Ghost Wars The Secret History of the CIA Afghanistan & Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10 2001

Looming large in the minds of the American people since the devastation of September 11, 2001 — and perplexing their political analysts, media, and elected leaders — are two unsettling questions: To what extent did America's best intelligence analysts grasp the rising threat of Islamist radicalism? And, Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Steve Coll, managing editor of the Washington Post, provides answers in an exhaustively researched account of U.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 that sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks and that provide its context. From the Soviet invasion in 1979 through the summer of 2001, the CIA, KGB, Pakistan's IST, 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.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Coll provides the only comprehensive account to date of the secret history of the CIA's role in Afghanistan, including its covert program against Soviet troops from 1979 to 1989, and examines 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. Based on extensive firsthand accounts, Ghost Wars is the inside story that goes well beyond anything previously published on U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, chronicling the roles of midlevel CIA officers, their Afghan allies, and such top spy masters as Bill Casey, Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki al Faisal, and George Tenet; heated debates within the American government; and the often poisonous, mistrustful relations between the CIA and foreign intelligence agencies.

From the award-winning and bestselling author of Directorate S, 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.

From the award-winning and bestselling author of Directorate S, 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.

"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, 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.

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.

List of Maps

Principal Characters

Prologue: Accounts Receivable - September 1996

Part One: Blood Brothers - November 1979 to February 1989

1. andldquo;Weandrsquo;re Going to Die Here

2. andldquo;Lenin Taught Usandrdquo;

3. andldquo;Go Raise Hellandrdquo;

4. andldquo;I Loved Osamaandrdquo;

5. andldquo;Donandrsquo;t Make It Our Warandrdquo;

6. andldquo;Who Is This Massoud?andrdquo;

7. andldquo;The Terrorists Will Own the Worldandrdquo;

8. andldquo;Inshallah, You Will Know My Plansandrdquo;

9. andldquo;We Wonandrdquo;

Part Two: The One-Eyed Man Was King - March 1989 to December 1997

10. andldquo;Serious Risksandrdquo;

11. andldquo;A Rogue Elephantandrdquo;

12. andldquo;We Are in Dangerandrdquo;

13. andldquo;A Friend of Your Enemyandrdquo;

14. andldquo;Maintain a Prudent Distanceandrdquo;

15. andldquo;A New Generationandrdquo;

16. andldquo;Slowly, Slowly Sucked into Itandrdquo;

17. andldquo;Dangling the Carrotandrdquo;

18. andldquo;We Couldnandrsquo;t Indict Himandrdquo;

19. andldquo;Weandrsquo;re Keeping These Stingersandrdquo;

20. andldquo;Does America Need the CIA?andrdquo;

Part Three: The Distant Enemy - January 1998 to September 10, 2001

21. andldquo;You Are to Capture Him Aliveandrdquo;

22. andldquo;The Kingdomandrsquo;s Interestsandrdquo;

23. andldquo;We Are at Warandrdquo;

24. andldquo;Letandrsquo;s Just Blow the Thing Upandrdquo;

25. andldquo;The Manson Familyandrdquo;

26. andldquo;That Unit Disappearedandrdquo;

27. andldquo;You Crazy White Guysandrdquo;

28. andldquo;Is There Any Policy?andrdquo;

29. andldquo;Daring Me to Kill Themandrdquo;

30. andldquo;What Face Will Omar Show to God?andrdquo;

31. andldquo;Many Americans Are Going to Dieandrdquo;

32. andldquo;What an Unlucky Countryandrdquo;

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Index