Download or read book Waging War in Waziristan written by Andrew M. Roe and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A career soldier with on-the-ground experience presents a gripping history of the imperial British experience in Waziristan, a remote area of Pakistan. Distills the hard-earned British experience and offers some potentially useful lessons for the West and its current troubles in the same region--once described as the "epicenter of terrorism" and reputedly the hiding place of Osama bin Laden.
Download or read book First Casualty written by Toby Harnden and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An award-winning journalist reveals the dramatic true story of the CIA's Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11. America is reeling; Al-Qaeda has struck and thousands are dead. The country scrambles to respond, but the Pentagon has no plan for Afghanistan—where Osama bin Laden masterminded the attack and is protected by the Taliban. Instead, the CIA steps forward to spearhead the war. Eight CIA officers are dropped into the mountains of northern Afghanistan on October 17, 2001. They are Team Alpha, an eclectic band of linguists, tribal experts, and elite warriors: the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory. Their covert mission is to track down Al- Qaeda and stop the terrorists from infiltrating the United States again. First Casualty places you with Team Alpha as the CIA rides into battle on horseback alongside the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. In Washington, DC, few trust that the CIA men, the Green Berets, and the Americans’ outnumbered Afghan allies can prevail before winter sets in. On the ground, Team Alpha is undeterred. The Taliban is routed but hatches a plot with Al-Qaeda to hit back. Hundreds of suicidal fighters, many hiding weapons, fake a surrender and are transported to Qala-i Jangi—the “Fort of War.” Team Alpha’s Mike Spann, an ex-Marine, and David Tyson, a polyglot former Central Asian studies academic, seize America’s initial opportunity to extract intelligence from men trained by bin Laden—among them a young Muslim convert from California. The prisoners revolt and one CIA officer falls—the first casualty in America’s longest war, which will last two decades. The other CIA man shoots dead the Al-Qaeda jihadists attacking his comrade. To survive, he must fight his way out against overwhelming odds. Award-winning author Toby Harnden gained unprecedented access to all living Team Alpha members and every level of the CIA. Superbly researched, First Casualty draws on extensive interviews, secret documents, and deep reporting inside Afghanistan. As gripping as any adventure novel, yet intimate and profoundly moving, it tells how America found a winning strategy only to abandon it. Harnden reveals that the lessons of early victory and the haunting foretelling it contained—unreliable allies, ethnic rivalries, suicide attacks, and errant US bombs—were ignored, tragically fueling a twenty-year conflict. "Masterful, complex, and heartfelt, from the deeply personal to the critically strategic. Captures many lessons on many levels." —Ambassador Hank Crumpton, former senior CIA officer
Download or read book War and Society in Afghanistan written by Kaushik Roy and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-02-12 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph analyses the rhythms of war and the geopolitical significance of Afghanistan with a focus on the interrelated concepts of weak/rentier state, great power rivalry, and counter-insurgency. It analyses why the Mughals, the British, the Soviets, and the Americans won the conventional wars in Afghanistan but were defeated in the unconventional ones. It takes a comprehensive view of the history of the region and provides a political and military narrative of conventional and unconventional war in Afghanistan during the last five centuries. It, therefore, covers wide ranging aspects such as empire building and military operations in Afghanistan in the pre-modern period, regular and irregular warfare in Afghanistan during the British era, the Russian intervention and the emergence of the fragile 'rentier state' after the world war, and the American and NATO activities and the nature of on-going war in light of the recent debates on the changing character of war in the twenty-first century. With a special emphasis on ecology, terrain, and logistics, this book explores the trajectory of state building and contextualizes the Afghan 'problem' as part of the wider struggle among the great powers for controlling the 'heart' of Eurasia.
Download or read book War Will and Warlords written by and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compares the reasons for and the responses to the insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan since October 2001. Also examines the lack of security and the support of insurgent groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the 1970s that explain the rise of the Pakistan-supported Taliban. Explores the border tribal areas between the two countries and how they influence regional stability and U.S. security. Explains the implications of what happened during this 10-year period to provide candid insights on the prospects and risks associated with bringing a durable stability to this area of the world.
