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James H. Willbanks - America's Heroes; Medal of Honor ....pdf

David J. Whittaker - Asylum Seekers and Refugees in th....pdf

Examining a number of case studies, including Palestinian, Afghan and Iraqi refugees, David J. Whittaker’s book provides a balanced introduction to this very controversial subject. Fuelled by extensive coverage in the media, the issue of asylum seekers and refugees is one of the most talked about subjects in contemporary politics. Whittaker cuts through the emotive language to give an objective introduction to the subject. Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the Contemporary World discusses the international as well as national implications of the issue, and the book looks in detail at the issue as it has affected Britain and Europe in particular, as well as including material on the UN and its response to the refugee ‘problem’. Including a final statement on the British government’s 2005 proposals for dealing with refugees, this volume is essential reading for all students of the history of the modern world and is ideal for newcomers to the subject.

U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute - Wanat Combat Acti....pdf

US Army Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth, Kansas On 13 July 2008, nine American Soldiers perished while fighting a pitched battle in the village of Wanat in Afghanistan’s Waygal Valley. On that day, the men of Company C, 2d Battalion, 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment, endured four hours of intense close quarters combat and mounting casualties. The contingent of 49 United States and 24 Afghan National Army Soldiers valiantly defended their small outpost against a coordinated attack by a determined insurgent force armed with rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons. Despite the initial advantage of tactical surprise and numerical superiority, it was the insurgents who ultimately broke contact and withdrew from Combat Outpost Kahler. Army historians recognized the need to better understand the Battle of Wanat and ensure those who followed learned from the experiences of the courageous Soldiers who defended their outpost with such tenacity. As initial reports from the battle were received, the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas began to prepare a historical analysis of the circumstances of the Battle of Wanat, launching an exhaustive research effort that produced a comprehensive and compelling example of contemporary history. This study offers an objective narrative of the events surrounding the Battle of Wanat. It does not seek to draw final conclusions or to second guess decisions made before or during the heat of battle. Rather, it is an implement of learning, allowing the reader to see the events of that day through the eyes of the leaders and Soldiers of Task Force Rock. It is meant to provide context to the chaos and complexity of modern conflict, and to help the reader better understand and appreciate the nature of operations in an era of persistent conflict. Finally, this study serves to honor and preserve the memories of the nine brave men who gave their lives at Combat Outpost Kahler. Sean B. MacFarland BG, US Army Deputy Commandant, CGSC.

Amin Saikal, William Maley - The Soviet Withdrawal fro....pdf

Nearly ten years of bloodshed and political turmoil have followed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Soviet occupation not only proved a major trauma for the people of Afghanistan; invasion ended at a stroke the growth in superpower detente that had characterized the late 1970s; and back home in the Soviet Union the effects of escalating military costs and over 13,000 young military casualties have been felt at every level of society. The decision to withdraw combat forces under the provisions of the Geneva Accords of April 1988 is one of the most dramatic developments in the international system since the end of the Second World War. Unable to overcome fierce insurgent Mujahideen resistance, the new Soviet leadership under General Secretary Gorbachev has opted to cut its military losses under a veil of UN diplomacy. The effects of this decision will be felt not only in Afghanistan but in the Soviet Union, in Southeast Asia, and in the wider world. This book is designed to explore the background to the decision to withdraw and its broader implications. The authors, all established specialists, examine the Geneva Accords; the future for post-withdrawal Afghanistan; and the impact of withdrawal on regional states, Soviet foreign and domestic policies, the Soviet armed forces, Sino-Soviet relations, and world politics. They write from diverse disciplinary perspectives while bringing together a shared sensitivity to the issues that complicate the Afghan question.

Whit Mason - The Rule of Law in Afghanistan; Missing i....pdf

How, despite the enormous investment of blood and treasure, has the West's ten-year intervention left Afghanistan so lawless and insecure? The answer is more insidious than any conspiracy, for it begins with a profound lack of understanding of the rule of law, the very thing that most dramatically separates Western societies from the benighted ones in which they increasingly intervene. This volume of essays argues that the rule of law is not a set of institutions that can be exported lock, stock and barrel to lawless lands, but a state of affairs under which ordinary people and officials of the state itself feel it makes sense to act within the law. Where such a state of affairs is absent, as in Afghanistan today, brute force, not law, will continue to rule.

