Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (Pulitzer Prize Winner)Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction • A New York Times bestseller “The CIA itself would be hard put to beat his grasp of global events . . . Deeply satisfying.” —The New York Review of Books From the award-winning and bestselling author of Directorate S and The Achilles Trap comes the explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan. To what extent did America’s best intelligence analysts grasp the rising thread of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Based on scrupulous research and firsthand accounts by key government, intelligence, and military personnel both foreign and American, Ghost Wars details the secret history of the CIA’s role in Afghanistan (including its covert operations against Soviet troops from 1979 to 1989), the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of bin Laden, and the failed efforts by U.S. forces to find and assassinate bin Laden in Afghanistan. |
Contents
Were Going to Die Here | 21 |
Lenin Taught | 38 |
Go Raise Hell | 53 |
Dont Make It Our War | 89 |
Who Is This Massoud? | 107 |
The Terrorists Will Own the World | 125 |
Insballab You Will Know My Plans | 147 |
We Won | 170 |
You Are to Capture Him Alive | 371 |
The Kingdoms Interests | 397 |
We Are at War | 416 |
Lets Just Blow the Thing Up | 438 |
The Manson Family | 453 |
That Unit Disappeared | 473 |
You Crazy White Guys | 491 |
Is There Any Policy? | 509 |
PART TWO THE ONEEYED MAN WAS KING | 187 |
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 | 280 |
Dangling the Carrot | 301 |
We Couldnt Indict Him | 314 |
Were Keeping These Stingers 280 | 336 |
Does America Need the CIA? | 353 |
PART THREE THE DISTANT ENEMY | 369 |
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
Abdul Afghan Afghanistan agency agency's agents Ahmed Shah Massoud aides al Qaeda American analysts Arab army attack Badeeb Bearden Bhutto bombing cable camps Casey Central Asia CIA officers CIA station Clarke Clinton colleagues commanders communist counterterrorism Counterterrorist Center covert action diplomats director force foreign Gary Schroen George Tenet Hekmatyar Ibid Interviews with U.S. ISI's Islamabad Islamabad station Islamic Islamist Jalalabad jihad jihadists Joint Inquiry Kabul Kandahar Karzai kill Laden unit Langley later leaders Massoud McWilliams meeting military missiles Mohammed mujahedin Mullah Omar Musharraf Muslim Najibullah National Security operations Osama bin Laden Pakistani intelligence Panjshir Pashtun Pentagon Peshawar political president Prince Turki Qaeda recalled Saudi Arabia Saudi intelligence Sayyaf secret senior September Sharif Soviet station chief Stingers Taliban targets Tenet terrorism terrorist threat tion told Tomsen tribal U.S. embassy U.S. officials Unocal wanted Washington weapons White House Yousef