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No Worse Enemy: The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan
Critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ben Anderson (Panorama and Dispatches) provides a gripping account of the frontline in Helmand province, Afghanistan, and details how it has descended into a quagmire, with ever-increasing levels of violence and confusion. Including interviews with military top brass, from commanding officers to General Petreaus himself, this book reveals the disturbing chasm between official rhetoric and the situation on the ground.
Informed by more than 300 hours of firsthand frontline footage with the U.S. Marines, documentary filmmaker Anderson (HBO's "The Battle for Marjah") provides a gripping account of the Afghanistan war in Helmand province.
Informed by more than 300 hours of firsthand frontline footage with the U.S. Marines, documentary filmmaker Anderson (HBO's "The Battle for Marjah") provides a gripping account of the Afghanistan war in Helmand province.
266 pages, Hardcover
First published December 16, 2011
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April 26, 2012
I had to think long and hard about what I was going to try and say in my review of this book; “No Worse Enemy”. It’s a good book written from the perspective of a British journalist and documentary filmmaker (The documentary; The Battle for Marjah is based on part of this book) who has been visiting Afghanistan off and on for the last few years.
This book covers the period 2007 to early 2011 starting off with the British forces on the ground and finishing with the Marines at Sangin in Helmand province. The author made the point of going out on patrol with the soldiers of both nations and to see the war through their eyes and also through the eyes of the Afghan civilians they were supposedly fighting the war for.
The book presents the reader with the contradiction between policy and statements offered by allied governments and what is actually occurring on the ground and in the villages throughout the provinces of Afghanistan. It reminded me of this famous incident:
Writing about the provincial capital, Bến Tre, on 7 February 1968, Peter Arnett cited an unidentified U.S. military official as follows: "'It became necessary to destroy the town to save it', a United States major said today. He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong." The quote became famous, eventually becoming the more familiar, "We had to destroy the village in order to save it”. – This seems to be what is happening out in the villages and fields of Afghanistan.
In the book the author offered this comparison to try and help readers understand the difficulties the British forces had in implementing their policy of an 'Afghan Development Zone' in Helmand province during 2007:
To begin to understand how hard it was for the British to attempt to carry out this policy, imagine an Indian dropped into Chicago, or a Brazilian dropped into Islamabad. Imagine asking them, without speaking the language or having any idea who to trust, to create, staff and monitor an entirely new system of government. What's more, imagine asking them to do this within six months, while fighting a war and after having killed several hundred civilians by mistake.
The author writes well and his descriptions of some of the firefights and skirmishes and very evocative, like this account of a one-on-one battle between a Taliban sniper and some Marine marksmen:
Above us, the cracks of the competition between marksmen continued. Its structure was polite, like a conversation between strangers; back and forth, back and forth, sometimes in single words, sometimes in sentences. Often, the participants waited a few minutes to take their turn. In between, there was an awful silence. It was careful, considered and cerebral. There seemed to be rules, tricks, feints and a mutual respect that suggested an etiquette. Occasionally, of course, someone at either end collapsed into a lifeless heap.
The author also provided numerous accounts of how the Afghan National Army (ANA) conducted their operations under Marine guidance and on their own:
I’d also caught a glimpse of how the Afghan National Army was likely to operate after NATO forces left. A small ANA unit had charged ahead of the American soldiers and found all the IEDs in a small village in less than an hour. ‘How did you do it?’ asked the American captain, astounded. ‘Did you offer the locals $50 for each IED they revealed, like we trained you?’ ‘No’, said the ANA captain, excitedly, ‘we told them ‘show us the IEDs or start digging your own grave.’
Accounts like this one below about an Afghan interpreter attached to the Marines tend to bring home the sadness felt by those who are stuck in this hell with no hope of rotation back home:
Rock was skinny, with bright, yellowy-green eyes and long eyelashes. Away from the marines, he revealed a sadness, at being away from his family, and seeing the suffering of the Afghans in Helmand province, that was heart-breaking. He was also sad that marines and large parts of the rest of the world saw Helmand and thought ‘Afghanistan’. He was from Mazar-e-Sharif, which, he kept telling everyone, was a beautiful place with no war.
In the end the book brought home to me that possibly we are losing the war in Afghanistan and it may end up being another Vietnam. Only time will tell, but I think every politician and those who send our men into harm’s way should read this book and reflect on what we are supposedly trying to do and what we have actually done.
This book covers the period 2007 to early 2011 starting off with the British forces on the ground and finishing with the Marines at Sangin in Helmand province. The author made the point of going out on patrol with the soldiers of both nations and to see the war through their eyes and also through the eyes of the Afghan civilians they were supposedly fighting the war for.
The book presents the reader with the contradiction between policy and statements offered by allied governments and what is actually occurring on the ground and in the villages throughout the provinces of Afghanistan. It reminded me of this famous incident:
Writing about the provincial capital, Bến Tre, on 7 February 1968, Peter Arnett cited an unidentified U.S. military official as follows: "'It became necessary to destroy the town to save it', a United States major said today. He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong." The quote became famous, eventually becoming the more familiar, "We had to destroy the village in order to save it”. – This seems to be what is happening out in the villages and fields of Afghanistan.
