Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism by John K. CooleyDaniel's review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cooley knows his stuff and the book has a "been there, interviewed him" feel to it. It could use a little editing and organization, but by the end, I had a far better picture of how we got to where we are now.
When given the choice of a number of books to read for a class on the law of war and terror, I chose this one, and I was not disappointed. Primarily concerned with US action in Afghanistan and the rise of the Taliban and later Osama bin Laden in the mire left by the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
Cooley has an incredible amount of information and relies on interviews he conducted with key players over the last 30 years. He sees the rise of terror in that state as largely a result of the unchecked flow of weapons and money to the mujaheddin from the United States to support the guerrilla war against the Soviets. With the exodus of Soviet tanks from Afghanistan, the US left also, closing, almost overnight, intelligence operations and diplomatic presence. The result was a disastrous civil war between warlords and religious fanatics that allowed the rise of the Taliban.
Citing the US as a culprit in the quagmire, a significant amount of responsibility is placed on the actions of the Pakistani intelligence services. Controlled by religious ideologues, the Pakistani intelligence services operated nearly autonomously from other Pakistani government branches, and often in opposition to stated policy. It's ostensible purpose was create a religiously friendly state on Pakistan's western border so as to take weight off of pressure created by the often contentious, and occasionally violent, relationship with India on it's other side.
Eventually, it leads to the exportation of the "holy warriors" around the world, and followed later by opium as a cash crop supporting the somewhat outcast Taliban government.
In short, a must read.
The book suffers from a lack of editing and a somewhat choppy organization. However, the sheer volume of information easily makes the difficulty following the reading well worth the challenge.
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4 comments:
Hey--have you read "Ghost Wars"? If so, how does it compare? Drew is currently reading Ghost Wars in preparation of serving in Afganistan. If this one is better--I will refer him to it as well.
I am reading Ghost Wars right now. I am nearly finished, but have taken a hiatus. I recommend them both. Ghost Wars is definitely a more thorough look, and far more organized. It also reads a lot easier. That said, I don't think they are exclusive, but really go well together. I recommend them both.
Hey Daniel, to get an entirely different, but historical look at Iran and terrorism, when you get done with this heavy stuff, find "Daughter of Persia: a woman's journey from her father's harem through the Islamic Revolution." by Sattareh Farmen-Farmaian. It really helped me understand what has happened and how the U.S. really blew it in Iran, from the 1920s to 1970s. Your Aunt Lenore read it in a class at Sacramento State and she shared it with me. Just gives a really different and I think accurate point of view.
A must read huh? I'm not sure that it will suit my palette. But I'll keep it in mind as an option.
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