Ghost Wars

Finished Ghost Wars, by Steve Coll, last night. Basically, it's the history of Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion in 1979 until September 10th, 2001. A large part of that history has been the CIA's involvement. It was sometimes a difficult read, as there were many players, but I stuck with it and found parts of it fascinating. For example, after Iraq invated Kuwait, a young Saudi named Osama bin Laden went to the Saudi leadership and offered himself to lead an uprising--against Iraq. Also, after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the U.S. were initially warm to them, because they weren't communist.

Coll does a good job of making a potentially dry subject lively, though I admit I sometimes would read a page and realize I hadn't absorbed any of it. He is fair in assigning blame to all of the Presidents who were in office during the time period. Bush the first paid no attention to Afghanistan. Clinton came close to ordering strikes to kill bin Laden, but worried about killing civilians, as it was during his impeachment and he didn't need any further bad press. In the summer of 2001, there were warnings all over the place that al Qaeda was going to strike in the U.S., possibly with hijacked planes. Mistakes came from all around.

What most inspired me in reading the book is that it further provoked a budding interest in Middle East history. If I were a kid going into college now, I'd be tempted to study Middle or Near East Studies. I think it's important that the West understand the very complex dynamics of the region and Islam in general. (Shiite or Sunni? What's the difference?) I hope to read more about the subject.