Seth Jones - In the Graveyard of Empires - America's War in Afghanistan
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- Название:In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan
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In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan: краткое содержание, описание и аннотация
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is a political history of Afghanistan in the “Age of Terror” from 2001 to 2009, exploring the fundamental tragedy of America’s longest war since Vietnam.
After a brief survey of the great empires in Afghanistan—the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the British in the era of Kipling, and the late Soviet Union—Seth G. Jones examines the central question of our own war: how did an insurgency develop? Following the September 11 attacks, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime. It established security throughout the country—killing, capturing, or scattering most of al Qa’ida’s senior operatives—and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of struggle and conflict. But Jones argues that as early as 2001 planning for the Iraq War siphoned off resources and talented personnel, undermining the gains that had been made. After eight years, he says, the United States has managed to push al Qa’ida’s headquarters about one hundred miles across the border into Pakistan, the distance from New York to Philadelphia.
While observing the tense and often adversarial relationship between NATO allies in the Coalition, Jones—who has distinguished himself at RAND and was recently named by
as one of the “Best and Brightest” young policy experts—introduces us to key figures on both sides of the war. Harnessing important new research and integrating thousands of declassified government documents, Jones then analyzes the insurgency from a historical and structural point of view, showing how a rising drug trade, poor security forces, and pervasive corruption undermined the Karzai government, while Americans abandoned a successful strategy, failed to provide the necessary support, and allowed a growing sanctuary for insurgents in Pakistan to catalyze the Taliban resurgence.
Examining what has worked thus far—and what has not—this serious and important book underscores the challenges we face in stabilizing the country and explains where we went wrong and what we must do if the United States is to avoid the disastrous fate that has befallen many of the great world powers to enter the region. 12 maps and charts
From Publishers Weekly
Since 2001, RAND Corporation political scientist Jones (
) has been observing the reinvigorated insurgency in Afghanistan and weighing the potency of its threat to the country's future and American interests in the region. Jones finds the roots of the re-emergence in the expected areas: the deterioration of security after the ousting of the Taliban regime in 2002, the U.S.'s focus on Iraq as its foreign policy priority and Pakistan's role as a haven for insurgents. He revisits Afghan history, specifically the invasions by the British in the mid- and late-19th century and the Russians in the late-20th to rue how little the U.S. has learned from these two previous wars. He sheds light on why Pakistan—a consistent supporter of the Taliban—continues to be a key player in the region's future. Jones makes important arguments for the inclusion of local leaders, particularly in rural regions, but his diligent panorama of the situation fails to consider whether the war in Afghanistan is already lost.
Review
“A useful and generally lively account of what can go wrong when outsiders venture onto the Afghan landscape.” (
* )
“This is a serious work that should be factored in as a new policy in Afghanistan evolves.” (
* )
“Offers a valuable window onto how officials have understood the military campaign.” (
* )
“[An] excellent book.” (
* )
“How we got to where we are in Afghanistan.” (
* )
“[Zeroes] in on what went awry after America’s successful routing of the Taliban in late 2001.” (
* )
“A blueprint for winning in a region that has historically brought mighty armies to their knees.” (
* )
“Seth Jones . . . has an anthropologist’s feel for a foreign society, a historian’s intuition for long-term trends, and a novelist’s eye for the telling details that illuminate a much larger story. If you read just one book about the Taliban, terrorism, and the United States, this is the place to start.” (
* )
“A timely and important work, without peer in terms of both its scholarship and the author’s intimate knowledge of the country, the insurgency threatening it, and the challenges in defeating it.” (
* )
“A deeply researched and well-analyzed account of the failures of American policies in Afghanistan,
will be mandatory reading for policymakers from Washington to Kabul.” (
* )
“Seth Jones has combined forceful narrative with careful analysis, illustrating the causes of this deteriorating situation, and recommending sensible, feasible steps to reverse the escalating violence.” (
* )
“Seth G. Jones’s book provides a vivid sense of just how paltry and misguided the American effort has been.…
will help to show what might still be done to build something enduring in Afghanistan and finally allow the U.S. to go home.” (
* )
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52. Author interview with Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, October 27, 2007.
53. Ibid.
54. Attrition was caused by a number of factors, such as low pay rates and apparent misunderstandings between ANA recruits and the U.S. military. For example, some Afghan soldiers believed they would be taken to the United States for training. On attrition rates, see Securing Afghanistan’s Future: Accomplishments and the Strategic Path Forward, National Army (Kabul: Ministry of Defense, 2004); Capitol Hill Monthly Update, Afghanistan (Washington, DC: United States Department of State, June 2004); Rebuilding Afghanistan (Washington, DC: The White House, 2004). Also, author interviews with U.S. Department of Defense officials, May 2006.
55. Author interview with U.S. Army general involved in police and army training in Afghanistan, January 3, 2008.
56. Author interview with Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak, November 13, 2008.
57. Author interview with Daoud Yaqub, January 2, 2008.
58. “Fighting in Afghanistan Leaves 40 Insurgents Dead,” American Forces Press Service, June 22, 2005.
59. “Coalition Launches ‘Operation Mountain Lion’ in Afghanistan,” American Forces Press Service, April 12, 2006.
60. U.S. Air Force F-15Es, A-10s, and B-52s provided close air support to troops on the ground engaged in rooting out insurgent sanctuaries and support networks. Royal Air Force GR-7s also provided close air support to Coalition troops in contact with enemy forces. U.S. Air Force Global Hawk and Predator aircraft provided intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, while KC-135 and KC-10 aircraft provided refueling support.