In the book the author offered this comparison to try and help readers understand the difficulties the British forces had in implementing their policy of an 'Afghan Development Zone' in Helmand province during 2007:
To begin to understand how hard it was for the British to attempt to carry out this policy, imagine an Indian dropped into Chicago, or a Brazilian dropped into Islamabad. Imagine asking them, without speaking the language or having any idea who to trust, to create, staff and monitor an entirely new system of government. What's more, imagine asking them to do this within six months, while fighting a war and after having killed several hundred civilians by mistake.
The author writes well and his descriptions of some of the firefights and skirmishes and very evocative, like this account of a one-on-one battle between a Taliban sniper and some Marine marksmen:
Above us, the cracks of the competition between marksmen continued. Its structure was polite, like a conversation between strangers; back and forth, back and forth, sometimes in single words, sometimes in sentences. Often, the participants waited a few minutes to take their turn. In between, there was an awful silence. It was careful, considered and cerebral. There seemed to be rules, tricks, feints and a mutual respect that suggested an etiquette. Occasionally, of course, someone at either end collapsed into a lifeless heap.
The author also provided numerous accounts of how the Afghan National Army (ANA) conducted their operations under Marine guidance and on their own:
I’d also caught a glimpse of how the Afghan National Army was likely to operate after NATO forces left. A small ANA unit had charged ahead of the American soldiers and found all the IEDs in a small village in less than an hour. ‘How did you do it?’ asked the American captain, astounded. ‘Did you offer the locals $50 for each IED they revealed, like we trained you?’ ‘No’, said the ANA captain, excitedly, ‘we told them ‘show us the IEDs or start digging your own grave.’
Accounts like this one below about an Afghan interpreter attached to the Marines tend to bring home the sadness felt by those who are stuck in this hell with no hope of rotation back home:
Rock was skinny, with bright, yellowy-green eyes and long eyelashes. Away from the marines, he revealed a sadness, at being away from his family, and seeing the suffering of the Afghans in Helmand province, that was heart-breaking. He was also sad that marines and large parts of the rest of the world saw Helmand and thought ‘Afghanistan’. He was from Mazar-e-Sharif, which, he kept telling everyone, was a beautiful place with no war.
In the end the book brought home to me that possibly we are losing the war in Afghanistan and it may end up being another Vietnam. Only time will tell, but I think every politician and those who send our men into harm’s way should read this book and reflect on what we are supposedly trying to do and what we have actually done.
October 20, 2016
i said i wouldn't read another book about afghanistan, and here i am. clean, staccatic, orwell inspired prose; vivid scenes sprung to life; meaningful apercus. it made me curious about the places the author had been to and had written about with so much evident deference and empathy.
May 16, 2021
Military history about the US involvement in Afghanistan. Decent research and presentation about the combat role there. Recommended for an inside look at the ground war in Afghanistan. Thanks!
September 4, 2021
I recently watched the excellent HBO documentary This is What Winning Looks Like from Ben Anderson, and noticed that he also has written a book about the war in Afghanistan and his experiences as a embedded journalist (for BBC).
Books about Afghanistan are not very popular when I look at the number of ratings on GR, but this is a good and sad account of the hopeless mess in Afghanistan. After publication of the first edition the war would drag on for almost another 10 years. The collapse of the ANA (Afghan National Army) was predicted by Anderson and a lot of insiders. Western media and politicians have been willfully blind.
Books about Afghanistan are not very popular when I look at the number of ratings on GR, but this is a good and sad account of the hopeless mess in Afghanistan. After publication of the first edition the war would drag on for almost another 10 years. The collapse of the ANA (Afghan National Army) was predicted by Anderson and a lot of insiders. Western media and politicians have been willfully blind.
