Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Ghost Wars - the secret history of CIA, ISI, Afghanistan and bin Laden

To understand why Pakistan is the ground zero of terror today, as Indian defense minister AK Anthony mentioned, you have to go back 30 years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan or read "Ghost Wars".
This is just a BRILLIANTLY researched book by Steve Coll... a detailed account of how the CIA created the bin Laden monster via their partner in crime, the ISI of Pakistan.

It is a long book and patience is needed to go through it, but it reads like a thriller.
How the US/Pak wanted to beat back the Soviets, how they supplied arms and billions of dollars to the Afghan militants, and how the monster created to bleed the Soviet Red Army slowly turned on its masters once it had eaten through the Soviets.

India needs to learn the lessons on what goes on "behind the scenes" and how covert action can take place to further national interests. I don't blame the CIA or even the Pak army / ISI from doing what they did. The Soviet threat was real and immediate. Pakistan wanted a strategic depth in Afghan and almost got their wish with the Taliban, but they miscalculated the jihad monster that they thought they could control and use against India in Kashmir.

As for the Americans, maybe their mistake was in not finishing the job and creating a stable political solution for Afghanistan, once the military objectives were met.

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