A great story, and not just because I read most of it while floating in the pool in Fiji (look closely at the header image on this blog's home page).This book goes into great detail about the attitudes, prevailing conditions and bungling of various branches of the intelligence services over years of engagement in Afghanistan.
The fact that when Russia had invaded and was occupying Afghanistan, the preferred method for encouraging the Taliban to oppose Russian forces was by sending them hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and military equipment, backfired in a big way. As soon as Russian forces retired back to their own county, the Taliban used that very equipment against American and allied forces.
If the book's too much for you, rent Charlie Wilson's War on DVD / Blu-Ray, as Charlie and his involvement in Afghanistan features in the book.
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