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Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 [Paperback]

Steve Coll
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Dec 28 2004
Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize

The explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan


With the publication of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll became not only a Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the expert on the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of Bin Laden, and the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents to capture or kill Bin Laden in Afghanistan after 1998.


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Review

"Certainly the finest historical narrative so far on the origins of al Qaeda in the post-Soviet rubble of Afghanistan . . . Ghost Wars provides fresh details and helps explain the motivations behind many crucial decisions."
-The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Steve Coll is most recently the author of the New York Times bestseller The Bin Ladens. He is the president of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a staff writer for The New Yorker. Previously heworked for twenty years at The Washington Post, where he received a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism in 1990. He is the author of six other books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller Ghost Wars.


Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
IN THE TATTERED, cargo-strewn cabin of an Ariana Afghan Airlines passenger jet streaking above Punjab toward Kabul sat a stocky, broad-faced American with short graying hair. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Ghost Wars and a wilderness of mirrors July 17 2004
Format:Hardcover
The elusiveness of Bin Laden and the failures of the US government to get him is the theme of this great book. Coll has produced a masterpiece of investigative journalism. His book is amply documented and footnoted. However, some of his crucial interviews are left anonymous or unattributed and the identities of these sources would be very valuable to an evaluation of the overall history of this period.

Coll paints a broad and detailed picture of intelligence operations from the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR up to the attacks upon the World Trade Center in 2001, and he clearly shows how the US effort to defeat the USSR in that country, eventually led to the rise of Bin Laden and Muslim radicalism. The United States and Saudi Arabia gave huge amounts of government largesse to fund the radical Muslims, who did all the fighting and dying to defeat the Communists. Too much credit is given to Reagan for "defeating" Soviet Communism and little is said about the actual people who died for the Muslim cause of defeating the infidels. Also, little is said about the law of unintended consequences, wherein the rise of the radical Muslim mentality was originally fostered via the US strategy by Reagan and his CIA chief William Casey. So in this connection, Bin Laden and 9/11 is a form of "blowback".

The picture painted by Coll of intelligence agents trying to get Bin Laden is curious indeed, since the effort to track him and corner him was very good at times, yet when he could have been caught or killed, the agents backed out or the intelligence agencies seemed paralyzed to follow through. This seems like a fruitful area of study for further books searching for the real truth of this secret history.

Coll's book addresses the usage of the funds to finance the radical groups fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, however, not much hard information is offered to show exactly who siphoned money to Bin Laden and how much was diverted to his groups(s). The unspoken assumption is that Pakistan's intelligence service, (ISI) was responsible for this diversion. In addition, it seems the author implies the US did not really know which groups were receiving US funds. This is a murky subject area which further research would clarify and make accessible to the American people.

I recommend this book to those interested in this sordid and ironic period of US history. The book is long but well worth the read, since it will impart much enlightenment about CIA behavior and the reader will be armed with a better understanding of what must be done to avoid this kind of catastrophe again.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Detailed History Mar 3 2013
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very detailed, and well written, history of the relationship between the CIA and various parties in Afghanistan. It also covers how the CIA operated for years in Afghanistan. If youre looking for a lot of information about Bin Laden and specifics on 9/11 this isnt your book, but there are plenty of names that will ring a bell from the last 10 years, and really helps understand what is happening in that area of the world, as well as what may have been faults of previous administrations leading to the long war.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great! Jun 21 2012
Format:Paperback
A heavy-duty treatment of the history of pre 9/11 meddling in Afghanistan. If anyone wants to understand the roots of Al-Qaeda, the war on the Taliban, and the Northern Alliance, they should certainly read this tome. No matter what your stance toward the war, if you are going to draw conclusions about these matters--a familiarity with these details is necessary.

Steve has done a fantastic job of staying balanced and maintaining a high level of objectivity. I highly recommend this, though like many other books of this type, its a long ride. You will need to be prepared to be in it for the long-haul. Make sure you pick up the latesst edition, it has been updated to factor in information that has been revealed well after 9/11. A number of blanks have been filled in, especially in cases where closed lips have been opened by more official proceedings.
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Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Hugely Informative
This is a hugely informative and well researched book on the War on Terror and Afghanistan. I have never encountered a more well researched book on this topic in my life. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Requiem for a Lion
I've never had the strongest opinion of the intellectual capabilities of Osama Bin Laden, but the events which Coll describes have made me reconsider my opinion. Read more
Published on Oct 20 2008 by Jack Blatant
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for every Canadian
As Canada is gripped in the seemingly never-ending "war on terror" in Afghanistan, Coll's Pulitzer Prize winning book provides context for the current political climate by... Read more
Published on Dec 30 2006 by Coach C
3.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly documented, but dry
I was anxious to read this book since I knew very little about Afghanistan. Prey to many expanding empires over the past thousand years, this country has nevertheless maintained... Read more
Published on Feb 24 2006 by Mario Bergeron
4.0 out of 5 stars Lessons to be Learned
. . . and I thought Bob Woodward had inside sources.

"Ghost Wars" is a fresh, detailed, and fascinating assessment of the United States' experience with Afghanistan... Read more

Published on July 4 2004 by James V. Sylvester
4.0 out of 5 stars Another narrative of shame
This is yet another revealing book on a subject that has assumed foremost global importance since 11 September 2001: The outcome of the shameful methods employed by the USA to win... Read more
Published on Jun 21 2004 by A Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars A good reason to read non fiction
Since it appears that the U.S. is inexorably involved in this part of the world - a CNN commentator and former general predicted recently that the current war on terror was... Read more
Published on Jun 19 2004 by Dan Savage
4.0 out of 5 stars Select CIA-Saudi Sources, Thus Slanted, but Essential


On balance this is a well researched book (albeit with a Langley-Saudi partiality that must be noted), and I give it high marks for substance, story, and notes. Read more

Published on Jun 10 2004 by Robert David STEELE Vivas
1.0 out of 5 stars Standard Leftist Drivel
This is a rather predictable book. It is rife with the basic anti-anticommunist canards with some Clintonian apologia added. Read more
Published on Jun 9 2004 by Michael P. Tremoglie
3.0 out of 5 stars If you are a policy wonk .....
..then you'll love this book. Otherwise, this is a very dense book that you may have trouble getting through. It is extremely well researched and detailed (almost too much so). Read more
Published on May 24 2004
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