Overview

Since the days of Alexander the Great, Afghanistan's strategically significant lands have been fought over by foreign invaders. Today, as yet another generation risks life and limb in this inhospitable territory, an ever-rising death toll puts back under the spotlight almost daily the way the modern war in Afghanistan is being run, and demands answers. Drawing on over a hundred interviews with Afghan politicians, businessmen and ordinary people, and British, American and European diplomats and soldiers, Sandy Gall shines fresh light on the failure to capture Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora and - equally disastrous - American and British gullibility in the face of Pakistan's continued tolerance of the Taliban. He asks why the reconstruction of Afghanistan has withered on the vine; and how we have allowed a Presidential style of government to concentrate power in one man's hands, under whom - amid cronyism and corruption - the Taliban insurgency only grows ever stronger. But is it too late? Examining the emotive issue of equipment shortages, exposing the extent to which the drug trade has corrupted the country, and assessing the accusation of endemic, systemic failure within the MOD, Sandy Gall addresses the challenges - political, religious, military - that face those now fighting on the most dangerous frontier in the world.

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9781408809051

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Praise for Afghanistan: Agony of a Nation: 'What emerges most sharply ... is Sandy Gall's love for these people, his pain on behalf of their devastated country' Doris Lessing 'A passionate tribute to the spirit of the Mujahideen' Sunday Express 'Sharply focused and crisply written' Financial Times 'Reminded me of Hemingway' Punch

Author Information

Sandy Gall CBE, is a British journalist, author, and former ITN news presenter. His career as a journalist spans over fifty years. Sandy Gall has written several books about Afghanistan and made three documentaries about the country during the Soviet War (two of which were nominated for BAFTA awards). He also set up the Sandy Gall Afghanistan Appeal charity, which provides support to people who have lost limbs in combat. Gall was awarded the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1987, and the CBE in 1987. In 2003 he became the World Affairs Expert on LBC Radio. He lives in Kent with his wife, Eleanor Gall.

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