May 6, 2013
A concise, useful and depressing insight into British and US operations in Helmand from 2007 to 2011, written by an embedded film journalist. One of the great strengths of Anderson's book is that the dialogue is accurately transcribed from his filming, including the translation of Pashtu and Dari (revealing some quite startling mistranslations by the interpreters working for ISAF). The first part is the only part where he covers time with British Forces, and interestingly this was with the Grenadier Guards mentoring the Afghan National Army at the same time as Patrick Hennesey, who went on to write two of his own books about his experiences, allowing for comparison between those and this work. The account of his time with the US Marines in Marjah offers perhaps the most optimistic insights, showing how counter-insurgency can be done reasonably well, and this included establishing security, interacting with the people, giving them jobs and paying rent for accommodation. However, the final parts spent with US Marines in Sangin are almost totally depressing, giving little hope for the future of Afghanistan. The rather callous bulldozing around Pharmacy Road is hard to reconcile with effective counter-insurgency, and there seemed little effort to win hearts and minds. Some of the officers' assertions about the effectiveness of "aggressive patrolling" seemed laughable when in reality patrols moved at a snail's pace, typically 200 metres per hour, due to the counter-IED precautions. The author's encounters with senior officers were very rare (principally because he spent the majority of his time embedded with combat troops), but when they did happen they seemed to reveal something of a fantasy world occupied by elements of the chain of command - for instance, enthusiastically suggesting that the introduction of the Afghan National Police and courts were a good thing and popular with the people, when the apparently accurate perception on the ground was that the police were the cause of most crime and incredibly corrupt. Conversations with locals in Sangin and Marjah regularly revealed a preference for uncorrupt and reliable Taliban law and order, and foreign forces were resented for bringing violence, triggered by their mere presence. The patronising manner of US and British officers with the locals was also pretty depressing. Interestingly, General Petraeus does not come out in a very good light, in comparison to his predecessor, McChrystal, with Petraeus seemingly undoing much of the hearts-and-minds progress made by McChrystal (and while it is not explicitly linked, I couldn't help reflecting on how the positive episodes in Marjah happened to be during McChrystal's tenure, while the awfully negative accounts of the US Marines in Sangin happened to be in Petraeus' tenure). Finally, away from the strategy and politics, the descriptions of combat and soldiers at war make for very interesting reading, written with some sympathy (although not universally so), and one particular surprise for me is that the ISAF soldiers almost never saw their foes - it was incredibly rare to actually see the Taliban in combat - and that really brought to mind accounts of the Vietnam War.
August 17, 2012
This book is about the reality of war in Afghanistan, as told by a British documentary journalist who spent a lot of time with the troops on the ground. If Rajiv Chandrasekaran, in his book Little America, tries to show how the higher level decision-makers have fought the war the wrong way, Ben Anderson in this book gives a neutral but ultimately damning picture on how we are not winning the war at the grunt level. To do so, his time there is spent entirely in Helmand province, first with a rifle company of the British Grenadier Guards in 2007, then with the 2nd Battalion of the 8th US Marines in 2009 and finally with the 1st Battalion of the 6th US Marines in 2010. In the most revealing episode, he lands in the heart of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah with the assaulting Marines in Operation Moshtarek, perhaps the biggest offensive that took place in Afghanistan, and stays with them as they consolidate their hold.
Anderson’s presence is at first just tolerated by the troops who are suspicious of any journalist watching over their shoulders as they try to face their daily challenges to keep alive, but they all come to accept him as he shares their dangers. In this sense, he is much like Sebastian Junger who spent all his time in a combat outpost in the Korengal Valley to write his book War, or like Canadian Legion correspondent Adam Day who lived in many Canadian army platoon outposts throughout Panjwayi District and wrote Witness to War. They belong to that rare breed of journalist who all seem to thrive on risking their lives in a combat zone, to bring readers a truer story than they could get from any other source
In writing the book, he uses the video tapes he liberally took of what he observed to present the exact words used by soldiers and by civilians. In doing so, he unfortunately shows too many times how troops, trained to eliminate the enemy by force, have at times a complete lack of empathy to the plight of local Afghans caught between the insurgents and the Western military. The result is a lot of death and destruction in the villages that the Western military is trying to clear and pacify, resulting in bitterness, resentment and immense sadness among innocent victims. There is also a feeling of futility when he writes about the Afghan National Army, giving many examples of how they lack discipline and any sense of responsibility: the British continue to try to mentor them but can’t help mocking them, while the Marines give up in frustration and carry out operations by themselves as much as possible.
Throughout the narrative, another constant theme that keeps coming up is the question of where is the Afghan government in all this? After major efforts are made by the British and American troops to clear areas during which they suffer too many killed and wounded, they find there is no Afghan presence to take over the newly-won territory. They question what they are fighting for but carry on because they are professionals trained to follow their orders.
This would be a good book to pair with Little America to try to understand how the war in Afghanistan is going wrong.
Anderson’s presence is at first just tolerated by the troops who are suspicious of any journalist watching over their shoulders as they try to face their daily challenges to keep alive, but they all come to accept him as he shares their dangers. In this sense, he is much like Sebastian Junger who spent all his time in a combat outpost in the Korengal Valley to write his book War, or like Canadian Legion correspondent Adam Day who lived in many Canadian army platoon outposts throughout Panjwayi District and wrote Witness to War. They belong to that rare breed of journalist who all seem to thrive on risking their lives in a combat zone, to bring readers a truer story than they could get from any other source
In writing the book, he uses the video tapes he liberally took of what he observed to present the exact words used by soldiers and by civilians. In doing so, he unfortunately shows too many times how troops, trained to eliminate the enemy by force, have at times a complete lack of empathy to the plight of local Afghans caught between the insurgents and the Western military. The result is a lot of death and destruction in the villages that the Western military is trying to clear and pacify, resulting in bitterness, resentment and immense sadness among innocent victims. There is also a feeling of futility when he writes about the Afghan National Army, giving many examples of how they lack discipline and any sense of responsibility: the British continue to try to mentor them but can’t help mocking them, while the Marines give up in frustration and carry out operations by themselves as much as possible.
