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Bruce Riedel

What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979–89 Hardcover – July 28, 2014

by Bruce Riedel (Author)

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In February 1989, the CIA's chief in Islamabad famously cabled headquarters a simple message: "We Won." It was an understated coda to the most successful covert intelligence operation in American history.

In What We Won, CIA and National Security Council veteran Bruce Riedel tells the story of America's secret war in Afghanistan and the defeat of the Soviet 40th Red Army in the war that proved to be the final battle of the cold war. He seeks to answer one simple question―why did this intelligence operation succeed so brilliantly?

Riedel has the vantage point few others can offer: He was ensconced in the CIA's Operations Center when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on Christmas Eve 1979. The invasion took the intelligence community by surprise. But the response, initiated by Jimmy Carter and accelerated by Ronald Reagan, was a masterful intelligence enterprise.

Many books have been written about intelligence failures―from Pearl Harbor to 9/11. Much less has been written about how and why intelligence operations succeed. The answer is complex. It involves both the weaknesses and mistakes of America's enemies, as well as good judgment and strengths of the United States.

Riedel introduces and explores the complex personalities pitted in the war―the Afghan communists, the Russians, the Afghan mujahedin, the Saudis, and the Pakistanis. And then there are the Americans―in this war, no Americans fought on the battlefield. The CIA did not send officers into Afghanistan to fight or even to train.

In 1989, victory for the American side of the cold war seemed complete. Now we can see that a new era was also beginning in the Afghan war in the 1980s, the era of the global jihad. This book examines the lessons we can learn from this intelligence operation for the future and makes some observations on what came next in Afghanistan―and what is likely yet to come.

Print length

189 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Brookings Institution Press
Publication date

July 28, 2014
Dimensions

6.25 x 1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0815725841
ISBN-13

978-0815725848
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The foremost intelligence and policy expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan has produced a vital and concise history of America's first engagement in that pivotal part of the world that is still President Obama's war today. This book is both cogent history and dramatic lesson."―Bob Woodward, Washington Post

"An exceptionally fine piece of work by someone superbly qualified to address the subject with authority and perspective, it changed my mind on several key issues and players in the war."―John McLaughlin, former deputy director of the CIA and professor at Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies

"A penetrating analysis of America's covert war in Afghanistan from 1979-1989 and of the important lessons of that 'secret war.' In WHAT WE WON, Bruce Riedel shows once again that he ranks with the most authoritative voices on this episode, providing a brilliant chronicle of the development of the Afghan covert operation and offering an unblinking assessment of the consequences of the mujahedin defeat of the Soviets."―General David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army (Retired)

About the Author

Bruce Riedel is senior fellow and director of the Brookings Intelligence Project. Riedel joined Brookings following a thirty-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency. He served as a senior adviser to four U.S. presidents on South Asia and the Middle East, working as a senior member of the National Security Council. In 2009 President Obama made him chairman of a strategic review of American policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is author of the Brookings best seller The Search for al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brookings Institution Press (July 28, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 189 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0815725841
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0815725848
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,818,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #750 in Central Asia History
- #1,067 in Political Leadership
- #2,800 in International Diplomacy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
33 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		57%
4 star		21%
3 star		12%
2 star		8%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Ahmad

'

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

Not a bad book at all. Has a lot of information about the Afghan imbroglio. The book tries to explain why and how the US sponsored the war in Afghanistan, absolves it from any responsibility in the ensuing chaos (as it was "Zia'ul Haq' s war) but takes the credit for victory over Soviet Union.
I however liked the style of Bruce Riedel's writing and would recommend the book to anyone interested in knowing the Amercan perspective of Afghan Jehad.

Helpful

rodcot

Very interesting and engaging. The only reason I give ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2014

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Very interesting and engaging. The only reason I give 4 starts and not 5 is that for us that are not very knowledgable of the country it would be very helpful to back the data up by some maps such as geografical to understand country borders and influence as well as a tribal map since the author uses alot of references of countrys which are near and tribes..

One person found this helpful

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Gary A. Christiansen

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2017

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Excellent Book.

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2015

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It seems almost counter-intuitive to call a calmly narrated, richly annotated volume of history a page-turner, but here it is. The book finally begins to make sense of a period experienced by anyone old enough to remember at least some of the names of its principal actors.

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HannibalTop Contributor: Classical Music

Comprehensive but often repetative & overlapping brief histories of Asian wars of today.

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2014

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Somewhat Repetitive history of recent events in the recent Muslim Wars. Few interesting & new insights, and often redundant....

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Patricia Beltraante

too bad so many were lost to no true

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2015

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sorrowful, too bad so many were lost to no true reason

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Raul

A good concise history of the Afghan war

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2015

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Bird's eyeview to the machinations of powers. A good concise history of the Afghan war, and the events which led to America's involvement.

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Mike

Top five book for me all time w

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2014

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Tremendous book top five all time very citing right information well written please keep em coming I will read the all I prefer audio for my dad who I passs them on to he simply loves em two day and he read them and had derived lots of Info to speak about and we do have some heavy conversations!!!

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Diva

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2017

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Good book

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in India on March 12, 2016

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Excellent book

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What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979–89 Hardcover – July 28, 2014

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Editorial Reviews

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About the author

Bruce Riedel

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Top reviews from the United States

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Buy new:

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