Ghost Wars
by Cole Davis · first published 2012
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Detailed, well-sourced history of the CIA, Pakistan's ISI and Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion to 9/11; recommended for readers wanting background on the region's modern conflicts.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…in the Rise to Western Power by Victor Davis Hanson Have read these and enjoyed these: General Warfare theory: History of Warfare by Keegan Intel: Intelligence and War by Keegan Counterinsurgency: "Ghost Wars" by Steve Coll. For a really enjoyable experience read "The Great Game" by Hopkirk first. The Civil War deserves it's own category. Watch the PBS dvds, actually buy them. If you're hungry for more…
on “Ask HN: good books about military strategy?” ↗…exercise our own judgement, even when reading information from sources we believe to be trustworthy. If you genuinely believe what you are saying then I encourage you to broaden your sources. For example, ‘Ghost Wars’, which won a Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction and has been broadly acclaimed, covers the CIA and all the stuff it did / has been doing in Afghanistan since 9/11. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Wars…
on “Twitter, Responsibility, and Accountability” ↗> Most of the Islamic fundamentalism that the USA is fighting today can be traced back to that one event. This is just plain false. A nice book that I can recommend on the actual history of it is Ghost Wars by Steve Coll.
on “When You’re Outnumbered: Lessons from Two British Masters of Irregular Warfare” ↗Please read Ghost Wars by Steve Coll or read up on the various Latin American dictators the CIA supported. The US may not be the 'worst' but we certainly have our hands bloodier than most nations.
on “Wikileaks releases CIA's Marble: Malware obfuscation tools” ↗…thinks and acts the way it does, and how sometimes this clashes with their normally close allies like the US. 1: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Kill-First-Targeted-Assassinatio... Before that, I read "Ghost Wars" [2] another beast of a book that covers US involvement in the Middle East going back to the late 1970's up to 9/11. Fascinating book about the struggle to dominate Afghanistan by regional and world…
on “Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially” ↗There's a whole bunch of books about the CIA and the lead up to and aftermath of 9/11: - Currently absorbed in Ghost Wars in audiobook format. Won a Pulitzer. All about the CIA and their dealing with their Pakistani counterpart ISI and the Afghan war lords. Lots of great cowboy stories and incredible amount of detail. -…
on “Useful Spy Books” ↗…foreign governments’ policies."... "Churchill later wrote that 'my admiration for him [Ibn Saud] was deep, because of his unfailing loyalty to us'" Yes, as another commenter said, I can also recommend Ghost Wars as one of my favorite books on Afghanistan, and Steve Colls more recent work Directorate S is also extremely well written in the same vein.
on “When You’re Outnumbered: Lessons from Two British Masters of Irregular Warfare” ↗I second the master and commander series. I read all 21. Amazing. Afghan history Books, both incredible: http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-Septem... http://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/d... Why: While the Master and Commander Series are historical fictions they teach you A LOT about the Napoleonic…
on “What books would you recommend reading? Why?” ↗…shipped to Kashmir to do battle against the Indian army in that region. Pakistan is a very difficult topic. I recommend two books by Steve Coll to understand it better, "On the Grand Trunk Road" and "Ghost Wars," two fascinating books on the recent history of this region. I recently read both and they're worth your time.
on “The Terrifying Background of the Man Who Ran a CIA Assassination Unit” ↗Go read Ghost Wars http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-Septem... and come back with a better understanding of the shit storm that is in that region. All of the conflict over there dates back to before…
If you're interested in learning more about Pakistani Intelligence, I can highly recommend Steve Coll's Directorate S. It's the sequel to the pulitzer-prize winning Ghost Wars, but it can be read on its own.
on “Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence” ↗Highly recommend Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 and the sequel Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.…
on “Who Are the Taliban?” ↗…Enough said. 4) Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Steve Coll I think of this as the last book in Coll's unofficial trilogy on Afghanistan. First up was Ghost Wars, a history of American involvement in Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion up to 2001. Second is his biography on the Bin Laden family. Last year he released Directorate S, a chronicle of American and…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