Throughout the narrative, another constant theme that keeps coming up is the question of where is the Afghan government in all this? After major efforts are made by the British and American troops to clear areas during which they suffer too many killed and wounded, they find there is no Afghan presence to take over the newly-won territory. They question what they are fighting for but carry on because they are professionals trained to follow their orders.
This would be a good book to pair with Little America to try to understand how the war in Afghanistan is going wrong.
November 24, 2013
I ended the book on a sad note, with Mr. Anderson's words weighing heavily in my mind. I admire his courage; enduring bullets, mortar shells and stepping over IEDs. On the other hand, his written words were sobering.
He presents a picture we rarely see in the news media, and certainly, a disconnect between what the public had been told and what he recorded and reported on the ground. I could only conclude that nobody quite understood who the Afghans were, where their actual loyalties lay and how tribalism shaped their lives. Added to that was the fact that almost all the Afghans Mr. Anderson met knew that once the foreigners left their land, civil war would break out yet again, and fighting would start again with weapons which had fallen into the wrong hands. Worse still, some of the people trapped in areas with the heaviest fighting supported the Taliban, who brought stability and peace as they saw it.
The damning admissions of a general that they had no clue about Afghanistan before going into the war frustrated me. It certainly did not bode well for the soldiers who were told that they were on a noble mission to set up an ideal future for the Afghans all while fighting a faceless enemy.
Mr. Anderson's experiences on the ground meeting regular Afghans is sobering and exposes media exaggerations and beckons the question... did we fail the Afghans or did we fail ourselves with our simple idealism?
He presents a picture we rarely see in the news media, and certainly, a disconnect between what the public had been told and what he recorded and reported on the ground. I could only conclude that nobody quite understood who the Afghans were, where their actual loyalties lay and how tribalism shaped their lives. Added to that was the fact that almost all the Afghans Mr. Anderson met knew that once the foreigners left their land, civil war would break out yet again, and fighting would start again with weapons which had fallen into the wrong hands. Worse still, some of the people trapped in areas with the heaviest fighting supported the Taliban, who brought stability and peace as they saw it.
The damning admissions of a general that they had no clue about Afghanistan before going into the war frustrated me. It certainly did not bode well for the soldiers who were told that they were on a noble mission to set up an ideal future for the Afghans all while fighting a faceless enemy.
Mr. Anderson's experiences on the ground meeting regular Afghans is sobering and exposes media exaggerations and beckons the question... did we fail the Afghans or did we fail ourselves with our simple idealism?
July 14, 2012
No one could 'like' this book in a way because it details how US and British troops have been destroying Afghanistan for so many years. The writing is clear and easy to follow, but the chapters are repetitively similar. Written by a journalist who joined the troops on the front lines, it does show what the war is really like for them, which is why I wanted to read it. My son's high school friends and my ex-husband have been there, and one still is. You start to see how the only objective left is to not admit we made a mistake by going there in the first place. In other words, keeping the fiction alive that our soldiers didn't die in vain. In order to get out, we have to create a new fiction, that our war was a success because the Afghan government troops we trained can keep the country secure, not at all what the author believes. sad and mad.
October 17, 2016
I've been a fan of Ben's work for a few years now after watching his documentary "This is what winning looks like". The documentary left me wanting me and I finally found my way to this book. It did not disappoint. I'm just starting to become more seriously interested in American foreign policy and warfare and this book makes me want to read even more. I'm sure the book is factual (Anderson wrote in the introduction that a majority of the conversations and scenes came directly from video he shot while in the county) but I find myself not wanting to believe what is said.
August 29, 2021
I have to admitted (rather guiltily) that I hadn't given the war in Afganistan much thought in recent years - with so many other conflicts occurring, it just continued on in the background with little media attention.
With the resent fall of Afganistan to the Taliban, like many I began to wonder what the hell had happened? How could, after 20 years, the Taliban literally walk back into power?
So I began watching any documentary on youtube I could fine - and found Ben Anderson's 'Is this what winning looks like?' Documentary for VICE.
It was astoning (and I highly encourage you watch it), the situation and predictions so clearly layed out 8 years ago in this documentary all came to fruition.
And this book provides an even more detailed account of the reality on the ground, which was seldom talked about by official or reported.
These accounts leave bare the harsh reality of a prolonged and failed war - and highlight the startling fact that even as far back as 10 years ago, it was clear that the allies were fighting a losing war.
Reading accounts of soilders attempting to rationalise there mission in Afghanistan - in the face of the reality in front of them was harsh.
