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Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia Paperback – April 7, 2009

by Ahmed Rashid (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 120 ratings
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The classic account of America's experience in Afghanistan, explaining the rise of the Taliban in the aftermath of America's failed war on terrorism--essential reading to understand the collapse in Afghanistan today.

"[A] brilliant and passionate book."—The New York Review of Books

A blistering critique of American policy—a dire and prescient warning predicting how our disastrous strategies in Central Asia's failing states threaten global stability and will bring devastation to our world.

After September 11th, Ahmed Rashid's crucial book Taliban introduced American readers to that now notorious regime. In this work, he returns to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia to review the catastrophic aftermath of America's failed war on terror. Called "Pakistan's best and bravest reporter" by Christopher Hitchens, Rashid has shown himself to be a voice of reason amid the chaos of present-day Central Asia. The essential briefing book to understand today's catastrophic headlines.
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  1. Print length
    498 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    April 7, 2009
  4. Grade level
    12 and up
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    014311557X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0143115571
  9. See all details
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4.4 out of 5 stars
120 global ratings

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  • JDIRENZO
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hard-hitting journalism
    Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2010
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    Rashid's book is an in depth look at the mistakes made by the US in post-war Afganistan. Mistake # 1 was believing that we could trust or count on the Pakistani government. It spells out in unprecedented detail how Pervez Musharaf, the Pakistani military and the Pakistani Intelligence services took the Bush administration for a ride, by being our "ally" against Al Qaeda and simultaneously supporting the Taliban. Mistake # 2: Rumsfeld's policy of buying the cooperation of Afgan warlords in the search for Al Qaeda, who as we now know had already found their way in to Pakistan. Rashid also puts into context the warlords on the US pay-roll ( Wolfowitz likes to call them "regional leaders") who carved up Afganistan and billions in reconstruction funds. He makes a compelling argument that the war lords and the US policy of buying them off was the chief obstacle to reconstruction and the establishment of government rule in Afganistan. I think the book is overly generous and forgiving of Hamid Karzai (though Rashid makes it clear that he is a friend and admirer of Karzai on the very first page) because it never really addresses the issues surrounding the reasons that the Pashtuns viewed him as untrustworthy. Beyond being a first class journalist, Rashid is an insider's insider in this world and the book provides a level of insight and detail that only he could give.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Joseph A. Vitovec
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read
    Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2010
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    This is a book for the times. Excellently written and factually interesting, it is one of the few, if not the only one, complete accounts of the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is an eye-opener, because it addresses the thing our Media refuses to tackle and about which Americans are kept in the dark. Mr. Rashid's narrative provides a plethora of information to fill in the gaps and unpleasant omissions that one does not find in current media environment. It will make the reader care about the war. A "Must!" read.
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  • John P. Jones III
    4.0 out of 5 stars The proverbial "first draft" of history...
    Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2011
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    Ahmed Rashid is a journalist, and a good one at that. He is courageous, and the reader cannot help but marvel that he has not met an "untimely end" due to his criticism of various leaders. From his base in Lahore, Pakistan he has had a vital "South-central Asian" perspective on many of the events that have become of essential importance to the United States, and to a large extent, the Western world, in the "post 9/11 era." His "beat" is Afghanistan, the five central Asian "'stans," India, and his native country. His book Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, Second Edition, written in 2000, became essential reading for American policy makers a year later.

    Rashid's book is an essential compliment to Junger's book WAR. Junger covers the combat conducted over a year's period, by one unit of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, in a remote valley near the Pakistani border. To quote Junger: "The men know Pakistan is the root of the entire war, and that is just about the only topic they get political about." Rashid covers in detail the internal political situation in Pakistan, most tellingly, the "double game" that has been played, and continues to be played by the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), which is Pakistan's intelligence agency. Numerous members of the agency openly support the Taliban, while paying lip service to the Americans that they are fighting them. One of the most astonishing vignettes told by Rashid is dubbed "the Great Escape." It occurred on November 15, 2001, when there was an imposed lull in the fighting at Kunduz, so that Pakistani planes could fly in and evacuate members of the ISI, and untold number of Taliban, to Pakistan, thwarting the efforts of the United States, and the Northern Alliance, in the very early days of the ground combat in Afghanistan post 9-11. Rashid documents again and again how the American leadership turns a blind eye to the ISI's double-dealing, and continues to support General Musharraf's dictatorial rule of Pakistan, and his double-dealing with the reactionary forces of Islamic fundamentalism.

    But there is much else besides. Rashid knew Hamid Karzai before he become Afghanistan's current leader. He gave a concise account of his background, and the logic behind his selection by the Americans. Karzai is a Pashtun counterweight to the Northern Alliance. His coverage of "the Stans" is incisive. Each ruled by a dictator, who milk the Americans for rights to bases. Graft and corruption are the norm; the ruling elite become fabulously rich, which only helps fuel an Islamic fundamentalist backlash in each of these countries. Telling, Rashid echoes a variation of a once famous question in the American `50's: Who lost Uzbekistan? Rashid also provides vital explanations of what he terms "Al Qaeda bolt-hole," which are their sanctuaries in the Northwest frontier provinces. Is Osama Bin Laden still there? Rashid draws no definitive conclusions, but the continued lack of real interest in bringing him to justice, almost 10 years after 9/11 remains disturbing.