61. Neil Chandler and Billy Labrum, “Apache Apocalypse,” Sunday Star (UK), March 16, 2008.
62. Major Robert W. Redding, “19th SF Group Utilizes MCA Missions to Train Afghan National Army Battalions,” Special Warfare, vol. 17, February 2005, pp. 22–27.
63. Afghanistan: Managing Public Finances for Development (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005), p. 24.
64. General Barry R. McCaffrey (ret.), Trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Memorandum from General McCaffrey to Colonel Mike Meese and Colonel Cindy Jebb, United States Military Academy, June 2006.
65. National Ground Intelligence Center, Afghanistan: Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (Charlottesville, VA: U.S. Army, National Ground Intelligence Center, 2004).
66. Amrullah Saleh, Strategy of Insurgents and Terrorists in Afghanistan (Kabul, Afghanistan: National Directorate of Security, 2006), p. 8.
67. Presidential Office of National Security, National Threat Assessment 2004 (Kabul: Presidential Office of National Security, April 2004), p. 5.
68. Author interview with Ambassador Said Jawad, August 24, 2007.
69. Combined Forces Command—Afghanistan, Afghan National Development Poll (Kabul: Combined Forces Command—Afghanistan, 2005), p. 46.
70. International Security Assistance Force, Nationwide Research and Survey on Illegal State Opposing Armed Groups (ISOAGS): Qualitative and Quantitative Surveys (Kabul: International Security Assistance Force, 2006), p. 120.
Chapter Eleven
1. Lieutenant General David W. Barno, Counter-Insurgency Strategy (Kabul, Afghanistan: Combined Forces Command—Afghanistan, 2005), slide 14.
2. World Bank, Afghanistan—State Building, Sustaining Growth, and Reducing Poverty (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005), p. 153.
3. Author interview with Ambassador Ronald Neumann, April 16, 2008.
4. Ibid.
5. The Asia Foundation, Voter Education Planning Survey: Afghanistan 2004 National Elections (Kabul: The Asia Foundation, July 2004), p. 105.
6. The question posed to Afghans was: “What is the biggest problem in your local area?” I combined the similar issues of unemployment, poverty, and poor economy into one category. See The Asia Foundation, Afghanistan in 2006: A Survey of the Afghan People (Kabul: The Asia Foundation, 2006), p. 97.
7. U.S. Department of State, In Their Own Words: Afghan Views of the U.S., Karzai and the Taliban (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, 2006), slides 13 and 16.
8. World Bank, Afghanistan: State Building, p. xxvi.
9. Anne Evans et al., eds., A Guide to Government in Afghanistan (Kabul: World Bank, and Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2004), p. 145.
10. World Bank, Afghanistan: State Building, p. 83.
11. Ibid., p. 86.
12. Ibid., pp. 133–34.
13. Other countries also exported electricity to Afghanistan. In May 2003, Tajikistan resumed supplying electricity to the northern Afghanistan province of Kunduz, although power supplies were expected to halt in October 2003. Iran also supplies electricity to Afghanistan, in some areas directly adjacent to the Afghan-Iranian border in Herat, Farah, and Nimroz Provinces. See, for example, U.S. Department of Energy, Afghanistan Fact Sheet 2004 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, 2004); U.S. Department of Energy, Afghanistan Fact Sheet 2006 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, 2006).
14. Author interview with Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, September 14, 2007.
15. Andrew S. Natsios, “The Nine Principles of Reconstruction and Development,” Parameters, vol. 35, no. 3, Autumn 2005, pp. 4–20.
16. Ron Synovitz, “Afghanistan: Workers Still Await Security Clearance to Repair Kajaki Dam,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, June 12, 2007.
17. Author interview with Michelle Parker, August 15, 2007. She had previously managed the USAID Jalalabad Field Office, where she served as the USAID representative in Nangarhar and Laghman Provinces and as the development lead in the Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team from 2004 to 2006.
18. Author correspondence with Ambassador Ronald Neumann, October 29, 2008.
19. Author interview with Michelle Parker, August 15, 2007.
20. Author interview with senior official, Canadian International Development Agency, Kandahar, Afghanistan, January 14, 2007.
21. Combined Forces Command—Afghanistan, ANSF Operational Primacy Process Planning Group (Kabul, Afghanistan: Combined Forces Command—Afghanistan, June 2006), slide 16.
22. Combined Forces Command—Afghanistan, Update to LTG Eikenberry: ANSF Operational Primacy Process Planning Group IPR #3 (Kabul, Afghanistan: Combined Forces Command—Afghanistan, July 15, 2006), slide 10.
23. Joint Center for Operational Analysis, Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan: An Interagency Assessment (Suffolk, VA: U.S. Department of Defense, Joint Center for Operational Analysis, 2006), p. 12.
24. Author interviews with senior U.S. Defense Department official with knowledge of the assessment, August 21 and October 4, 2007.
25. Denis D. Gray, “Afghan Village ‘On the Fence,’” Washington Times, April 30, 2007, p. 12.
26. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA Assessment of the Effects of the Musa Qala Agreement (Kabul: United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, January 2007), p. 3.
27. Author interview with Michael Semple, September 14, 2007.
28. Author interviews with Shahmahmood Miakhel, and August 29 and September 14, 2007.
29. Author interviews with Royal Canadian Mounted Police and U.S. police trainers, Kandahar, Afghanistan, September 18, 2007.
30. Joint Paper by the Government of Afghanistan, UNAMA, CFC—A, ISAF, Canada, Netherlands, UK, and U.S. Governments, Assessment of Factors Contributing to Insecurity in Afghanistan (Kabul: Government of Afghanistan, 2006), p. 3.
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