Through the book you begin to understand the very real and tactical issues soliders faced on the ground, when attempting to 'rebuild' a country they knew little to nothing about:
"To begin to understand how hard it was for the British to attempt to carry out this policy, imagine an Indian dropped into Chicago, or a Brazilian dropped into Islamabad. Imagine asking them, without speaking the language or having any idea who to trust, to create, staff and monitor an entirely new system of government. What’s more, imagine asking them to do this within six months, while fighting a war and after having killed several hundredcivilians by mistake. And this task had fallen to soldiers, untrained for many of the roles they were asked to perform, because so few people from the Department For International Development (DFID) or the Foreign Office ever set foot in Helmand. This surely guaranteed it could never succeed. It could only have had any chance of succeeding if it was truly Afghan-led. And led by the right Afghans, which it certainly was not." (Part 1: British Army 2007, Chapter 2)
Through years of fruitless fighting and little to no progress (weather that be in training and establishing a Afgan-led governing force, understanding and comprehending the complex history of tribalism within the country, or in generally trying to combat the gorilla methods of the Taliban), you can sense the bitterness and resentment settle in from all sides.
From troops who have lost fellow soliders and try to rationalise/fight so there sacrifice wasn't 'all for nothing', to the civilian Afgans stuck in the middle and seeing there friends and families die in the name of a 'democracy' they never wanted or asked for.
Near the end of the book, in Ben's 2010 visit staying with the Marine Corps, he documents a conversation with a local mullah, an Afgan National Army sergent and an US Second Lieutenant regading landmines and security.
"‘Yes, the Taliban are here but who are the Taliban? They are Afghans’, said the mullah, waving his hand at the marines. ‘Who are they? We two have to come together! Because my orphans will be left to you, yours to me. They ...’, he waved at the marines again, ‘will be leaving.’" (Part 4: US Marine Corps 2010/11, Chapter 13)
The conversation continues on, with the men trying to convince the mullah that the foreign presence and current war would result in betterment, hes response is:
"Yesterday they killed six people in a house, only two babies were spared. It was beyond the marketplace. Six metres beyond the bazaar there is no security. Can democracy be created by a cannon? Is that the meaning of democracy? We don’t want this democracy. We don’t want this law of the infidel. We want the rule of Islam. We don’t want this government. We don’t want the Americans. We don’t want the British. It’s because of them we have been fighting each other for thirty years... Thousands of people have died in this area. As you can see, it’s empty. All you have done is build one and half kilometres of road in the bazaar but against that, more than five thousand people have lost their lives: men, women and children. Now you can compare these two things against each other, which one of these do you say is better?" (Part 4: US Marine Corps 2010/11, Chapter 13)
It's hard to say this was a enjoyable book to read - I would describe it more akin to watching a car crash infront of you. You just can look away. But I do think it is a highly valuable read for all, showing a balanced, honest and complex portrayal of this 'black and white' war.
"For western policy-makers, desperate to avoid humiliation, a repeat of the Soviet defeat looks desirable, but unlikely. In huge swathes of the country, the government will not stand for twenty-four hours, much less three years, without foreign support. Every Afghan I have spoken to is convinced there will be another round of civil war as soon as we leave, with no rules of engagement or courageous restraint. They also think that the Taliban may well win. Perhaps the most damning indictment of our intervention is that there are also many Afghans who will think that if there is such a victory, the good guys will have won." (Afterword)
With the resent fall of Afganistan to the Taliban, like many I began to wonder what the hell had happened? How could, after 20 years, the Taliban literally walk back into power?
So I began watching any documentary on youtube I could fine - and found Ben Anderson's 'Is this what winning looks like?' Documentary for VICE.
It was astoning (and I highly encourage you watch it), the situation and predictions so clearly layed out 8 years ago in this documentary all came to fruition.
And this book provides an even more detailed account of the reality on the ground, which was seldom talked about by official or reported.
These accounts leave bare the harsh reality of a prolonged and failed war - and highlight the startling fact that even as far back as 10 years ago, it was clear that the allies were fighting a losing war.
Reading accounts of soilders attempting to rationalise there mission in Afghanistan - in the face of the reality in front of them was harsh.
Through the book you begin to understand the very real and tactical issues soliders faced on the ground, when attempting to 'rebuild' a country they knew little to nothing about:
"To begin to understand how hard it was for the British to attempt to carry out this policy, imagine an Indian dropped into Chicago, or a Brazilian dropped into Islamabad. Imagine asking them, without speaking the language or having any idea who to trust, to create, staff and monitor an entirely new system of government. What’s more, imagine asking them to do this within six months, while fighting a war and after having killed several hundredcivilians by mistake. And this task had fallen to soldiers, untrained for many of the roles they were asked to perform, because so few people from the Department For International Development (DFID) or the Foreign Office ever set foot in Helmand. This surely guaranteed it could never succeed. It could only have had any chance of succeeding if it was truly Afghan-led. And led by the right Afghans, which it certainly was not." (Part 1: British Army 2007, Chapter 2)
Through years of fruitless fighting and little to no progress (weather that be in training and establishing a Afgan-led governing force, understanding and comprehending the complex history of tribalism within the country, or in generally trying to combat the gorilla methods of the Taliban), you can sense the bitterness and resentment settle in from all sides.
From troops who have lost fellow soliders and try to rationalise/fight so there sacrifice wasn't 'all for nothing', to the civilian Afgans stuck in the middle and seeing there friends and families die in the name of a 'democracy' they never wanted or asked for.
