Karzai: The Failing American Intervention and the Struggle for Afghanistan [Hardcover]

Nick B. Mills (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2007

The untold story of Hamid Karzai's dramatic rise to the presidency of Afghanistan and the problems he and his country face

In 2004, Hamid Karzai was elected president in Afghanistan's first-ever democratic election. Today, criticized for indecisiveness and targeted for assassination by extremists, President Karzai struggles to build on the country's modest post-Taliban achievements before civil unrest undermines his government.

Now, author Nick Mills draws on months of candid personal interviews with the charismatic Afghan president to offer a revealing portrait of the figure known to millions by his familiar uniform of karakul cap and long green chappan. Timely and compelling, Karzai tells the fascinating story of a unique leader with a keen intellect, a natural gift for storytelling, and a presidency in peril.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

In the fall of 2001, as Hamid Karzai and a small group of soldiers faced a grueling trek in the Afghan mountains in the quest to overthrow the Taliban, life or death hinged on two things: the centuries-old wisdom of a local guide and the dwindling battery life of a twenty-first-century satellite phone. Like his country, Karzai stood at a crossroads where success would depend on embracing the rich history and diverse traditions of Afghan culture while skillfully managing the promises and perils of a modern outside world with powerful interests of its own.

Today, as president of Afghanistan, Karzai and his nation are still at a crossroads as they struggle to develop a peaceful, stable, and democratic country in the face of tremendous logistical, political, and security challenges. Karzai shares the never-before-told personal story of this charismatic Afghan leader, offering a unique and intimate portrait of the man, his life, his leadership, and his country's difficulties.

Author Nick Mills, who first met Karzai in the 1980s, draws on his in-depth knowledge of Afghanistan and months of exclusive personal interviews with President Karzai in the Gulkhana Palace in Kabul to take a balanced and insightful look at Karzai's dramatic journey from his birth as the son of a Pashtun tribal chief to the presidency of Afghanistan at one of recent history's most dramatic moments. The book reveals how Karzai's early years in Karz and Kabul with his prominent—but not wealthy—family, his fluency in languages (Pashtu, Dari, and English), and his university education in India all played a role in helping him develop the diplomatic skill and multicultural perspective that have informed his work in the Afghan National Liberation Front against the Soviets and later the Taliban, as well as his dealings with U.S. government officials, world leaders, and the drug lords and Islamic extremists who now threaten him and his country.

President Karzai's story sheds light on the Afghan cultural tradition of the loya jirga (grand assembly) and the competitive sport of buzkashi, which do much to explain his consensus-based approach to government and perceived reluctance to tackle certain problems, including the growing power of the Afghan drug trade, head on. It also reveals what he views as a steadfast commitment to safeguarding the history and culture of his country from further destruction at the hands of outsiders, such as those who infiltrated the Taliban movement that oversaw systematic killings of Afghan leaders—including Karzai's own father—and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

While President Karzai is known for a typically measured and moderate style, he doesn't mince words in taking the West to task for its cooperation with extremist Muslim groups of the jihad in the 1980s and for the ramifications of failed U.S. intervention today. He issues an urgent warning to the West not to abandon Afghanistan again, as it did after the Soviet withdrawal, or "the same terrible drama of death and destruction will take the stage again."

From the Back Cover

The untold story of Hamid Karzai's dramatic rise to the presidency of Afghanistan and the problems he and his country face

In 2004, Hamid Karzai was elected president in Afghanistan's first-ever democratic election. Today, criticized for indecisiveness and targeted for assassination by extremists, President Karzai struggles to build on the country's modest post-Taliban achievements before civil unrest undermines his government.

Now, author Nick Mills draws on months of candid personal interviews with the charismatic Afghan president to offer a revealing portrait of the figure known to millions by his familiar uniform of karakul cap and long green chappan. Timely and compelling, Karzai tells the fascinating story of a unique leader with a keen intellect, a natural gift for storytelling, and a presidency in peril.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470134003
• ISBN-13: 978-0470134009
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 0.9 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,572,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Karzai on Karzai. Not much objectivity., April 13, 2008

By 

Arif Rafiq "Editor, PakistanPolicy.com" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Karzai: The Failing American Intervention and the Struggle for Afghanistan (Hardcover)

This is a decent book about a decent man. But rather than providing any penetrating analysis of the leader of one of the world's most volatile and critical states, Nick Mills provides a sugar-coated and overly simplistic story, reducing its utility significantly.

The perspective provided is effectively Hamid Karzai on Hamid Karzai. The text is based in quotes from the author's interviews with Karzai followed by some supporting paragraphs from the author. Mills seems to have spoke with no one but Karzai. He does not quote Karzai's family, friends, aides, associates, rivals, or critics. The book, published in the fifth year of Karzai's rule over Afghanistan, does not provide the reader with any insight into the complexity of Karzai, his internal conflicts and perhaps contradictions.

There are glaring omissions regarding Karzai's life:

- The reader is provided a cursory mentioning of Karzai's long-standing relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency. A deeper study of Karzai's ties with U.S. intelligence in the 1980s (and perhaps more importantly in the 1990s) would be beneficial.

- Karzai's break with the Taliban is presented to be too clean and neat. Alternative sources suggest otherwise.

- Mills fails to look at Karzai's close partnership with Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan American and former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan under Karzai. Khalilzad, in other sources, is reported to have spoken with Karzai twice-daily and effectively set Karzai's agenda (serving, in a sense, as a de facto chief of staff). Moreover, their relationship goes back to the 1980s to the Afghan jihad and Khalizad is alleged by some to have been instrumental in securing Karzai's election as president. Their friendship is an important story untold.

- Mills asks no questions regarding allegations of Karzai's relationship with foreign oil companies that, at the very least, reached out to the Taliban.

- There's no discussion of the allegations that Karzai's brother, Wali, is involved in the drug trade.

A critical analysis of the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan only comes at the end, in the book's epilogue. We see some criticism of Afghan culture, even from Karzai. And that's helpful, but very weak. Karzai's Afghan nationalism is admirable. It's very much what his country needs. But all too often he blames foreigners for his country's problems. And while that might stir up Afghan nationalism, it won't help the landlocked gain peace with its neighbors.

Finally, there are a few errors in the text. Balochistan is erroneously described as being part of Pakistan's tribal areas (pp.52). It's actually one of its four provinces. Also, a quote from Karzai gives the impression that the drug trade flourished under the Taliban. The group actually significantly reduced opium cultivation. The opposite can be said for Karzai's government. Indeed, many of its officials (ranging from low to senior level) benefit from the drug trade.

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Effort., August 29, 2008

By 

Lemuel R. Myers - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Karzai: The Failing American Intervention and the Struggle for Afghanistan (Hardcover)

While the book does a good job setting the stage on the man known as Karzai, it would have been nice to be exposed to some of the other relationships he has with the folks he currently has running the country.

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing on all levels, October 16, 2007

By 

SBMCAT "sbmcat" (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karzai: The Failing American Intervention and the Struggle for Afghanistan (Hardcover)

This book gives the reader an honest look at the levels of intrigue that exist when the U.S. tries to "promote democracy" on foreign soil. It also gives a wonderful portrait of a leader who is trying to maintain the integrity of his nation against incredible odds. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the politics of the war on terror and for anyone who has already forgotten that the war on terror began in Afghanistan. At times the book sweeps the reader up in stories that could be in a thrilling action/adventure novel -- but remember: this is real and current history in the making.