Audiobook - George Crile - Charlie Wilson's War, The E....mp3

Put the Tom Clancy clones back on the shelf; this covert-ops chronicle is practically impossible to put down. No thriller writer would dare invent Wilson, a six-feet-four-inch Texas congressman, liberal on social issues but rabidly anti-Communist, a boozer, engaged in serial affairs and wheeler-dealer of consummate skill. Only slightly less improbable is Gust Avrakotos, a blue-collar Greek immigrant who joined the CIA when it was an Ivy League preserve and fought his elitist colleagues almost as ruthlessly as he fought the Soviet Union in the Cold War's waning years. In conjunction with President Zia of Pakistan in the 1980s, Wilson and Arvakotos circumvented most of the barriers to arming the Afghan mujahideen-distance, money, law and internal CIA politics, to name a few. Their coups included getting Israeli-modified Chinese weapons smuggled into Afghanistan, with the Pakistanis turning a blind eye, and the cultivation of a genius-level weapons designer and strategist named Michael Vickers, a key architect of the guerrilla campaign that left the Soviet army stymied. The ultimate weapon in Afghanistan was the portable Stinger anti-aircraft missile, which eliminated the Soviet's Mi-24 helicopter gunships and began the train of events leading to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and its satellites. A triumph of ruthless ability over scruples, this story has dominated recent history in the form of blowback: many of the men armed by the CIA became the Taliban's murderous enforcers and Osama bin Laden's protectors. Yet superb writing from Crile, a 60 Minutes producer, will keep even the most vigorous critics of this Contra-like affair reading to the end.

Jennifer Heath, Ashraf Zahedi - Land of the Unconquera....pdf

Reaching beyond sensational headlines, Land of the Unconquerable at last offers a three-dimensional portrait of Afghan women. In a series of wide-ranging, deeply reflective essays, accomplished scholars, humanitarian workers, politicians, and journalists--most with extended experience inside Afghanistan--examine the realities of life for women in both urban and rural settings. They address topics including food security, sex work, health, marriage, education, poetry, politics, prisoners, and community development. Eschewing stereotypes about the burqa, the contributors focus instead on women's empowerment and agency, and their struggles for peace and justice in the face of a brutal ongoing war. A fuller picture of Afghanistan's women past and present emerges, leading to social policy suggestions and pragmatic solutions for a peaceful future. "Land of the Unconquerable is a timely collection of insightful articles and reflections. The first person accounts by long-time Afghan activists are especially moving. It is far too rare to hear Afghans, particularly Afghan women, speak in their own voices about their realities, and this volume addresses this lack with both courage and clarity." --Kavita N. Ramdas, former President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women and current Visiting Scholar and Fellow at Stanford University "This is a valuable book addressing a question that needs to be understood if peace in Afghanistan is ever to be achieved." --Haleh Afshar, co-author of Women in Later Life: Exploring Race and Ethnicity "This book urgently and importantly avoids politicizing women's issues for personal gain." --Sima Wali, former President of Refugee Women in Development and former Peace Talks delegate at the Bonn Conference "The United States and its NATO allies declared they would liberate the women of Afghanistan from years of brutal exploitation and tyrannical rule when they entered the country and toppled the Taliban in late 2001. This timely and informative book counters that claim and describes how women continue to suffer since the Taliban fell from power. A diverse group of writers and activists put forth a good review and analysis of the current situation for women in Afghanistan and provide a significant contribution to an extremely important but still neglected subject. Essential reading for those with a serious interest in topics relating to women in Afghanistan." --Hafizullah Emadi, Development consultant, Afghanistan "Land of the Unconquerable provides a nuanced picture of the complex and diverse lives of Afghan women, and it successfully dispels much public misinformation about Afghanistan and its people. This is an outstanding and timely volume." --Rickie Solinger, co-editor of Interrupted Life: Experiences of Incarcerated Women in the U.S.