Near the end of the book, in Ben's 2010 visit staying with the Marine Corps, he documents a conversation with a local mullah, an Afgan National Army sergent and an US Second Lieutenant regading landmines and security.
"‘Yes, the Taliban are here but who are the Taliban? They are Afghans’, said the mullah, waving his hand at the marines. ‘Who are they? We two have to come together! Because my orphans will be left to you, yours to me. They ...’, he waved at the marines again, ‘will be leaving.’" (Part 4: US Marine Corps 2010/11, Chapter 13)
The conversation continues on, with the men trying to convince the mullah that the foreign presence and current war would result in betterment, hes response is:
"Yesterday they killed six people in a house, only two babies were spared. It was beyond the marketplace. Six metres beyond the bazaar there is no security. Can democracy be created by a cannon? Is that the meaning of democracy? We don’t want this democracy. We don’t want this law of the infidel. We want the rule of Islam. We don’t want this government. We don’t want the Americans. We don’t want the British. It’s because of them we have been fighting each other for thirty years... Thousands of people have died in this area. As you can see, it’s empty. All you have done is build one and half kilometres of road in the bazaar but against that, more than five thousand people have lost their lives: men, women and children. Now you can compare these two things against each other, which one of these do you say is better?" (Part 4: US Marine Corps 2010/11, Chapter 13)
It's hard to say this was a enjoyable book to read - I would describe it more akin to watching a car crash infront of you. You just can look away. But I do think it is a highly valuable read for all, showing a balanced, honest and complex portrayal of this 'black and white' war.
"For western policy-makers, desperate to avoid humiliation, a repeat of the Soviet defeat looks desirable, but unlikely. In huge swathes of the country, the government will not stand for twenty-four hours, much less three years, without foreign support. Every Afghan I have spoken to is convinced there will be another round of civil war as soon as we leave, with no rules of engagement or courageous restraint. They also think that the Taliban may well win. Perhaps the most damning indictment of our intervention is that there are also many Afghans who will think that if there is such a victory, the good guys will have won." (Afterword)
July 3, 2023
A revelatory account of the situation in Afghanistan a full decade before the Taliban came to power. So accurate were his conclusions that the events of August 2021 in Afghanistan make No Worse Enemy prophetic in many areas.
Anderson outlines the mission limitations that British and US troops had facing them when trying to work with a local populace that had little understanding or desire for Afghan unity.
This is not a criticism of Afghans, but a criticism of coalition forces for attempting to instil liberal democratic principles and a unified nationalism with little understanding themselves of the complicated and fragmented mosaic of the numerous cultures in the region. This lack of understanding, coupled with the sheer poverty that the average Afghan lives in, means that structuring a western bureaucratic system and army was an impossible task.
The Achaemenid Empire, Macedonia, Seleucid Empire, Umayyad Caliphate, Mongol Empire, Timurid Empire, Mughal Empire, Sikh Empire, British Empire, and the Soviet Union have all previously attempted to assert control in the region, but each of these superpowers of their day failed.
Finishing the book made you wonder how the campaign in Afghanistan managed to limp on for another ten years.
Anderson outlines the mission limitations that British and US troops had facing them when trying to work with a local populace that had little understanding or desire for Afghan unity.
This is not a criticism of Afghans, but a criticism of coalition forces for attempting to instil liberal democratic principles and a unified nationalism with little understanding themselves of the complicated and fragmented mosaic of the numerous cultures in the region. This lack of understanding, coupled with the sheer poverty that the average Afghan lives in, means that structuring a western bureaucratic system and army was an impossible task.
The Achaemenid Empire, Macedonia, Seleucid Empire, Umayyad Caliphate, Mongol Empire, Timurid Empire, Mughal Empire, Sikh Empire, British Empire, and the Soviet Union have all previously attempted to assert control in the region, but each of these superpowers of their day failed.
Finishing the book made you wonder how the campaign in Afghanistan managed to limp on for another ten years.
July 25, 2017
I've admired Ben Anderson for a long time for his work in Vice on HBO series. I found his work to be honest and unnerving.
I found this book one of the most honest and realistic accounts of what is happening in Afghanistan currently. As almost all of the material is from his documented work and not his personal opinion, this makes it one of the most authentic, scary and unnerving account of all things Afghanistan.
I found this book one of the most honest and realistic accounts of what is happening in Afghanistan currently. As almost all of the material is from his documented work and not his personal opinion, this makes it one of the most authentic, scary and unnerving account of all things Afghanistan.
September 21, 2021
I devoured this book. I have never had such a close look at what the foreign troops were doing in Afghanistan. This really made me reframe today's discourse on Afghanistan and the illusion of "winning". This book is proof that nothing is won and all that the war brought is destruction. This is not the fault of the 20 something soldiers but war lords and most importantly defense contractors. To hell with them.
