Customer Reviews

Battlefield Afghanistan

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Currently the only book on the market that gives you a total overview of what has been going on in Afghanistan in recent times.

The author also offers his views and opinions on current tactics and techniques currently being employed - and compares them against those developed and practised by the Russians.

If you are going to be sent out to Afghanistan on operations you should read it, as it provides a good take on the way in which events are shaping up in this troubled country.

The book starts with a brief history of the Soviet invasion of the 1980's that leads into the rise of the Taliban. The book points out that most Afghans perceive the Taliban as invaders as well, since they originated in Pakistan. This is a key difference between them and the Mujahideen that fought the Soviets. The tribal politics of the area complicates things, since allegiances constantly shift due to the changing strategic situation. Basically, people don't want to back the wrong horse.

The next chapter talks about the Northern Alliance and the initial defeat of the Taliban in 2001 and 2002. The tragic bit here is that the coalition really had the Taliban on the ropes, but didn't deliver a knockout blow due to the shift in focus to Iraq. It also describes some of the early operations, included a brief overview of the mess that was Operation Anaconda. Actually, I'm being a bit harsh. Tactically, Anaconda was a success in the sense that the Coalition forces killed a lot of Taliban and Al Quaeda fighters. Strategically, it was a failure since the high value targets, OBL and Mullah Omar, escaped. The plan was also terribly executed.

The meat of the book discusses the tactics and weapons involved, as well as short vignettes describing various engagements. The author is British, and goes into a lot of detail about the British operations in Helmand province. The Coalition never had enough troops to take and hold areas, so they relied upon raids and establishing various outposts with mixed results. They did kill a lot of Taliban, but they essentially lost control of areas once the troops withdrew. One interesting story involved Royal Marines that were buckled onto the side of Apache helicopters to accomplish an extraction mission. Those guys had some gumption, thats for sure!

The book was written in 2007, so it doesn't contain any recent details, especially the increase used of UAV drone attacks. The book tries to be apolitical, describing facts on the ground and ignoring politics back home. I believe the author supports the mission there, but he really only touches on it in his conclusion.

Overall, I thought it was an interesting book. While slightly out of date, the basic tactics described in the book are still used today. Its definitely a worthwhile read if you have any interest in the subject.

This being about the 50th book on the area, including the current situation, I found it interesting reading. A classic? Let each person decide.