Military Afghanistan

Graveyard of Empires: A Novel – The US Withdrawal from Afghanistan In the twilight of a two-decade-long presence, the United States faces one of its most challenging and consequential decisions: the complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. "Graveyard of Empires" masterfully intertwines the intricate threads of military strategy, espionage, and human resilience to portray this pivotal moment in modern history. As the sun sets on Bagram Air Base in Kabul, the Central Intelligence Agency activates a clandestine paramilitary unit tasked with eliminating any remnants of military assets that could...

World affairs expert and intrepid travel journalist Robert D. Kaplan braved the dangers of war-ravaged Afghanistan in the 1980s, living among the mujahidin-the "soldiers of god"-whose unwavering devotion to Islam fueled their mission to oust the formidable Soviet invaders. In Soldiers of God, we follow Kaplan's extraordinary journey and learn how the thwarted Soviet invasion gave rise to the ruthless Taliban and the defining international conflagration of the twenty-first century.

The US military began its 20-year incursion in Afghanistan, quite simply, because of the jihadist attacks on September 11, 2001, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. There was never any doubt in official Washington about who was responsible. On the same day the attacks took place, President George W. Bush ordered his Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, to draw up plans to attack the jihad terror group al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, where the 9/11 hijackers had trained for their mission.

In the scorching oven of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, the roots of an incredible bond between two Marine squad leaders are forged in the flames of combat. Marines are dying, things are messed up with command, and new forces led by a veteran Taliban leader have returned to the area of operations. Making things worse, the Taliban have smuggled in from Iran a new weapons system previously NEVER seen in Afghanistan. These two squad leaders -- Sergeant Morgan and Corporal Dean -- are about to face the biggest test of their lives. Orders from above will clash with realities on the ground. And ...

Over one million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past four years, but fewer than 500 from this group have earned a Silver Star, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, or the Medal of Honor. Those who have been awarded these distinguished honors all demonstrated an extraordinary courage under fire in the worst of circumstances.

Russia and America face each other across the northern border of Afghanistan. World War 3 is about to break out and no one is backing off. And all because a team of academics in New York postulated how to extract the vast untapped mineral wealth of Afghanistan. Steve Case is in the middle of it, and his position is looking very precarious. Will the Taliban find him before the Americans get him out? Or is he doomed, as is the rest of the world?

Most scholars and analysts believe that the primary cause of our abysmal war record since Vietnam has been the US military’s overwhelmingly conventional approach to conflict, which favors kinetic operations, highly mobile precision firepower, and sophisticated systems of command and control. Here, James Warren argues that a much more formidable obstacle to success has been pervasive strategic ineptitude at the highest levels of decision-making, including the presidency, the national security council, and the foreign policy community in DC.

Afghanistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia, has improbably been at the center of international geopolitics for four decades. After the Soviet Union invaded in 1980, Afghanistan descended into an unending conflict that featured at various points most of the world's major powers. In Afghanistan: What Everyone Needs to Know, leading scholar Barnett R. Rubin provides an overview of this complicated nation. After providing a concise history of Afghanistan, he explores the various peoples and cultures of the country and its relations with neighbors like Pakistan and Iran.

You don't have to be killed in action to be a casualty of war. Medics Paul Adams and Lizzie Jarman are one of the most welcome sights to injured soldiers in the war-torn poppy fields of Afghanistan. With red crosses on their arms and medical equipment strapped to their backs, they thunder into battle in a Chinook helicopter – straight into areas everyone else is desperate to get away from. In the middle of the fiercest fighting British troops have seen since the Falklands War, the medics are the last defence from death on the ground in some corner of a foreign field. But in Afghanistan, ...

Former Army Captain Alton Blackwell never thought he'd return to Afghanistan. Now he has no choice. While on their honeymoon, cryptologist Alton Blackwell and FBI Agent Mallory Wilson receive a frantic plea for help. Resourceful Afghani teenager Mastana Meer, once instrumental in rescuing a mutual friend from Afghanistan terrorists, finds herself coerced into a nefarious plot by her Al-Qaeda uncle. Having escaped the clutches of her terrorist uncle, the teen is days away from leaving Kabul for a better life when Alton and Mallory lose all contact with her. As the former soldiers race to ...