March 11, 2024
A succinct, interesting look at the author's time in Afghanistan. I don't typically read military books but found this an accessible read, i.e. it's not bogged down by jargon. I found his discussions with locals and British/American troops the most memorable aspects of the book. I'd watch Ben's VICE documentary on Afghanistan and pick this book up if it interests you.
August 12, 2018
Excellent on-the-ground reporting from the frontlines of the war in Afghanistan. Embedded with both British and US troops between 2007 and 2011, Anderson has seen and documented some of the worst of what soldiers and civilians alike have experienced on the frontlines in Helmand province.
June 20, 2017
A well researched and written book. At times it was searing and disheartening, but all together a great read.
July 4, 2022
Painful
July 16, 2025
Very well written book by a honest, candid journalist. capturing the realities of the war in Afghanistan
January 29, 2017
Well written albeit depressing account of a fruitless war...
April 25, 2014
Ben Anderson has written a truly awe inspiring irst hand account on the war on terror in Afghanistan as shown through the actions by the soldiers of Great Britain and the United States Marine Corps as they not only tried to remove the insurgent threat but also restore Afghanistan into a better nation.
The book starts with an intense prologue in which Anderson is trapped in a ditch with USMC Marines and they are all greatly afraid for their lives as insurgents fire down onto them. From there it transitions into the British soldiers and what they're doing to help the people of Afghanistan. This war isn't solely based on killing bad people, but based on removing hostilities in order to help the innocent civilian population stuck in all of this mess. It is shown throughout the accounts that Anderson brings back from his tours that the coalition forces are building schools, hospitals, administrative buildings, and even just plain houses to repay the damage they have inflicted on the country and it's people. There is also a lot of action for the British soldiers as they are constantly harassed by Taliban gun fire and attacks. We even get to experience a tragic moment when Anderson interviews a young British soldier who has lost a friend to battle and how he reacts. One thing people rarely understand about combat is that when one member of a unit dies it affects everyone who is there and it can have lasting effects which may never go away.
The Marines are even more involved in this war on terror as Anderson goes out with them many times and gets some of the greatest stories from them. One of the most memorable stories told in this book is when a patrol of Marines stumble upon and IED and have to take counter measures against it. As they go through the motions of rendering the bomb harmless they take fire from the Taliban. As they take fire a dwarf man who they take to be a kid is yelling at them and as the fight ends he ends up cursing the Marines. This story is memorable to me because it shows the things that happen daily to our service men and it is never publicized and that is humbling to me to know they are out there while we rest easy in relative comfort.
I recommend this to everyone because it is eye opening to some of the more intense situations of the war so many are against. It teaches the lessons of dedication and service to others. This book has inspired me and I hope it will do the same to all who read it.
The book starts with an intense prologue in which Anderson is trapped in a ditch with USMC Marines and they are all greatly afraid for their lives as insurgents fire down onto them. From there it transitions into the British soldiers and what they're doing to help the people of Afghanistan. This war isn't solely based on killing bad people, but based on removing hostilities in order to help the innocent civilian population stuck in all of this mess. It is shown throughout the accounts that Anderson brings back from his tours that the coalition forces are building schools, hospitals, administrative buildings, and even just plain houses to repay the damage they have inflicted on the country and it's people. There is also a lot of action for the British soldiers as they are constantly harassed by Taliban gun fire and attacks. We even get to experience a tragic moment when Anderson interviews a young British soldier who has lost a friend to battle and how he reacts. One thing people rarely understand about combat is that when one member of a unit dies it affects everyone who is there and it can have lasting effects which may never go away.
The Marines are even more involved in this war on terror as Anderson goes out with them many times and gets some of the greatest stories from them. One of the most memorable stories told in this book is when a patrol of Marines stumble upon and IED and have to take counter measures against it. As they go through the motions of rendering the bomb harmless they take fire from the Taliban. As they take fire a dwarf man who they take to be a kid is yelling at them and as the fight ends he ends up cursing the Marines. This story is memorable to me because it shows the things that happen daily to our service men and it is never publicized and that is humbling to me to know they are out there while we rest easy in relative comfort.
I recommend this to everyone because it is eye opening to some of the more intense situations of the war so many are against. It teaches the lessons of dedication and service to others. This book has inspired me and I hope it will do the same to all who read it.
February 19, 2017
It reminded me vaguely of A rumor of war , also a book written by a journalist accompanying marines into battle, this time Afghanistan, previously Vietnam.The location has changed but the command structure hasn't. Generals and politicians impose the same unrealistic battlefield restrictions while indulging in the same lies and rhetoric. Ah! the Irony.
February 21, 2013
An account of the war in Afghanistan by an embedded journalist.
The book is about the disconnect between the western political rhetoric of victory just around the corner with the Taliban on their last legs and the reality of ever increasing IED attacks and the essentially unresolved nature of the war and its central dilemma.
The book details the failings of the allied approach and the reasons for this both political and cultural.
It is difficult to argue against it when you look at the state of the country today and what has been achieved. Even through the filter of western political spin this does not look like a country ready to become the western model of stability anytime soon.
