Boots on the Ground: The Fight to Liberate Afghanistan from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, 2001-2002 [ハードカバー]

It's difficult to write an accurate history of a war as it unfolds, but historian and former combat veteran Marine Dick Camp succeeds brilliantly with his latest book "Boots on the Ground."

Immediately following 9/11, the United States needed to strike back - but against who? Osama Bin Laden? The Taliban? Al-Qaeda? All were names unknown to the majority of Americans, including many in government in Washington D.C.

While bin Laden's attack on the United States was based on his extreme Islamic views, Camp explains how his launching the attack from Kandahar was due to reasons dating back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and subsequent US-Pakistan-ISI- CIA-Taliban relationships.

After Afghanistan's civil war, the country de-stabilized to the point where the Soviet Union feared the violence would affect the southern `Stans. The Afghan Army was incapable of halting the violence, so over the protests of the Soviet General Staff who saw that the mountainous campaign favored guerilla warfare and the tribes were fierce fighters. Perhaps prophetically, while the Soviets suffered only 24 KIA's in an invasion that was planned to last only a few months, Camp reminds the reader they stayed nine years and lost 15,000-plus troops.

Once the Soviets departed, Camp writes, the Afghans began warring amongst themselves. Within a month of the Soviet withdrawal, government forces and Afghan warlords fought, with the government forces winning. The resulting peace lasted two years, until the Soviet Union collapsed and their cash support abruptly ended. The resulting years of chaos and Pakistan's Inter-Service-Intelligence (ISI) support of the Taliban set the stage for the Taliban's control of Afghanistan. America's response to the Taliban's ascension to power in 1996 was a State Dept statement "The United States finds nothing objectionable in the policy statements of the new government, including its move to impose Islamic law," which set the stage for Mullah Omar's rise to power, the Omar-Osama connection, and the subsequent 9/11 attack. Camp has an understated style that works well in explaining how the symbiotic arrangement between the two enabled Osama to pursue his attacks on the United States while under the protection of Omar.

But it's in Camp's research that separates "Boots on the Ground" from other books on Operation Enduring Freedom. Describing the immediate turf battle between the CIA's George Tenant and DoD's Donald Rumsfeld, Camp offers details on the uneasy truce between the two that enabled the CIA to insert its first team into Afghanistan only two weeks after 9/11.

The 2001-2002 fight in Afghanistan was accomplished "on the cheap" by the CIA, a small contingent of US Army Special forces, a US Marine Task Force, and unlimited American air power. But different to the books already published, Camp combines both the strategy and tactics as he brings the story to life with an excellent collection of photographs, maps, and quotes from the main characters. "The first time these bastards run into United States Marines," Camp quotes Brig Gen James Mattis, the Task Force 58 commanding officer," I want it to be the most traumatic experience of their miserable lives." Additionally, in a prelude to the problems emanating from Kabul today, Camp also discusses Hamid Karzai, and how as long ago as 2001, Karzai would rather negotiate than fight.

While "Boots on the Ground" details the remarkable campaign that initially drove the Taliban and Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan, its real value goes beyond; "Boots on the Ground" is a comprehensive study of recent Afghanistan history, the courage and ingenuity of the American fighting men, and the continued importance of "small wars" styled personal relationships in an otherwise hi-tech world.

This book is more of a mixture of partial memoir, quotes from other works, inserts of commendation letters and maps giving the reader an introduction and overview of the U.S. Involvement in Afghanistan and brief background of the region during 1979 through 2002 when the U.S. Turned its eyes on Iraq. The first one-third of the book is an overview of the events leading up to the Soviet invasion and subsequent U.S. Involvement. Brief yet helps the reader unfamiliar with the regions history get a rudimentary idea of what had transpired and I think some will find helpful.

The author's main topic is the remaining two-thirds of the book which cover late 2001 through early 2002. The book is broken down by geographic and political divisions and focuses on the various special units and task forces involved during this period. The short but clear overview of these sections covers the work on the ground of the special units of military and CIA for a period of about half a year. The author does cover in some detail what groups where on the ground, when they arrived and what they accomplished in that time period. This introduction gives many references that the reader could choose to follow up for a more in depth accounting.

When it comes US operations in Afghanistan, Camp, like most other authors stop their narrative with Operation ANACONDA in March 2002. Making one think that the U.S. Involvement in this theater of operation took place from September 2001-March 2002, but this is not the case. As I mentioned earlier in this review I think most authors stop at this date as after Operation ANACONDA the U.S.'s focus was Iraq.

The book is easy too read yet some may find the inserts distracting from he flow of the narrative. I found they gave more insight as too what the author was writing about and gave a richer background. I found that this book was worth reading and a good starting point; especially if you know nothing of the conflict.

Disclaimer: The following review is based on reading an uncorrected proof; changes to form and/or content may occur before final publication.

Boots on the Ground by Dick Camp provides a broad overview of approximately the first six months of U.S. operations in Afghanistan. The book relies almost solely on secondary resources, but effectively synthesizes key points from the most significant writing on the subject over the last ten years.

The first third of the book consists of a recounting of the events leading up to the war, covering roughly 1979-2001. Although some reviewers consider this background uninteresting, I think an introduction to the topic benefits from the context provided by these chapters. Exhaustive works on this period, such as Coll's "Ghost Wars", Grau's "The Bear Went Over the Mountain", and "Afghan Guerilla Warfare" are extensively cited, providing references for further study. However, the direct quotations from these sources are numerous in this section, and detract a bit from the flow of the narrative.

The remainder of the book covers the period of late 2001 - early 2002 by focusing on each of the Special Forces Units involved, and their assigned areas of responsibility. This approach works well for covering the period studied. There are a few key points glossed over; for example there is almost no indications of any difficulties between Special Forces, CIA assets, and higher commands, leading the reader to believe that coordination was near flawless.

The book itself is aesthetically pleasing, with clear printing and an attractive font. There are numerous text boxes with detailed information on varied topics, but their location in the middle of chapters sometimes breaks up the text in an awkward way. There are many black-and-white photos and maps, but some would certainly benefit from full-color treatment.

All told, "Boots On the Ground" would be a good choice for an introductory textbook on the topic, or as a starting point for further in-depth study of the war in Afghanistan.