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Description
The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the WarThe groundbreaking investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about America's longest war, foreshadowing the Taliban's recapture of Afghanistan, by Washington Post reporter and three time Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Whitlock. Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near unanimous public support. At first, the goals were
The groundbreaking investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about America's longest war, foreshadowing the Taliban's recapture of Afghanistan, by Washington Post reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Whitlock.
Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforward and clear: to defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives.
Distracted by the war in Iraq, the US military became mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. But no president wanted to admit failure, especially in a war that began as a just cause. Instead, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations sent more and more troops to Afghanistan and repeatedly said they were making progress, even though they knew there was no realistic prospect for an outright victory.
Just as the Pentagon Papers changed the public's understanding of Vietnam, The Afghanistan Papers contains startling revelation after revelation from people who played a direct role in the war, from leaders in the White House and the Pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines. In unvarnished language, they admit that the US government's strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the Afghan government. All told, the account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the US government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground.
Documents unearthed by The Washington Post reveal that President Bush didn't know the name of his Afghanistan war commander--and didn't want to make time to meet with him. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld admitted he had "no visibility into who the bad guys are." His successor, Robert Gates, said: "We didn't know jack shit about al-Qaeda."
The Afghanistan Papers is a shocking account that will supercharge a long overdue reckoning over what went wrong and forever change the way the conflict is remembered.
Review Citations:
- Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2021 (EAN 9781982159009, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
- Publishers Weekly 06/28/2021 (EAN 9781982159009, Hardcover)
- Library Journal 08/01/2021 pg. 85 (EAN 9781982159009, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
- Booklist 08/01/2021 pg. 6 (EAN 9781982159009, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
- Shelf Awareness 08/31/2021 (EAN 9781982159009, Hardcover)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Craig Whitlock is an investigative reporter for The Washington Post. He has covered the global war on terrorism for the Post since 2001 as a foreign correspondent, Pentagon reporter, and national security specialist. In 2019, his coverage of the war in Afghanistan won the George Polk Award for Military Reporting, the Scripps Howard Award for Investigative Reporting, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Freedom of Information Award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for international reporting. He has reported from more than sixty countries and is a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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4.1 ★★★★★
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★★★★★ 4
A Unique Jewelry Stand
Color: B-Metal Antique Greenish, Color: B-Metal Antique Greenish
When I received the item, it was in bubble wrap and taped. It's like a spider's nest, so the item is safe during delivery. It is attached to the tree by a screw. The golden appearance and the patterns cut within the work look good. My only dislike about the item is that it accidentally poked my sister's thumb because some of the ends of the tree branches are not smooth out. Stability is good. However, I do think the screw loosens over time. It's heavy enough to keep itself in place. For what you're getting, it is decent for the price.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Lovely Quality Product...
Color: B-Metal Bronze
This was a nice gift for my daughter who has limited space... and it is a pretty addition to her dresser... She loved it!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Great organizer for "normal length" chains
Color: B-Metal Black
This little tree has saved all my random jewelry from its fate of being a tangled mess in a zipper bag, or in my nightstand drawer, or the bottom of my purse...you get it.
If you have a lot of long (greater than 26 inches or so) chains, you may wish to opt for something taller. But for my purposes, it's just grand. Even nicer-looking than the picture also.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2025
★★★★★ 5
Excellent Buy, Quality Build, Great Price
Color: B-Metal Antique Greenish
Solid metal. Tree attaches to the base with a Phillips screw (four way). Sturdy attachment. Metal was intact upon delivery and me foolishly dropping it on the ground as I opened it out of the box. The tree is... how must I put it? Two dimensional I suppose, which you can see from the pictures the branches extend in only opposite directions. So it is not three dimensional in the aspect that the branches go every which way like an actual tree. This is what I had envisioned and I don't want you to make the same mistake. This product is what it says, my imagination ran away from me with the picture and I bought it very quickly. All in all a wonderful piece for the money.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2018
★★★★★ 3
Cute but sharp edges!
Color: B-Metal Antique Greenish, Color: B-Metal Antique Greenish
Its cute but has tiny sharp edges i cut myself when putting it together. I will buff it down and keep it. But the quality control is definitely lacking.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2026