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The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan
Blue Rider Press
January 2012
On Sale: January 5, 2012
432 pages
ISBN: 0399159886
EAN: 9780399159886
Kindle: B006CU9WU6
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
General Stanley McChrystal, the innovative, forward-thinking
commanding general of international and U.S. forces in
Afghanistan, was living large. He was better known to some
as Big Stan, M4, Stan, and his loyal staff liked to call
him a "rock star." During a spring 2010 trip across Europe
to garner additional allied help for the war effort,
McChrystal was accompanied by journalist Michael Hastings of
Rolling Stone. For days, Hastings looked on as
McChrystal and his staff let off steam, partying and openly
bashing the Obama administration for what they saw as a
lack of leadership. When Hastings's piece appeared a few
months later, it set off a political firestorm: McChrystal
was ordered to Washington, where he was fired
unceremoniously. In The Operators, Hastings
picks up where his Rolling Stone coup ended. He
gives us a shocking behind-the-scenes portrait of our
military commanders, their high-stakes maneuvers and often
bitter bureaucratic infighting. Hastings takes us on patrol
missions in the Afghan hinterlands, to late-night bull
sessions of senior military advisors, to hotel bars where
spies and expensive hookers participate in nation-building
gone awry. And as he weighs the merits and failings of
old-school generals and the so-called COINdinistas-the
counterintelligence experts-Hastings draws back the curtain
on a hellish complexity and, he fears, an unwinnable war.
Comments
1 comment posted.
Re: The Operators
Sat up most of the night reading The Operators, and I
usually don't go for this kind of book. It's excellent, well
documented. If you're wondering where your tax money goes -
and how brutal the Afghan War really is - read this. If
you're looking for heroes among presidents or celebrity
generals (or CIA director), this book will disappoint you.
(Jay Borne 3:47pm February 13, 2012)
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