Download or read book Afghanistan and the Defence of Empire written by Christopher M. Wyatt and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-02-20 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the height of the 'Great Game' in Central Asia, in the run up to World War I and the aftermath of the second Afghan War, the region of Afghanistan became particularly significant for both Great Britain and Russia. Afghanistan and the Defence of Empire explores the relationship between British and Afghan rulers, during the crucial period of the reign of Amir Habibullah Khan, as the British sought to safeguard their Indian Empire from the threat of Imperial Russia. With Russia's defeat at the hands of the Japanese in 1905 and the rise of Germany as a superpower, the need to end the rivalry took on the utmost importance: efforts which culminated in the singing of the Anglo-Russian Convention in 1907. As the history of Afghanistan becomes ever more crucial for the understanding of its present military and political situation, this book will be of vital interest for students of History, Central Asian Studies, Military History and International Relations.
Download or read book Frontiers Insurgencies and Counter Insurgencies in South Asia written by Kaushik Roy and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2020-11-29 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book uses cross-cultural analysis across Eurasia and Afro-Asia to trace the roots of contemporary border disputes and insurgencies in South Asia. It discusses the way frontiers of British India, and consequently the modern states of India and Pakistan, were drafted through negotiations backed up by organized violence, showing how this conce
Download or read book Borderless Wars written by Antonia Chayes and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-08-25 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2011, Nasser Al-Awlaki, a terrorist on the US 'kill list' in Yemen, was targeted by the CIA. A week later, a military strike killed his son. The following year, the US Ambassador to Pakistan resigned, undermined by CIA-conducted drone strikes of which he had no knowledge or control. The demands of the new, borderless 'gray area' conflict have cast civilians and military into unaccustomed roles with inadequate legal underpinning. As the Department of Homeland Security defends against cyber threats and civilian contractors work in paramilitary roles abroad, the legal boundaries of war demand to be outlined. In this book, former Under Secretary of the Air Force Antonia Chayes examines these new 'gray areas' in counterinsurgency, counter-terrorism and cyber warfare. Her innovative solutions for role definition and transparency will establish new guidelines in a rapidly evolving military-legal environment.
Download or read book Not War Not Peace written by George Perkovich and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-04 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mumbai blasts of 1993, the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, Mumbai 26/11—cross-border terrorism has continued unabated. What can India do to motivate Pakistan to do more to prevent such attacks? In the nuclear times that we live in, where a military counter-attack could escalate to destruction beyond imagination, overt warfare is clearly not an option. But since outright peace-making seems similarly infeasible, what combination of coercive pressure and bargaining could lead to peace? The authors provide, for the first time, a comprehensive assessment of the violent and non-violent options available to India for compelling Pakistan to take concrete steps towards curbing terrorism originating in its homeland. They draw on extensive interviews with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, in service and retired, to explore the challenges involved in compellence and to show how non-violent coercion combined with clarity on the economic, social and reputational costs of terrorism can better motivate Pakistan to pacify groups involved in cross-border terrorism. Not War, Not Peace? goes beyond the much discussed theories of nuclear deterrence and counterterrorism strategy to explore a new approach to resolving old conflicts.
Download or read book Armed Forces and Insurgents in Modern Asia written by Kaushik Roy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume traces the historical roots and evolution of insurgencies and counter-insurgencies in modern Asia. Focusing on armed rebellions and use of armed forces by both Western powers and indigenous states from the nineteenth century till present day, the volume unravels the problematic of change–continuity and addresses key questions on the nature of warfare. The book looks at eight different regions of Asia: US counter-insurgencies in Philippines; the British initiative in Indonesia and independent Indonesia’s counter-insurgency against its domestic populace; post-World War II Malaya; French and US war in Vietnam; British and Indian counter-insurgencies in North-East India between the nineteenth and early twenty-first century; Indian and Sri Lankan operations in Sri Lanka during late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries; British and US-NATO war in Afghanistan from the nineteenth century till 2014; and British and US counter-insurgency in Iraq during the twentieth and first two decades of the twenty-first centuries. The volume will greatly interest scholars and researchers of modern Asian history, military and strategic studies, politics and international relations as well as government institutions and think-tanks.
