Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001From the managing editor of the Washington Post, a news-breaking account of the CIA's involvement in the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and gave rise to bin Laden's al Qaeda. For nearly the past quarter century, while most Americans were unaware, Afghanistan has been the playing field for intense covert operations by U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies-invisible wars which sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks and which provide its context. From the Soviet invasion in 1979 through the summer of 2001, the CIA, KGB, Pakistan's ISI, and Saudi Arabia's General Intelligence Department all operated directly and secretly in Afghanistan. They primed Afghan factions with cash and weapons, secretly trained guerrilla forces, funded propaganda, and manipulated politics. In the midst of these struggles bin Laden conceived and then built his global organization. Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll tells the secret history of the CIA's role in Afghanistan, from its covert program against Soviet troops from 1979 to 1989, to the rise of the Taliban and the emergence of bin Laden, to the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents to capture or kill bin Laden in Afghanistan after 1998. Based on extensive firsthand accounts, Ghost Warsok is the inside story that goes well beyond anything previously published on U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. It chronicles the roles of midlevel CIA officers, their Afghan allies, and top spy masters such as Bill Casey, Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki al Faisal, and George Tenet. And it describes heated debates within the American government and the often poisonous, mistrustful relations between the CIA and foreign intelligence agencies. Ghost Warsanswers the questions so many have asked since the horrors of September 11: To what extent did America's best intelligence analysts grasp the rising threat of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? |
What people are saying - Write a review
User ratings
| 5 stars |
| ||
| 4 stars |
| ||
| 3 stars |
| ||
| 2 stars |
| ||
| 1 star |
|
LibraryThing Review
User Review - LamSon - LibraryThingThis book chronicles the rise of the jihadist movement, starting with mujahedin fighters in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. It continues with the rise of the Taliban and the ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - PCorrigan - LibraryThingInteresting and important reading even in 2017 with the basic facts leading up to 9/11 pretty well known by anyone who has devoted even modest attention to the subject. Where the book excels in my ... Read full review
Contents
PART ONE BLOOD BROTHERS | 19 |
Were Going to Die Here | 21 |
Lenin Taught Us | 38 |
Go Raise Hell | 53 |
I Loved Osama | 71 |
Dont Make It Our War | 89 |
Who Is This Massoud? | 107 |
The Terrorists Will Own the World | 125 |
Does America Need the CIA? | 353 |
PART THREE THE DISTANT ENEMY | 369 |
You Are to Capture Him Alive | 371 |
The Kingdoms Interests | 397 |
We Are at War | 416 |
Lets Just Blow the Thing Up | 437 |
The Manson Family | 451 |
That Unit Disappeared | 470 |
Inshallah You Will Know My Plans | 147 |
We Won | 170 |
PART TWO THE ONEEYED MAN WAS KING | 187 |
Serious Risks | 189 |
A Rogue Elephant | 205 |
We Are in Danger | 225 |
A Friend of Your Enemy | 240 |
Maintain a Prudent Distance | 257 |
A New Generation | 266 |
Slowly Slowly Sucked into It | 280 |
Dangling the Carrot | 301 |
We Couldnt Indict Him | 314 |
Were Keeping These Stingers | 336 |
Other editions - View all
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden Steve Coll Limited preview - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
action Afghan Afghanistan agency agents aides allies American analysts Arab army asked attack authority began believed bin Laden Black bombing border cable called camp Casey Central chief CIA officers CIA's Clarke Clinton close colleagues commanders continued Counterterrorist Center covert Department direct director early East embassy felt force foreign going Hekmatyar inside interviews involved Islamabad Islamic Islamist issue jihad Kabul Kandahar kill knew Laden Langley later leaders Massoud meeting military missile months moved Muslim National Security needed never officers Omar operations Pakistani intelligence Pashtun political president Prince Qaeda radical recalled reported Saudi Arabia secret seemed senior Soviet station strike Taliban talked Tenet terrorism terrorist threat tion told traveled Turki turned United wanted Washington weapons weeks White House
Bibliographic information
| Title | Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 |
| Author | Steve Coll |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Penguin, 2004 |
| ISBN | 1594200076, 9781594200076 |
| Length | 695 pages |
| Subjects | › › POLITICAL SCIENCE / Intelligence & Espionage POLITICAL SCIENCE / Terrorism Political Science / International Relations / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |