Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan

· Vintage
3.7
7 reviews
Ebook
384
Pages
Eligible
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About this ebook

A New York Times Notable Book

The author of the acclaimed bestseller and National Book Award finalist, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, tells the startling, behind-the-scenes story of the US’s political and military misadventure in Afghanistan. In this meticulously reported and illuminating book, Rajiv Chandrasekaran focuses on southern Afghanistan in the year of President Obama’s surge, and reveals the epic tug of war that occurred between the president and a military that increasingly went its own way. The profound ramifications this political battle had on the region and the world are laid bare through a cast of fascinating characters—disillusioned and inept diplomats, frustrated soldiers, headstrong officers—who played a part in the process of pumping American money and soldiers into Afghan nation-building. What emerges in Little America is a detailed picture of unsavory compromise—warlords who were to be marginalized suddenly embraced, the Karzai family transformed from foe to friend, fighting corruption no longer a top priority—and a venture that became politically, financially, and strategically unsustainable.

Also:
Washington Post Notable Book
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best Book of the Year

Ratings and reviews

3.7
7 reviews
Ethan R
December 31, 2012
He leaves the reader to make up his own mind, and presents a fair and balanced view of what went right and what went wrong during Obama's Afghanistan surge, and placing it in the necessary historical context.
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Dennis Logan
May 11, 2021
I thought it was about a American settlement in the 1950's, but it was mostly about that settlement in the 2000's. It was educational but not very entertaining.
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Eric Rickman
March 13, 2015
Helps with the background of AFG
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About the author

Rajiv Chandrasekaran is senior correspondent and associate editor of The Washington Post, where he has worked since 1994. He has been the newspaper's bureau chief in Baghdad, Cairo, and Southeast Asia, and has been covering Afghanistan off and on for a decade. His first book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, won the Overseas Press Club book award. He lives in Washington, D.C.

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