Coll,S. Ghost Wars. 2004
Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan,
and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. New York:
The Penguin Press, 2004. 695 pages.
There are three types of books that get written about recent events.
One pretends that history is created by a single colorful personality
("Charlie Wilson's War" by George Crile). It is written with an eye to the
movie rights. Another might be described as sound-bite partisanship that
broadcasts questions more than it pursues answers ("House of Bush, House of
Saud" by Craig Unger). Steve Coll's book is the third type -- explanatory
journalism that is both detailed and broad, reads like a sober textbook,
and explains events and circumstances chronologically without emphasizing
the role of extraordinary individuals. A screenwriter would have a tough
time with this one. The only reason it's in bookstores today is because
U.S. publishers ignored the Middle East for twenty years, and then after
9/11 suspected that history might sell -- even if Charlie Wilson is
mentioned on only a few pages!
Steve Coll was the South Asia bureau chief for the Washington Post
between 1989 and 1992, where he covered Afghanistan, and has been managing
editor of the Post since 1998. He won a Pulitzer for explanatory journalism
in 1990. Although a good portion of this book deals with hot-button issues
such as the CIA, Coll's reporting has to be described as "uncritical."
ISBN 1-59420-007-6
- AARON DAVID L (44-5)
- ABDULLAH CROWN PRINCE (ABDULLAH IBN ABDUL AZIZ AL SAUD) (397-9)
- ABRAMOWITZ MORTON I (105, 150)
- ADHAM KAMAL (73)
- AHMADZAI HASHMAT GHANI (285)
- AHMED MAHMOUD (GEN) (504-6, 508-11)
- AJAJ AHMED (249)
- AKHROMEYEV SERGEI F (158)
- AKHTAR ABDUL RAHMAN (63-70, 103, 180)
- AKHUND IQBAL (192)
- ALBRIGHT MADELEINE K (362-3, 383-4)
- ALHAWSAWI MUSTAFA (564)
- ALI ALI ABDUL AZIZ (564)
- ALI SYED RAZA (119)
- ALLEN CHARLES E (520)
- AMES ROBERT CLAYTON (98)
- AMIN HAFIZULLAH (46-50)
- AMSTUTZ J BRUCE (48)
- ANDERSON FRANK RAY (xiv, 125, 165, 167, 173, 200, 260-1, 264-5, 610)
- ANDROPOV YURI V (38-41, 48-9)
- ARMACOST MICHAEL HAYDEN (169)
- ARMITAGE RICHARD L (539, 558)
- ASIA FOUNDATION (47)
- ATEF MOHAMED (473-4, 495, 563)
- ATIANI BAKR (560)
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- ATWOOD J BRIAN (264)
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- BABAR NASEERULLAH KHAN (114, 290-1)
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- BADEEB AHMED (71-2, 81-4, 86-8, 156-7, 221, 224, 294-6)
- BADEEB SAEED (81)
- BAER ROBERT B (141, 143)
- BAKER JAMES A III (232)
- BAKER JAMES E (JAMIE) (423, 427)
- BANAQA SHARAF AL-DIN (324)
- BANDAR BIN SULTAN (82, 262)
- BASHIR OMAR HASSAN AL- (324)
- BEACH ROGER C (301-2)
- BEARDEN MILTON A (147-51, 162, 165-7, 175-8, 183-4, 197)
- BEDLINGTON STANLEY S (146)
- BEG MIRZA ASLAM (191-2, 220-1)