Band of Brothers meets Argo in this dramatic and heartfelt dual memoir of the war in Afghanistan told by two men from opposite worlds. Always Faithful entwines the stories of Marine Major Tom Schueman, and his friend and Afghan interpreter, Zainullah “Zak” Zaki, as they describe their parallel lives, converging paths, and unbreakable bond in the face of overwhelming danger, culminating in Zak and his family’s harrowing escape from Kabul.

An award-winning military journalist tells the amazing stories of 22 soldiers who've won the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award.

»Wir waren dort, um zu kämpfen. Wir wurden gedrillt, auf Menschen zu schießen. So wurde es gesagt, und genauso ist es gekommen.« Afghanistan, im Herbst 2010. Ein Dorf im Norden des Landes wird Schauplatz heftiger Kämpfe. »Halmazag« – »Blitz«, so nennen die ISAF-Kräfte die Operation, die endlich Frieden und Sicherheit für die Menschen bringen soll. Ein Trupp deutscher Fallschirmjäger kämpft an vorderster Front. Einer von ihnen: Johannes Clair. Freiwillig kam er nach Afghanistan, überzeugt, das Richtige zu tun. Doch die Realität des Krieges gehorcht eigenen Gesetzen.

Afghanistan: Bei einem Hinterhalt durch Taliban-Milizen wird fast das komplette Team von Navy-SEAL-Kommandant James Reece ausgelöscht. Geplagt von Schuldgefühlen kehrt er in die Heimat zurück. Doch nun muss er erleben, wie weitere Menschen aus seinem engsten Umfeld unter mysteriösen Umständen sterben. Wie sich herausstellt, litten alle Verstorbene an Hirntumoren. Schnell wird klar, dass keine feindliche Macht hinter den Anschlägen steckt, sondern machtgierige und skrupellose Amerikaner. Die Spur der Verschwörung führt bis in die höchsten Regierungskreise.

Lance Corporal Jeff Bodell recounts his harrowing experiences as a member of a Police Mentor Team during the brutal Battle of Marjah in 2010. In the scorching Afghan heat, amidst the chaos and bloodshed, this gripping first-person narrative unveils the raw realities of war and the unbreakable camaraderie forged in the crucible of combat. Join Bodell and the resilient members of Shadow One-Four as they confront a relentless Taliban force, fighting not only for survival but for the brotherhood that binds them.

Following September 11, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime. It established security throughout the country, and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of conflict. But Jones argues that, as early as 2001, planning for the Iraq War siphoned off resources and talented personnel, undermining the gains that had been made. After eight years, the United States had pushed al-Qaeda’s headquarters about one hundred miles across the border into Pakistan.

In Twilight Warriors, award-winning foreign correspondent James Kitfield introduces us to the tight-knit brotherhood that strives to keep the United States safe from the dimly understood threats it now faces. Together these men have broken down the boundaries between their respective agencies to engineer a network-centric way of fighting using a seamless web of intelligence analysts, information networks, FBI forensics experts, and Special Forces units to take the fight to America's enemies as never before.

One in three will experience a significant trauma in their life. Brilliantly read by author and army Apache pilot Lt. Col. Brian L. Slade, experience the war from the cockpit as he shares his experience with trauma in Afghanistan.

"You will be a son, my daughter." With these stunning words Ukmina learned that she was to spend her childhood as a boy. In Afghanistan there is a widespread practice of girls dressing as boys to play the role of a son. These children are called bacha posh: literally "girls dressed as boys." This practice offers families the freedom to allow their child to shop and work - and in some cases, it saves them from the disgrace of not having a male heir. But in adolescence, religion restores the natural law.

Plunging deep into midst of some of the hottest conflicts on the globe, Robert D. Kaplan takes us through mud and jungle, desert and dirt to the men and women on the ground who are leading the charge against threats to American security. These soldiers, fighting in thick Colombian jungles or on dusty Afghani plains, are the forefront of the new American foreign policy, a policy being implemented one soldier at a time.