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Mohammad Yousaf

Afghanistan: The Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower Hardcover – November 25, 2008

by Mark Adkin (Author), Mohammad Yousaf (Author)

51 ratings

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How did the horrendous situation in Afghanistan, with all its implications for recent events and the present time, come to pass? What was the role of the CIA and Pakistani intelligence in the creation of what became the Taliban? What are the implications for the future and lessons from the past for American forces today?

This highly controversial book reveals one of the greatest military, political and financial secrets of recent times. It is nothing less than the true, if fantastic, account of how Pakistan and the USA covertly controlled the largest guerrilla war of the 20th Century, dealing to the Soviet Russian presence in Afghanistan a military defeat that has come to be called 'Russia's Vietnam'.

This compelling book, put together with great skill by the military author, Mark Adkin, is essential reading for anyone interested in the truth behind the Soviets' Vietnam, and the reasons why, to this day, the war in Afghanistan still drags on despite the victory that the Mujahideen were denied when the Soviets withdrew.

Print length

244 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Casemate
Publication date

November 25, 2008
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0971170924
ISBN-13

978-0971170926
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Major Mark Adkin was commissioned into The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment in 1956 and served with it and The Royal Anglian Regiment in Germany, Malaya, Mauritius and Aden. On leaving the British Army he joined the Overseas Civil Service and was posted to the Solomon Islands. Transferred to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, he was one of the last British District Officers anywhere in the world.

His final overseas post was as a contract officer for five years with the Barbados Defence Force, and it was as the Caribbean operations staff officer that he participated in the US invasion of Grenada in 1983. He now lives in Bedford.

Brigadier Mohammed Yousaf was born in 1937 and was commissioned as an infantry officer into the Frontier Defence Force Regiment of the Pakistan Army in 1961. Subsequently his career took him through the usual sequence of command and staff appointments, including active service against India. He also attended the Command and Staff College at Quetta and the National Defence College at Rawalpindi. While commanding and infantry bridge he was selected by the Director of the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) to head its Afghan Bureau, a post he help from 1983 to 1987, until he resigned as a matter of principle and left the Army. During these four years he was responsible for training, and operational planning of the Mujahideen inside Afghanistan and later inside the Soviet Union.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Casemate; 1St Edition (November 25, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0971170924
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0971170926
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,792,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #387 in Canadian Military History
- #481 in Central Asia History
- #2,660 in Intelligence & Espionage History

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Top reviews from the United States

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johnmurphy

WAR FROM THE PAKISTANI SIDE OF THE HILL

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2022

Verified Purchase

Afghanistan: The Bear Trap, The Defeat of A Superpower is a unique look at the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the fierce war that followed it. It is written by the Pakistani General Mohammad Yousaf, assisted by the British Army veteran and author Mark Adkin. In General Yousaf's account, you get a perspective that I have not found in any of the several books on the Afghan War that I have read, and subsequently reviewed for Amazon.com. It is a truly frank account by a man who tells his story irrespective of who likes it and who does not. General Yousaf was, more than any other Pakistani officer, intimately involved in the training and the operations of the army of the Afghan mujahideen, "the soldiers of the Faith," who left their families and their small farms to take on, and with Pakistani help, fight the Russians for nine bitter years. The Atlantic Monthly noted in an article by Alan Taylor on August 4, 2014, that "in the brutal nine-year conflict, an estimated one million civilians were killed, as well as 90,000 Mujahideen fighters, 18,000 Afghan troops [who the Russians supported in the conflict], and 14,500 Soviet-Russian soldiers." While you may not agree with all General Yousaf's conclusions, his book is written with a visceral intensity that dramatically commands your attention--truly a book to be read on the Soviet-Afghan war. Cheers, Professor John F Murphy

Helpful

M. Shukla

Single dimensioned point of view

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

Single dimension rendition of the Afghan war. I would have expected a broader view.

One person found this helpful

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Paul M. Livingston

Excellent background on the Afghan situation

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

Provides a different perspective and some not readily available background on how we got into the mess in Afghanistan going back to before the Soviet occupation. A good read if you are interesting in history

2 people found this helpful

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H. Ingram

Well known and well reputed history of the Soviet occupation period of Afghanistan

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2015

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It was about what I'd heard and expected.
A thorough history of the mujahedin experiences in Afghanistan facing the Soviet Army and Soviet-backed Afghan Communist government forces.