Audiobook - James Fergusson - A Million Bullets; The R....mp3

In April 2006 a small British peace-keeping force was sent to Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. Within weeks they were cut off and besieged by some of the world’s toughest fighters: the infamous Taliban, who were determined to send the foreigners home again. Defence Secretary John Reid had hoped that Operation Herrick 4 could be accomplished without a shot being fired; instead, the Army was drawn into the fiercest fighting it had seen for fifty years. Millions of bullets and thousands of lives have been expended since then in an under-publicized but bitter conflict whose end is still not in sight. Some people consider it the fourth Anglo-Afghan War since Victorian times. How on earth did this happen? And what is it like for the troops on the front line of the ‘War on Terror’? James Fergusson takes us to the dark heart of the battle zone. Here, in their own words and for the first time, are the young veterans of Herrick 4. Here, unmasked, are the civilian and military officials responsible for planning and executing the operation. Here, too, are the Taliban themselves, to whom Fergusson gained unique and extraordinary access. Controversial, fascinating and occasionally downright terrifying, A Million Bullets analyses the sorry slide into war in Helmand and asks this most troubling question: could Britain perhaps have avoided the violence altogether?

Martin McCauley - Afghanistan and Central Asia; A Mode....pdf

The Afghan crisis has grabbed the attention of the entire world, and underlined the desperate need in the West for a better understanding of the region and its challenges in the face of increasingly militant interpretations of Islam. Carved up and fought over by the British and Tsarist Russia in the nineteenth century, and under Soviet domination for much of the twentieth, the lonely passes, deserts and peoples of the five Central Asian republics have remained shrouded in obscurity. Even Afghanistan, the site of almost constant conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1978, is little known beyond the media images of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement. Martin McCauley draws on his vast knowledge of the region and its history to provide a clear and highly readable account of Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tasikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, from their medieval pasts to the unpredictable present. Illuminating languages and landscapes, cultures and society, he examines the rise of militant Islam and its impact on the region, the push and pull of global economics and politics, and possibilities for stability in an inherently unstable part of the world.

Scott McGaugh - Battlefield Angels; Saving Lives Under....epub

“The night air chilled Caspar Wistar as he walked alongside a wagon filled with medical supplies, part of an eleven-thousand-man army creeping toward a small Pennsylvania hamlet. He wondered if General George Washington’s medical corps would again run short of wound dressings when battle met the sunrise.” Thus opens the magisterial new book from Scott McGaugh, author of Midway Magic. In Battlefield Angels, McGaugh pays homage to the cadre of medics, corpsmen, nurses, doctors, surgeons, and medical technicians who have provided succor and healing to the more than 40 million warriors who have served in America’s armed forces since the nation’s founding. Scott McGaugh tells the story of Jonathan Letterman, a Union surgeon during the Civil War who is considered the father of American combat medicine. Letterman designed the first battlefield evacuation system after an unprepared medical corps at Bull Run left thousands of soldiers to die in the place where they were wounded. We also learn about Wheeler Lipes, a young navy corpsman and submariner with minimal medical training who on September 11, 1942, conducted the first-ever appendectomy at sea. And, we hear the story of Pfc. Monica Brown, the young army medic who was awarded the Silver Star for rescuing fellow soldiers from a disabled Humvee during an ambush in the Paktika province of Eastern Afghanistan in 2007. Brown is only the second woman in sixty years to receive the prestigious award. Through these stories and many others, McGaugh traces the captivating evolution of battlefield care, from the Revolutionary War to today's battles in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Battlefield Angels, McGaugh captures the in-the-trenches moments during which medics and corpsmen fought to save the lives of their comrades. Along the way, readers will learn the fascinating history of battlefield medicine and how it has benefited both military and civilian medical practice throughout American history. McGaugh also looks ahead to the future, where telemedicine and robotic surgery promise to transform the battlefield once again. In the end, Battlefield Angels both chronicles and pays homage to the men and women in arms who fight every day to save the lives of their fellow soldiers, sailors, and Marines. “Battlefield Angels propels the reader into an alien world of horrific wounds, unimaginable living conditions, and profound responsibility borne by young men and women only a few years past high school. It is a world where corpsmen and medics have lived for hundreds of years.” –RADM Riley Mixson, USN (ret.), Former Director of Air Warfare for Chief of Naval Operations, USN “While Battlefield Angels captures the progress of military medicine, it is the story of individual medics and corpsmen saving lives at acute risk that will haunt and inspire the reader long after he or she has passed this fascinating read on to a friend.” –Richard Setlowe, screenwriter, journalist, military author of The Black Sea and The Brink

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