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Product Details
- Binding: Hardcover
- ISBN-10: 0300083408
- ISBN-13: 9780300083408
- Edition: 1
- Number Of Pages: 288
- Publication Date: 2000-03
- Publisher: Yale University Press
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Amazon.com Review This is the single best book available on the Taliban, the fundamentalist Islamic regime in Afghanistan responsible for harboring the terrorist Osama bin Laden. Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist who has spent most of his career reporting on the region--he has personally met and interviewed many of the Taliban's shadowy leaders. Taliban was written and published before the massacres of September 11, 2001, yet it is essential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the aftermath of that black day. It includes details on how and why the Taliban came to power, the government's oppression of ordinary citizens (especially women), the heroin trade, oil intrigue, and--in a vitally relevant chapter--bin Laden's sinister rise to power. These pages contain stories of mass slaughter, beheadings, and the Taliban's crushing war against freedom: under Mullah Omar, it has banned everything from kite flying to singing and dancing at weddings. Rashid is for the most part an objective reporter, though his rage sometimes (and understandably) comes to the surface: "The Taliban were right, their interpretation of Islam was right, and everything else was wrong and an expression of human weakness and a lack of piety," he notes with sarcasm. He has produced a compelling portrait of modern evil. --John Miller
Product Description Shrouding themselves and their aims in deepest secrecy, the leaders of the Taliban movement control Afghanistan with an inflexible, crushing fundamentalism. The most extreme and radical of all Islamic organizations, the Taliban inspires fascination, controversy, and especially fear in both the Muslim world and the West. Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban into sharp focus in this enormously interesting and revealing book. It is the only authoritative account of the Taliban and modern day Afghanistan available to English language readers.
Based on his experiences as a journalist covering the civil war in Afghanistan for twenty years, traveling and living with the Taliban, and interviewing most of the Taliban leaders since their emergence to power in 1994, Rashid offers unparalleled firsthand information. He explains how the growth of Taliban power has already created severe instability in Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and five Central Asian republics. He describes the Taliban’s role as a major player in a new “Great Game”—a competition among Western countries and companies to build oil and gas pipelines from Central Asia to Western and Asian markets. The author also discusses the controversial changes in American attitudes toward the Taliban—from early support to recent bombings of Osama Bin Laden’s hideaway and other Taliban-protected terrorist bases—and how they have influenced the stability of the region.
Customer Reviews
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Excellent book. Ahmed Raschid is a dedicated reporter of facts and leaves the conclusions to the reader.
I highly recommend it for anyone that wants a greater understanding of the issues in the war torn middle east
than you will ever get from our mainstream media.
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Rashid, a Pakistan journalist, has published a magnificent review of the Taliban's rise from ragtag gang to semi-victors of the Afghan civil war of the 90s. Taliban includes a revealing study of the reclusive Mullah Omar. The Taliban massacre of thousands of innocent Afghans as well as their outrageous treatment of women is abominable. Rashid adds two chapters on Afghanistan's importance to the world oil and gas market, providing rational for neighboring countries' actions and support for factions in civil-war torn Afghanistan. Excellent analysis of third-nation interests in Afghanistan including Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and China. Although somewhat dated (written in 2001), this book is a must to understand why a negotiated settlement with the Taliban is an unacceptable solution to the conflict in Afghanistan."
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I read Rashid's "Taliban" as an introduction to the current U.S. war in Afghanistan, and I have found it to be highly readable, accessible, and enjoyable. Rashid has a compelling writing style that balances complex details with flowing, engaging narratives. As a Pakistani journalist in Afghanistan, Rashid has managed to land interviews with prominent Afghani and Taliban leaders, as well as common soldiers. Their stories, which Rashid uses as a vehicle for his extensive presentation of background information about Afghanistan, give the "Taliban" a moving and personal feel.
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Considering that the book was written prior to September 11th attacks (and the polices that resulted) this book holds up fairly well. Above all, while this book near the end lays out a role for the U.S. diplomatically--it seems to lay out a framework for why any strategy involving the miltary (including the U.S) won't work.
Rashid does a good job of describing the violent history of Afghanistan and Central Asia, as well as how the Taliban came to power. This book is especially relevant given the current U.S dilemma with Afghanistan. Afghanistan was in civil war that even the Taliban, as violent as they could be, could not completely put out. The U.S. occupation more or less reopened this powder keg.
Reading this book, it's hard not to get a sense of blowback on the part of the U.S: i.e. supporting the mujaheeden and looking the other way on the drugs that supported the mujaheeden have created a nightmare now.
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book was in great condition as described. speedy delivery. would buy from this person again.
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