2 people found this helpful

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Glanton

Best book on Unconventional Warfare ever written

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

If you are wondering if/why Pakistan still supports Taliban in Afghanistan, this book lays out the growth and development of those linkages. A lot of insight into the challenges of running a UW campaign, or simply operating in Af/Pak. First hand account of the CIA living to their namesake, Clowns In Action.

One person found this helpful

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D. Chapman

Pay no attention to that Man behind the Curtain

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2002

This is one hell of a book. It goes into a lot
more detail than most people want regarding
covert operations against the Soviets during
the Afghanistan war. The descriptions of the
CIA's efforts to obtain deniable armaments is
tragedy mixed with comedy. Checkbook war-fighting
doesn't work very well.
The most interesting thing I found in the book was
the description of the failures of the SAM-7 and
blowpipe missiles to bring down Soviet helicopters,
followed by the success of the Stingers. In the
book, Stingers are described as having IFF, which
makes them incapable of shooting down American
military aircraft. Perhaps this is true. If it's
not true, why would a book published 10 years ago
make an offhand claim like that?
The story of how the war ended is disturbingly
familiar to those who watched the end of the Gulf War.
Because we preferred anarchy over a fundamentalist
government, the US betrayed the mujahadeen as soon
as the Soviets left the country. After five more
years of civil war, the fundamentalists took over, anyway.
There are lots of other tidbits, and the overall
effect is to bring things into focus. It's not a
pretty picture. You can see why the various governments
involved didn't really want this book published.
After September 11, it is more relevant than ever.

26 people found this helpful

Helpful

M.P. Arsenault

Interesting but limted in scope

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2005

It seems that most authors writing on the conflict between the Mujahideen and the Soviets choose their favorite guerilla leader and pay tribute to him alone. Too often this leaves a substantial gap in the grander scheme of the Afghan war. Mohammad Yousaf is no exception.

Being the head of the Afghan bureau of the ISI, Yousaf seems to have been in close contact with Gal Badin Hekmatyar and places the chieftan in high regards. However, Hekmatyar has been equally labeled a guerilla mastermind and a cowardly schemer. Yousaf fails to acknowledge the more unflattering aspects of Hekmatyar's reputation or spends much time discussing other commanders like Abdul Haq and Ahmed Shah Massod.

However, Yousaf does provide a very enlightening discussion of Soviet and Afghan tactics. With numerous maps illustrating a number of Mujahideen operations, the reader is granted a better understanding of how the war was fought on the ground.

Furthermore, Yousaf's high ranking position does provide useful insight into how the United States funded the Mujahideen with weapons and supplies through Pakistan's intelligence service. Still, I would have liked to see Yousaf lend greater depth to the role Saudi Arabia played in funding the more fundamental guerilla factions.

All in all, Yousaf's work is an interesting contribution to the work written on the Afghan war. However, it is limited in scope and is tinged with biases. In order to truly understand the war in Afghanistan, a different text would be more appropriate.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Munawar Ali

The Birds Eye View

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2006

Afghan/Soviet War books can be broken up into a finite set of subjects. Personal/First Person Journalist account, War tactics or High level political/war analysis.

This book is squarely in the last category. A view of the war as described by the Pakistani ISI Brigadier General who ran it.

Regardless of the fact that the book is one sided, I found the book invaluable as a reference on how the Pakistani's ran the war. From Supply chain, US politics, right to on-the-ground tactics; the General goes over everything. At some points admitting Government secrets (That had probably be unclassified by print time).

An excellent book, well written, and interesting. The book even reviews at a tactical level, many battles you can read in "The Other Side of the Mountain".

This book won't cover the entire war, but is a great high level view of the Pakistani operational framework.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Matthew Cawthorne

The challenge of Afghanistan

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2022

Verified Purchase

This is a fascinating book written by a soldier at the heart of the war in Afghanistan. The crystal clear language offers a coherent and convincing account of planning, events and consequences. There are few insiders’ stories of any conflict with such detail and insight. Highly recommended.

Mr.k.a..jafri

the real heroes were the ordinary people

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

A story of ruthless and cruelty of man kind to man kind- What political aim justifies blowing up the dams or bridges and laying down landmines which maim 15 year old boys for the rest of life.

NixVoltage01

Snap them up!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

Been after this book for a while, it'll come in handy for a history dissertation. Great seller highly recommended

Desi Epicurean...

Great book for on the ground know

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

Great book

Amazon Customer

I am happy with the book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

I am happy with the book. It was good to read a non US history of the war. A nice addition to my military library

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