From a beloved former NPR reporter comes a news-breaking eyewitness account of how the U.S. government and armed forces allowed, and even abetted, the tragic return to violent warlordism in Afghanistan following the defeat of the Taliban.
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From a beloved former NPR reporter comes a news-breaking eyewitness account of how the U.S. government and armed forces allowed, and even abetted, the tragic return to violent warlordism in Afghanistan following the defeat of the Taliban.
Read Less
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. With remainder mark. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included.
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Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1594200963. Very Good overall condition. Fading (sunning) to cover edges. No other noteworthy defects. No markings.; B&W Photographs; 386 pages.
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Like New. Size: 6x1x9; *Autographed by author. * Hardcover and dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Clean, unmarked pages. Dust jacket in protective mylar cover.
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Seller's Description:
Very good in very good dust jacket. Signed by author. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 386 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Near Fine/Near Fine. Aug 2006 hardcover 1st edition 1st printing with full number line inscribed (which always means to a particular person), first name only, by the author on the half title page. A hint of soil and denting to dj, top front corner a little bumped, else fine.
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Jeffrey L. Ward (Maps) Very good in Very good jacket. [12], 386, [2] pages. Maps. Illustrations. Notes. Index. An NPR correspondent presents an account of the return to the violence and corruption of warlord activity in Afghanistan after the displacement of the Taliban, revealing how the U.S. government assisted the return of corrupt militia commanders to the country. Sarah Chayes (born March 5, 1962) is a former senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former reporter for National Public Radio, she also served as special advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After covering the fall of the Taliban and the early weeks of post-Taliban Afghanistan, in 2002 Chayes decided to leave reporting and stay behind to try to contribute to the rebuilding of the war-torn country. Chayes lived in Kandahar, Afghanistan from 2002 to 2009. Having learned to speak Pashto, she helped rebuild homes and set up a dairy cooperative. In 2010, Chayes became a special adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen. In this capacity, she contributed to strategic US policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Arab Spring. Sarah Chayes is a senior fellow in Carnegie's Democracy and Rule of Law program. ] At Carnegie, Chayes has launched a corruption and security initiative, which analyzes the structure of kleptocratic governments around the world, the other risk factors with which public corruption is interacting in specific countries, the likelihood of a significant security event resulting, and potential approaches available to different local and international actors. Derived from a Kirkus review: A tale of good guys and bad guys in the Wild West of Afghanistan-save that "good" and "bad" are strangely fluid notions. Chayes, a onetime NPR correspondent, takes an anthropologist's and historian's view to explain how America got it so wrong following the post-9/11 invasion, and she is not shy of asking hard questions to make her point. For one, she asks, "Do we, as American citizens, wish to have the bulk of our foreign policy conducted by the Department of Defense? " United States military officers are doing just such work in Afghanistan, guided by supposed insiders who have axes to grind and enemies to dispatch-the very people, she adds, who convinced the Western press corps that U.S. -backed militias were fighting and winning desperate battles with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Sometimes they were; mostly they weren't, though that didn't keep dollars from flowing. Chayes served as a lecturer and informal advisor to American forces, and in that capacity, she has urged them to do a better job of backing the right horses, such as an anti-Taliban friend of hers, a police commander killed by a suicide bomber for his troubles. But finding those horses is a challenge, for the convenient designations do not apply, and in all events, Chayes writes, the Taliban enemy were in essence a creation of Pakistan, meant to serve its narrow regional interests, "pressing into service ambitious petty commanders from the anti-Soviet period and uprooted, madrassa-inculcated youth from the refugee camps." And indeed, some of the Taliban she meets surely seem preferable to some of their supposed opponents, including one corrupt governor who emerges from these pages as the worst of a very mixed lot. Absorbing reading-necessary, even, for anyone posted to a place where our performance "will determine where a lot of people come down on the clash of civilizations.".
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Like New in Like New jacket. First Edition, First Printing (Full Number Line). Not price-clipped ($25.95 price intact). Published by The Penguin Press, 2006. Octavo. Turquoise cloth over gray boards stamped in black. Book is like new; clean with no writing or names. Sharp corners and spine straight. Binding tight and pages crisp. Dust jacket is like new with light shelf wear. 386 pages. ISBN: 1594200963. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Southampton, New York.
An exceptional assessment of post 9/11 Afghanistan
If your thinking about buying this book, do yourself a favor, BUY IT! Regardless of your motives, this book is worth reading. Sarah Chayes has produced a revealing and intelligent Occidental glimpse into post 9/11 Afghanistan. Chayes experiences reporting for NPR and her experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco has given her the deft to negotiate the notoriously suspicious and misogynistic culture that permeates the Middle East. She is an observant and adept diplomat who does not mince words or appear to be beholden to any government agency or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Afghanistan, Chayes observes, is ?an entire nation comprised of generations suffering the effects of PTSD.? I had never considered such a possibility and if Americans realized this concept, perhaps we could be a bit more productive in our re-construction and social efforts. For the military, Chayes?s analysis of the county?s centuries old ?yaghistan reflex,? which has salvaged generations of Afghans from raiding empires is both brilliant and of important note. Chayes also reveals the not-so-subtle influences of Pakistan on Afghan political and social instability. This is all wound around the story of Chayes?s experiences and her brief but telling assessment of Afghan history. Chayes includes a perceptive and frank quote by one of her associates, Ayse Yildiz, that could surmise the situation there at least as much as the book?s title, ?Here we are, a bunch of kids from dysfunctional families, working at a dysfunctional organization, trying to fix a dysfunctional country.? REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ.
MFEC
May 26, 2007
If Afghanistan intrigues you, read this!
Sarah Chayes is an extraordinary woman. I knew of her before I bought the book - first, through her NYT blog a year ago, then through Google. For anyone who is concerned or involved in Afghanistan currently, this is an important book. It will open your eyes to the politics that push and pull this country. It is also well written and moving. When I finished it, I immediately lent it to an advisor who is leading a capacity building project here. To Sarah, her soap cooperative, and her sincere attempts to help Afghanistan, Godspeed!