- BENJAMIN DANIEL (NSC/CSIS) (419, 431, 434, 532-3)
- BERGER SAMUEL R (SANDY) (307, 541)
- BHUTTO BENAZIR (191-2, 212, 241, 289-94, 298-300, 310-1, 329, 331, 348)
- BHUTTO ZULFIKAR ALI (27, 61)
- BIN BAZ ABDUL (SHEIKH) (83)
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- BLACKWILL ROBERT D (546)
- BOREN DAVID LYLE (D-OK) (357-8, 540)
- BOROVIK ARTYOM (132, 184-5)
- BROWN HANK (R-CO) (343)
- BROWNBACK SAM (R-KS) (515)
- BRUNER WHITLEY (260)
- BRZEZINSKI ZBIGNIEW (46, 50-1, 103)
- BUCKLEY WILLIAM (CIA) (143, 261)
- BULGHERONI CARLOS (305-6)
- CANNISTRARO VINCENT M (142-3)
- CARNEY TIMOTHY MICHAEL (320-2)
- CASEY WILLIAM JOSEPH
- CHRISTOPHER WARREN M (264)
- CLARKE RICHARD A (STATE DEPT / NSC) (319, 386-91, 394-6, 447, 542)
- CLARRIDGE DUANE R (DEWEY) (139-44, 244, 521-2)
- CLINTON HILLARY RODHAM (362-3)
- CLOSE RAYMOND H (609)
- COGAN CHARLES GALLIGAN (56, 102, 265)
- COHEN WILLIAM S (R-ME) (533)
- COLDREN LEE (338)
- CRESSEY ROGER W III (542)
- DAOUD MOHAMMED (PRES) (39, 113-4)
- DAVIES GLYN T (14-5)
- DAVIS LANNY J (504)
- DESPRES JOHN (358)
- DEUTCH JOHN MARK (316-7)
- DONOVAN WILLIAM JOSEPH (94-5)
- DOSTUM ABDUL RASHID (234, 236-7, 348, 514, 555)
- DOWNING JACK G (CIA) (360, 396)
- DUBS ADOLPH (47-8)
- DURRANI ASAD (217, 220, 227)
- EASTHAM ALAN W JR (346, 545)
- ENGLISH OTILIE (556-7)
- ERMARTH FRITZ W (317)
- ERWA ELFATIH (322)
- FADL JAMAL AHMED AL- (336, 367)
- FAHD KING (FAHD IBN ABD AL-AZIZ AL SAUD) (73, 398)
- FAHIM MOHAMMED QASIM (286)
- FAISAL KING (IBN ABDUL-AZIZ AL) (79)
- FIELDS DAVID (30, 33)
- FORREST VAUGHN S (136-7)
- FREEH LOUIS JOSEPH (253-4)
- FRYE SCOTT (ADM) (520)
- GAILANI PIR SAYED AHMED (175, 181)
- GARRETT BRADLEY (272-3, 374-5)
- GATES ROBERT MICHAEL (104-5, 131, 140-1, 159, 168-9, 241)
- GEORGE CLAIR ELROY (56, 80)
- GORBACHEV MIKHAIL S (158-60, 167-9, 231-2)
- GOSS PORTER J (R-FL) (424)
- GOUTTIERRE THOMAS E (364)
- GROMOV BORIS (185)
- GUL HAMID (164, 174-5, 190-3, 217, 263)
- HADLEY STEPHEN JOHN (541, 558)
- HAIDER MOINUDDIN (547-50)
- HAMAS (260)
- HAQ ABDUL (53-4, 67-9, 101, 151, 166-7, 444, 491)
- HAQANI JALALUDDIN (131, 157, 202, 293)
- HART HOWARD PHILLIPS (53-70, 101)
- HAWALI SAFAR AL- (229)
- HAZMI NAWAF AL- (563-4)
- HEKMATYAR GULBUDDIN
- HESLIN SHEILA N (307)
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- HIZBALLAH (142-3)
- HOFFMAN BRUCE (145)
- HORELICK ARNOLD L (43)
- HUMMEL ARTHUR WILLIAM JR (23, 28-9)
- HUMPHREY GORDON J (R-NH) (128, 176)
- IBN SAUD ABDUL-AZIZ (KING) (73, 76)
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- INDERFURTH KARL F (RICK) (363-5, 384-6, 430, 462-3)
- INMAN BOBBY RAY (90)
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- SCENSNY LEONARD (363)
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- SEVAN BENON V (235)
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- SHEEHAN MICHAEL A (463, 512)
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