    Rashid frequent travels to the West provide an opportunity to report on the Western leaders as well. He renders scathing indictments of the American "neo-con" leadership, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al., and how they blew a truly wonderful opportunity in Afghanistan by refusing to engage in even modest "nation building," a term anathema to them, and their almost total focus of Iraq, which created the conditions for the Taliban to become resurgent.

    Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? A telling anecdote is on the author's website, easily reached via Google. George Bush, in his book Decision Points lifted Rashid's account (without attribution) of the meeting between Karzai and a Tajik warlord on Dec. 22, 2001

    But I did have some problems with the book, and found it a bit of a slog to finish. Journalists, to generalize somewhat, seemed inclined to produce "cut and paste" books from their work. The book could use much tighter editing; for example, three times in three pages the reader is told that East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971. The history of Pakistan, as related in Chapter Two, has a "stream of consciousness" style about it. And there are numerous misspellings, the type that even a reasonable publisher would have caught via "spell-check." Rashid clearly has his opinions on various individuals, for example, "brutal," "corrupt", and renders them, but sometimes without providing the reader with his basis. Another reviewer, Timothy Graczewski, calls the author out on his statements about Toyota Landcrusiers travelling 150 mi/hr in the open desert. Did he mean kilometers? Doesn't matter. Anyone who has travelled in the open desert knows, that, save for perhaps the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, you cannot travel that fast due to the wadis, and innumerable dry water courses that would destroy the suspension on any vehicle.

    Overall though, a vital, essential book. It was published just before President Obama took office. With the President's increased focus on this area, including augmented troop levels, Rashid's account is more important than ever, and will almost certainly be the most comprehensive view of the area that will be available in the West. 4-stars.
    15 people found this helpful
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  • Bravo23
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Teacher of Central Asian Events...
    Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Ahmed Rashid, is the bravest and most talented writer/journalist I know of when it comes to Central and Southern Asia!!! He had actually been invited by the U.S. Government as an advisor. He has also meant with, and is a good friend of Hamid Karzai. I am reading Descent Into Chaos now, I am half way through; like all the other books Mr. Rashid has written... it's excellent! I would recommend this book to anyone studying international relations/studies; or anyone that wants to know what's going on in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and the other central Asian countries. I will be looking for new books from Mr. Rashid; I hope he keeps on writing for another twenty years! God Bless you Ahmed; you're a teacher, writer, journalist, and expert in International Studies/Relations....
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  • Edmund Kemper
    5.0 out of 5 stars Quality reading
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I have read all Rashid's books on Taliban and Afghanistan and they are quality reading if one is into those subjects.
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  • Evil Critic
    5.0 out of 5 stars Pflichtlektüre zum Thema "Afpak"
    Reviewed in Germany on February 8, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Rashids hervorragend recherchiertes Buch ist absolute Pflichtlektüre für jeden, der sich für die Misere am Hindukusch interessiert. Der Author kennt viele der bestimmenden Akteure persöhnlich, so zum Beispiel Hamid Karzai, nimmt aber dennoch kein Blatt vor den Mund, wenn er diesen besonders wegen seiner Parteien-feindlichen Haltung kritisiert. So hat Afghanistan bis heute noch keine einzige echte Partei, sondern nur "Warlord-Wahlvereine". Auch die unfassbare Schlamperei seitens der USA unter Bush und der Europäer in der NATO werden ausgeleuchtet, insbesondere die Deutschen bekommen hier ihr Fett weg, die wirklich praktisch jedes Versprechen NICHT eingehalten haben, ich sage nur 80.000(!!!) Polizisten ausbilden wollen mit lächerlichen 20 Ausbildern und einem Etat der nicht mal für 10 Kilometer Autobahn reicht.
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  • さばとらみーちゃん
    4.0 out of 5 stars オバマ大統領がアフガニスタンにこだわる理由がわかる本
    Reviewed in Japan on October 14, 2009
    Verified Purchase
    著者の前著「Taliban」（9/11前まで）と本書（9/11以降）の2冊で、アフガニスタン問題に関する一通りの知識が得られます。カルザイ大統領に対する批判は独断的でちょっと鼻につきますが、アメリカ、EU（NATO）、国連や近隣諸国（特にパキスタン）との関係が歴史的背景を含めて幅広くカバーされており、大変わかりやすい本だと思います。オバマ大統領がアフガニスタンにこだわる理由が良くわかります。
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars HistorY repeating itself
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    A comprehensive account of a disastrous entrrprise
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  • Mercatorus
    5.0 out of 5 stars sehr gute Hintergrundinformation
    Reviewed in Germany on May 21, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Jeder, der sich eine Meinung des Konfliktes in Afghanistan bilden möchte, und zwar eine, die auf einer gründlichen Analyse basiert, sollte dieses Buch gelesen haben. Es scheint sauber recherchiert mit vielen Nachweisen im Anhang. Die Karten sind ausreichend für die Orientierung. Das Englisch ist lesbar und enthält eine überschaubare Anzahl von Worten,die über das Schulenglisch hinausgehen. Durch den Dünndruck bekommt man viel Buch fü's Geld. Absolut empfehlenswert.
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