combining searing personal accounts of battles and betrayals with moving portraits of the ordinary Afghans who were caught up in the conflict of more than a decade, The Wrong Enemy is a sweeping account of a war brought by American leaders against an enemy they barely understood and could not truly engage.
 
“A strong, well-crafted account by an informed observer.”—The Economist
 
“Gall is perhaps uniquely positioned to tackle the troubling questions she raises about Pakistan's alleged support of terrorism . . . a must-read.”— Christian Science Monitor

About this title

Book Description:

HMH hardcover, 2014, previous ISBN 978-0-544-04669-6

From the Inside Flap:

As America winds down its thirteen-year war in Afghanistan, a prize-winning New York Times reporter offers a searing history that asks: have we been fighting the wrong enemy at every step?

Carlotta Gall has reported from Afghanistan and Pakistan for almost the entire duration of the American military campaign, beginning shortly after 9/11. She knows how much this war has cost American forces and the Afghan people. She knows the source of power of our real enemy, Pakistan: its duplicitous military and intelligence forces and its numerous jihadist groups have been supporting the Taliban and fueling its insurgency throughout. Yet we have chosen not to challenge our supposed ally directly, relying instead on diplomatic engagement that has failed our troops and the Afghans. Now that American troops are withdrawing, it is time to tell the full history of how we have been fighting the wrong enemy, in the wrong country.

Gall combines harrowing personal accounts of battles and betrayals with moving portraits of the ordinary Afghans who endured a terrible war of more than a decade. Her firsthand accounts of Taliban warlords, Pakistani intelligence thugs, American generals, Afghan politicians, and the many innocents who were caught up in this long war are riveting. Her evidence that Pakistan fueled the Taliban and protected Osama bin Laden is revelatory. This is the definitive account of a war brought by American leaders against an enemy they barely understood, and could not truly engage.
 

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0544538560
• ISBN 13: 9780544538566
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368