by David Loyn
Security Assistance Force
Sedwill, Mark
Shah, Muhammad Zahir
Shah, Zahir
Shahim, Qadam Shah
Shahrani, Nematullah
Shalikashvili, John
Sharif, Raheel
Sherman, Matt
Sherzai, Gul Agha
Shuja, Shah
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
Sierra Leone
SIGAR. See Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction
situational awareness room (SAR)
Slim, William
Small Wars Manual
Small Wars Operations
smartphones
COIN and
of Mansour, tracking of
Smith, Adam
Smith, Gregory J.
Snodgrass, Guy
soccer
social media
SOF. See special operations forces
The Soldier and State (Huntington)
Somalia
Sopko, John
Sorley, Lewis
Spanta, Rangin
Special Air Service (SAS)
Special Forces
CT and
Karzai, Hamid, and
McChrystal, S., and
missing men and
on night operations
Pakistan and
in Tora Bora cave complex
Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)
special operations forces (SOF)
Spotts, Robin
Starkey, Jerome
Steiner, Michael
Stevens, Chris
Stinger antiaircraft missiles
Stirrup, Jock
Strategic Advisory Team
Strick van Linschoten, Alex
Stryker armored vehicles
suicide bombings
Sullivan, Jake
Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR)
Syria
Tajik
Taliban
Afghan National Army and
in Anaconda strategy
at Bagram Air Base
Buddha statue destruction by
Bush and
casualties of
changing allegiance in
CIA and
civilian casualties by
Clinton, H., and
coalition strategy against
corruption and
defeat of
Dunford, J., and
early elimination of
Eid cease-fire and
Fahim and
Germans and
Ghani, Ashraf, and
green-on-blue attacks and
Haq and
Haqqani network and
in Helmand Province
Holbrooke and
Iran and
IS and
ISAF and
on Al Jazeera TV
in Kandahar
Karzai, Hamid, and
in Korengal Valley
Kunduz hospital and
Loya Jirga tent and
McChrystal, S., and
money burning and
morale of
in Musa Qala
“mutually hurting stalemate” and
NATO and
Northern Alliance and
Norway and
Obama and
OEF and
Operation Medusa and
Operation Mostarak and
Operation Mountain Thrust against
Pakistan and
in Paktia Province
of Pashtun
as poorly educated
prisoner releases and
al-Qaeda and
reign of terror of
return of
Russia and
on social media
strong influence of
talks with
talks with (II)
Trump and
unwillingness to talk to
warlords and
women’s rights and
Tarzi, Mahmud
Task Force La Fayette
Task Force Spartan
Team America
Templer, Gerald
Ten Wars (Lute)
Tenet, George
10th Mountain Division
Teri Mangal
terms sheet
TF-2010
TF-Nexus
TF-Spotlight
Tillerson, Rex
time-phased force deployment
Toner, Chris
Tootal, Stuart
Tora Bora cave complex
Trout, Cliff
Trump, Donald J.
Nicholson, J., and
Pakistan and
Taliban and
TTP
Tuchman, Barbara
Tunnell, Harry
Turkey/Turks
Tweet of Damocles
Umarzai, Lal Muhammad
United Nations (UN)
USAID
corruption and
Five Pillars and
Operation Mostarak and
schools and
security for
Uzbekistan
“Valley Forge of the Afghan Army”
Vendrell, Francesc
Vietnam
bombing pause in
COIN in
commanders from
CORDS program in
corruption in
Dunford, J., and
Holbrooke in
pacification in
Small Wars Manual in
Trump and
Vuono, Carl
Waltz, Michael
Wanat
war crimes
War Machine (film)
war on terror, of Bush
Wardak, Abdul Rahim
warlords. See also mujahideen
airpower and
CIA and
corruption of
digging in by
Five Pillars and
funding of
Ghani, Ashraf, and
ISAF and
at Loya Jirga tent
money burning and
9/11 and
Northern Alliance and
of Pashtun
prevention of return of
Russia and
Taliban and
Warren, Elizabeth
Washington Papers
Waziri, Dawlat
wedding parties
Westmoreland, William
Westside Boys
WikiLeaks
Wilder, Andrew
winning hearts and minds
Wolfowitz, Paul
women’s rights
Wood, William “Chemical Bill”
Woodward, Bob
World Bank
corruption and
World Food Programme
Worsley, Henry
Yaqoob, Muhammad
Zadran, Mullah Sangeen
Zaeef, Mullah
Zahir, Haji
Zorlu, Hilmi Akin
Zubaide, Mahfouz
ALSO BY DAVID LOYN
Frontline
In Afghanistan
Butcher & Bolt
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID LOYN was an award-winning foreign correspondent for thirty years for the BBC. He is an authority on Afghanistan, a country he has visited every year since 1994. In 2017, he worked as an adviser in the office of the Afghan president Ashraf Ghani (pictured on the right with the author). His book Frontline: The True Story of the British Mavericks Who Changed the Face of War Reporting was shortlisted for the 2006 Orwell Prize. He lives in London. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
DEDICATION
MAPS
INTRODUCTION
PHASE ONE
2001–2006: THE DIE IS CAST
1 NOT BUILDING A NATION
2 THE FOG OF AID
PHASE TWO
2006–2009: THE TALIBAN RETURN
3 THE BIGGEST WARLORD
4 THE HEART OF THE BEAST
5 RACK ’EM AND STACK ’EM
PHASE THREE
2009–2011: THE SURGE
6 COIN
7 OBAMA’S WAR
8 OWNING THE VILLAGES
9 THE BELL CURVE AND THE ANACONDA
10 THE COUNTERINSURGENCY DILEMMA
PHASE FOUR
2011–2014: DRAWDOWN
11 PIVOT POINT
12 TRIPLE TRANSITION
13 TALKING TO THE TALIBAN—I
PHASE FIVE
2015–2021: ENDGAME
14 AFGHANISTAN’S WAR
15 ENDURING COMMITMENT
16 TALKING TO THE TALIBAN—II
17 ELECTION AND AFTER
PHOTOGRAPHS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PICTURE CREDITS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
NOTES
INDEX
ALSO BY DAVID LOYN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE LONG WAR. Copyright © 2021 by David Loyn. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
Maps by Jeffrey L. Ward
Cover design by Young Jin Lin
Cover photo © David Guttenfelder/Associated Press
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Loyn, David, author.
Title: The long war: the inside story of America and Afghanistan since 9/11 / David Loyn.
Other titles: Inside story of America and Afghanistan since 9/11
Description: First edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021026568 | ISBN 9781250128423 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250128430 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Afghan War, 2001—United States.
Classification: LCC DS371.412 .L696 2021 | DDC 958.104/7373—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026568
eISBN 9781250128430
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: 2021
* Pronounced sirp.
† Phase I: Deter; Phase II: Seize Initiative; Phase III: Dominate; Phase IV: Stabilize and Reconstruct; Phase V: Enable Civil Authority.
‡ Colonel Henry Worsley died in January 2016, within days of the end of an attempt to make the first solo unassisted crossing of the Antarctic by foot.
§ Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support
¶ CIA: Central Intelligence Agency; DIA: Defense Intelligence Agency; FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation; NSC: National Security Council; NGA: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
** This is a play on words of the English translation of the medical charity Médicins sans Frontières.
†† Sultanzoy’s wife, Zohra Yusuf Daud, was crowned Miss Afghanistan in 1972, the only year there was a competition. She went on to become a prominent advocate for Afghan women’s rights.
