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Book Review : Ghost Wars
Writer: Steve Coll
Review : Zahid Khattak
This book is one of the hard to read books I have read, but it was rewarding to have finished reading this book.”Ghost Wars “ is extremely detailed in its facts and offers much knowledge for anyone that may not be as educated in the history of the US, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll’s gives a broad history of “War on Terrorism,” outlining every “mistake “CIA and the American government has made and how they’ve overlooked the after-effects of their own decisions.
This book is an engaging analysis of the CIA’s role in Afghanistan between 1979 and September 10, 2001. Steve Coll is good at following policy decisions from their origins through their many, sometimes subtle, consequences. The US went through several administrations during that time, each with significant policy priority changes, so forming a coherent, readable narrative that links the various policies together and follows them to 9/11 is quite a feat.
This book offers a look into the complexity of intelligence operations and the effect of Executive oversight from the President of the United States on such operations. It is the necessary read for anyone seeking to understand how small groups of extremists were able to inflict such devastation on American soil.
I am in international affairs nerd, so most of the information in this book is not new to me, but nonetheless “Ghost wars “proved to be a vault of much new information for me. Overall, this was a fulfilling experience but also one that makes me crave for more. If one thought they knew anything about the origins of radical jihad and bin Laden, they need to read this book. (Taken from Zahid FB wall)
By Zahid Khattak
