The Wrong Enemy America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014

“An enthralling and largely firsthand account of the war in Afghanistan.”—Financial Times

Few reporters know as much about Afghanistan as Carlotta Gall. She was there in the 1990s after the Russians were driven out. She witnessed the early flourishing of radical Islam, imported from abroad, which caused so much local suffering. She was there right after 9/11, when the US special forces helped the Northern Alliance drive the Taliban out of the north and then the south, fighting pitched battles and causing their enemies to flee underground and into Pakistan. She knows just how much this war has cost the Afghan people. And she knows just how much damage can be traced to Pakistan and its duplicitous government and intelligence forces. Combining searing personal accounts of battles and betrayals with moving portraits of the ordinary Afghans who were caught up in the conflict of more than a decade, The Wrong Enemy is a sweeping account of a war brought by American leaders against an enemy they barely understood and could not truly engage.

“A strong, well-crafted account by an informed observer.”—The Economist

“Gall is perhaps uniquely positioned to tackle the troubling questions she raises about Pakistan's alleged support of terrorism . . . a must-read.”— Christian Science Monitor