Description
After the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, the U.S. took 102 days to remove the Taliban from Afghan governance and essentially win the war. But Operation Enduring Freedom suffered a key setback--Osama Bin Laden, along with key members of al Qaeda and the Taliban survived and crossed the border into Pakistan. This failure came to a head at the Battle of Tora Bora where the U.S. relied upon Afghan warlords to do the bulk of the fighting, while top officials focused much of their attention on preparing plans for the invasion of Iraq. Coupled with casual reinforcement of the border by the Pakistani military and U.S. military risk aversion, the best chance to capture Bin Laden and essentially decimate al Qaeda was lost. Barzilai bases his book on interviews with 13 U.S. officials who oversaw war efforts, including Condoleezza Rice who was then serving as the White House National Security Advisor. The final epilogue contrasts President Obama's active role in planning the Abbottabad raid that led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden with Bush's distant role in the Battle of Tora Bora. Potomac Books is an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
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Almost ten years before Osama bin Laden was killed, the United States had the opportunity of a decade to decapitate the organization that so ruthlessly enacted the deadliest foreign attack on American soil in the nation’s history. Battles raged across Afghanistan in the 102 days following September 11, from Mazar-i-Sharif to Kabul to Tora Bora. Yet bin Laden escaped while al Qaeda and the Taliban endured the initial onslaught. In 102 Days of War, Yaniv Barzilai takes the reader from meetings in the White House to the most sensitive operations in Afghanistan to explain how America’s enemies survived 2001. Using a broad array of sources, including interviews with top-level U.S. officials at every level of the war effort, Barzilai concludes that the failure to kill bin Laden and destroy al Qaeda at the Battle of Tora Bora was not only the result of a failure in tactics but, more importantly, the product of failures in policy and leadership. 102 Days of War provides novel information and a new level of understanding about the opening campaign of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Informed citizens and military historians alike will find compelling this vivid and relevant narrative.
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