Download or read book Review of Current Military Literature written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Indian Army in the Two World Wars written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-10-14 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no single volume which covers the Indian Army’s experiences during the two World Wars. And this is what the present edited volume attempts to do. This collection of 17 essays analyze the army as an institution and also touch upon the cultural ethos of the army and related social issues. Thus, this edited volume is a cross between ‘traditional military history’ (study of campaigns, tactics, leadership) and ‘new military history’ (impact of warfare on society and culture). While some of the essays take a pan Indian perspective, a few essays also focus on those regions within India (like Punjab) which were intimately related with the army. A few contributors also turn the spotlight on the overseas theatres like Mesopotamia, France and Burma, where the Indian Army played a very important role. Contributors are Alan Jeffreys, Andrew Syk, Daniel Marston, David Kenyon, Dennis Showalter, Gajendra Singh, Gavin Rand, James Kitchen, Nick Lloyd, Nikolas Gardner, Rajit K. Mazumder, Raymond Callahan, Rob Johnson, Ross Anderson, Tarak Barkawi and Tim Moreman.
Download or read book The Thistle and the Drone written by Akbar S. Ahmed and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that the campaigns that fall under "The War on Terror" have exacerbated the already-broken relationship between central Islamic governments and the tribal societies within their borders.
Download or read book Sudden Justice written by Chris Woods and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-04-15 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Less than a month after the September 11th attacks, a tiny, CIA-controlled Predator drone flew over Kandahar, searching out the home of the Taliban supreme commander Mullah Mohammed Omar. A lack of understanding of the drone's capabilities combined with a messy chain of command allowed Omar to escape, but the strike on a nearby convoy vehicle became the Predator's first lethal action. Since then, the use of armed drones has become the dominant American way of war. In Sudden Justice, award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods explores the secretive history of the United States' use of armed drones and their key role not only on today's battlefields, but also in a covert targeted killing project that has led to the deaths of thousands. The CIA nurtured and developed drones before the War on Terror ever began, seeking a platform from which it could monitor its targets and act lethally and instantly on the intelligence it gathered. Since then, remotely piloted aircraft have played a critical role in America's global counter-terrorism operations and have been deployed to devastating effect in conventional wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. Drone crews, analysts, intelligence officials and military commanders all speak frankly to the author about how armed drones revolutionized warfare--and the unexpected costs to some of those involved. But there is another, secret war--one in which drones scour the skies of Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia in search of militant and terrorist targets. The American government insists that this hidden war is legal. The CIA even claims that its armed drones are "the most precise weapon ever invented," so perfect that civilians are no longer killed. Sudden Justice describes the reality of this secret drone war, one in which hundreds of civilians have died, and the wider strategic interests of the United States may have been jeopardized. The ability to target its enemies from the safety of headquarters thousands of miles from the battlefield has profound implications for how America conducts its foreign policy, and for how it is seen in the world. As the first book to comprehensively assemble and analyze the facts about the U.S. drone program, Sudden Justice is the essential guide for understanding its implications.
Download or read book Professional Journal of the United States Army written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia written by Shanthie D'Souza and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-01-08 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of case studies examines the rise in violent extremism, terrorism and insurgency in South and South East Asia, and subsequent state responses. The South and South East of Asia has experienced various forms of extremism and violence for years, with a growing demand for academic or policy-relevant work that will enhance understanding of the reasons behind this. The violent challenges in this area have taken a variety of forms and are often exacerbated by lack of governance, tie-ins to existing regional criminal networks, colonial legacies and a presence of international terrorist movements. Written by experts with field experience, this volume analyzes the key element of successful response as the appropriate application of doctrine following nuanced assessment of threat. In practice, this often means counterinsurgency doctrine. The essays also analyze the need for irregular war practitioners to systematically examine the changing character of intrastate violent irregular challenges. The volume fills a gap in the understanding of patterns, drivers, organizations and ideologies of various insurgent and terrorist groups, and state responses. It also provides a set of recommendations for addressing the unfolding situation. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, Asian politics and security studies in general.
Download or read book Imagining Afghanistan written by Nivi Manchanda and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-09 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over time and across different genres, Afghanistan has been presented to the world as potential ally, dangerous enemy, gendered space, and mysterious locale. These powerful, if competing, visions seek to make sense of Afghanistan and to render it legible. In this innovative examination, Nivi Manchanda uncovers and critically explores Anglophone practices of knowledge cultivation and representational strategies, and argues that Afghanistan occupies a distinctive place in the imperial imagination: over-determined and under-theorised, owing largely to the particular history of imperial intervention in the region. Focusing on representations of gender, state and tribes, Manchanda re-historicises and de-mythologises the study of Afghanistan through a sustained critique of colonial forms of knowing and demonstrates how the development of pervasive tropes in Western conceptions of Afghanistan have enabled Western intervention, invasion and bombing in the region from the nineteenth century to the present.
