Borrow it
Coverart for item
The Resource Our latest longest war : losing hearts and minds in Afghanistan, edited by Lieutenant Colonel Aaron B. O'Connell, USMC

Our latest longest war : losing hearts and minds in Afghanistan, edited by Lieutenant Colonel Aaron B. O'Connell, USMC

Editor
Contributor
Summary
"The first rule of warfare is to know one?s enemy. The second is to know thyself. More than fifteen years and three quarters of a trillion dollars after the US invasion of Afghanistan, it?s clear that the United States followed neither rule well. America?s goals in Afghanistan were lofty to begin with: dismantle al Qaeda, remove the Taliban from power, remake the country into a democracy. But not only did the mission come completely unmoored from reality, the United States wasted billions of dollars, and thousands of lives were lost. Our Latest Longest War is a chronicle of how, why, and in what ways the war in Afghanistan failed. Edited by historian and Marine lieutenant colonel Aaron B. O?Connell, the essays collected here represent nine different perspectives on the war?all from veterans of the conflict, both American and Afghan. Together, they paint a picture of a war in which problems of culture and an unbridgeable rural-urban divide derailed nearly every field of endeavor. The authors also draw troubling parallels to the Vietnam War, arguing that deep-running ideological currents in American life explain why the US government has repeatedly used armed nation-building to try to transform failing states into modern, liberal democracies. In Afghanistan, as in Vietnam, this created a dramatic mismatch of means and ends that neither money, technology, nor the force of arms could overcome. The war in Afghanistan has been the longest in US history, and in many ways, the most confounding. Few who fought in it think it has been worthwhile. These are difficult topics for any American or Afghan to consider, especially those who lost friends or family in it. This sobering history?written by the very people who have been fighting the war?is impossible to ignore."--amazon.com
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
378 pages
Contents
  • Moving mountains: Cultural friction in the Afghanistan war
  • Washington Goes to War
  • US Strategy in Afghanistan: A Tragedy in Five Acts
  • In Our Own Image: Training the Afghan National Security Forces
  • The Impact of Culture on Policing in Afghanistan
  • Building and Undermining Legitimacy: Reconstruction and Development in Afghanistan
  • Rule of Law and Governance in Afghanistan, 2001-2014
  • Liberalism Does Its Thing
  • Organizing like the Enemy: Special Operations Forces, Afghan Culture, and Village Stability Operations
  • Leaving Afghanistan
  • Out longest latest war
Isbn
9780226265650
Instance
Label
Our latest longest war : losing hearts and minds in Afghanistan
Title
Our latest longest war
Title remainder
losing hearts and minds in Afghanistan
Statement of responsibility
edited by Lieutenant Colonel Aaron B. O'Connell, USMC
Contributor
Editor
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
"The first rule of warfare is to know one?s enemy. The second is to know thyself. More than fifteen years and three quarters of a trillion dollars after the US invasion of Afghanistan, it?s clear that the United States followed neither rule well. America?s goals in Afghanistan were lofty to begin with: dismantle al Qaeda, remove the Taliban from power, remake the country into a democracy. But not only did the mission come completely unmoored from reality, the United States wasted billions of dollars, and thousands of lives were lost. Our Latest Longest War is a chronicle of how, why, and in what ways the war in Afghanistan failed. Edited by historian and Marine lieutenant colonel Aaron B. O?Connell, the essays collected here represent nine different perspectives on the war?all from veterans of the conflict, both American and Afghan. Together, they paint a picture of a war in which problems of culture and an unbridgeable rural-urban divide derailed nearly every field of endeavor. The authors also draw troubling parallels to the Vietnam War, arguing that deep-running ideological currents in American life explain why the US government has repeatedly used armed nation-building to try to transform failing states into modern, liberal democracies. In Afghanistan, as in Vietnam, this created a dramatic mismatch of means and ends that neither money, technology, nor the force of arms could overcome. The war in Afghanistan has been the longest in US history, and in many ways, the most confounding. Few who fought in it think it has been worthwhile. These are difficult topics for any American or Afghan to consider, especially those who lost friends or family in it. This sobering history?written by the very people who have been fighting the war?is impossible to ignore."--amazon.com
Cataloging source
ICU/DLC
Dewey number
958.104/7
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
  • plates
Index
no index present
LC call number
DS371.412
LC item number
.O95 2017
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorDate
1973-
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
O'Connell, Aaron B.
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Afghan War (2001- )
  • Afghan War, 2001-2021
Label
Our latest longest war : losing hearts and minds in Afghanistan, edited by Lieutenant Colonel Aaron B. O'Connell, USMC
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
  • cri
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
Moving mountains: Cultural friction in the Afghanistan war -- Washington Goes to War -- US Strategy in Afghanistan: A Tragedy in Five Acts -- In Our Own Image: Training the Afghan National Security Forces -- The Impact of Culture on Policing in Afghanistan -- Building and Undermining Legitimacy: Reconstruction and Development in Afghanistan -- Rule of Law and Governance in Afghanistan, 2001-2014 -- Liberalism Does Its Thing -- Organizing like the Enemy: Special Operations Forces, Afghan Culture, and Village Stability Operations -- Leaving Afghanistan -- Out longest latest war
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
378 pages
Isbn
9780226265650
Lccn
2016034770
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
System control number
(OCoLC)ocn954719999
Label
Our latest longest war : losing hearts and minds in Afghanistan, edited by Lieutenant Colonel Aaron B. O'Connell, USMC
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
  • cri
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
Moving mountains: Cultural friction in the Afghanistan war -- Washington Goes to War -- US Strategy in Afghanistan: A Tragedy in Five Acts -- In Our Own Image: Training the Afghan National Security Forces -- The Impact of Culture on Policing in Afghanistan -- Building and Undermining Legitimacy: Reconstruction and Development in Afghanistan -- Rule of Law and Governance in Afghanistan, 2001-2014 -- Liberalism Does Its Thing -- Organizing like the Enemy: Special Operations Forces, Afghan Culture, and Village Stability Operations -- Leaving Afghanistan -- Out longest latest war
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
378 pages
Isbn
9780226265650
Lccn
2016034770
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
System control number
(OCoLC)ocn954719999

Subject

Library Locations

    • Wadleigh Memorial LibraryBorrow it
      49 Nashua Street, Milford, NH, 03055, US
      42.835245 -71.647914

Library Links

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Wadleigh Memorial Library. Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.