The book does not paint the allied soldiers in a bad light, they are bravely enforcing the will of those above their pay grade. The Afghan army / police do not come out of this with any glory.
Stark and sobering, the message is; we needed a better initial plan and it would have been handy to have had a plan b.
The book is well written and well paced. At times it reads like satire, other times farce, but you are always sobered to know it is real.
The book is about the disconnect between the western political rhetoric of victory just around the corner with the Taliban on their last legs and the reality of ever increasing IED attacks and the essentially unresolved nature of the war and its central dilemma.
The book details the failings of the allied approach and the reasons for this both political and cultural.
It is difficult to argue against it when you look at the state of the country today and what has been achieved. Even through the filter of western political spin this does not look like a country ready to become the western model of stability anytime soon.
The book does not paint the allied soldiers in a bad light, they are bravely enforcing the will of those above their pay grade. The Afghan army / police do not come out of this with any glory.
Stark and sobering, the message is; we needed a better initial plan and it would have been handy to have had a plan b.
The book is well written and well paced. At times it reads like satire, other times farce, but you are always sobered to know it is real.
June 15, 2013
This book follows the author through several deployments, with the British and Americans, in Helmand from 2007-2011.
I found it to be one of the better "reporter told stories" I've read. The author went on many patrols and returned often to the same general area. This gave him a feel of the changes or lack thereof.
It does a good job of conveying some of the hopelessness that one can feel in this war. You really want to help these people, but a lot of the time it's gimme gimme. Or they refuse to take sides knowing that once we leave the area and night falls the Taliban will return.
Worth a read if you are interested in the current Afghan war.
I found it to be one of the better "reporter told stories" I've read. The author went on many patrols and returned often to the same general area. This gave him a feel of the changes or lack thereof.
It does a good job of conveying some of the hopelessness that one can feel in this war. You really want to help these people, but a lot of the time it's gimme gimme. Or they refuse to take sides knowing that once we leave the area and night falls the Taliban will return.
Worth a read if you are interested in the current Afghan war.
August 10, 2015
A film journalist, who was embedded with British and US forces in Helmand from 2007 to 2011 paints a very depressing picture of an operation not living up to its own ideals / goals.
There are some optimistic sections in this book, such as the action by the US Marines in Marjah, but overall it is a tale of a failure to understand the local population and / or the enemy with mistakes being paid for in the blood of civilians and soldiers.
I’ve never been to Afghanistan and / or followed the war in detail so can’t say how much of the book was accurate, but I found it fascinating and suspect that anyone interested in the recent history of Afghanistan will also find it gripping.
There are some optimistic sections in this book, such as the action by the US Marines in Marjah, but overall it is a tale of a failure to understand the local population and / or the enemy with mistakes being paid for in the blood of civilians and soldiers.
I’ve never been to Afghanistan and / or followed the war in detail so can’t say how much of the book was accurate, but I found it fascinating and suspect that anyone interested in the recent history of Afghanistan will also find it gripping.
May 2, 2012
Ben Anderson gives a first hand account on what is really going on in the war in Afghanistan, spending time on patrol with the British Army and US Marines as they try to gain the upper hand on the Taliban.
An excellent and honest read, the author's courage is obvious as he is often in the midst of the violence. There are some shocking revelations about the reality of the situation on the ground and with troops due to be withdrawn by 2014 and stability still far from reach, I can't help but agree with his grim conclusions for the future.
An excellent and honest read, the author's courage is obvious as he is often in the midst of the violence. There are some shocking revelations about the reality of the situation on the ground and with troops due to be withdrawn by 2014 and stability still far from reach, I can't help but agree with his grim conclusions for the future.
February 5, 2013
An alternatively fascinating and bleak portrait of the war in Afghanistan--bearing shockingly striking similarities to the Vietnam War and its ultimate futility. Anderson reports from the front lines and chronicles--amongst the horrors of war--the frustration of the Marines, the overwhelming obstacle of the Taliban's ghost-like nature, the ever-present danger of civilian casualty, and the constant, grating fear of IEDs. Very well done.
February 23, 2016
One of the finest reportage to come out of Afghanistan.
The Author's courage stands out as he brings out the brutal cost of fighting in Helmand.
Clearly shows that the Afghan will not accept any form of patronage and if he does it will deteriorate into venality and disinterest.
Afghanistan will ultimately slip out of NATO control and Pakistan understands that better than others.
Fighting ability counts for nothing against an implacable guerilla war.
The Author's courage stands out as he brings out the brutal cost of fighting in Helmand.
Clearly shows that the Afghan will not accept any form of patronage and if he does it will deteriorate into venality and disinterest.
Afghanistan will ultimately slip out of NATO control and Pakistan understands that better than others.
Fighting ability counts for nothing against an implacable guerilla war.
May 14, 2012
A "Street Without Joy" for our times, Anderson ably tells the chaotic story of the British Army and US Marine units he's reported on in Afghanistan - a thoroughly insane, unwinnable war, a snake pit into which we're pouring treasure and lives in an effort to get mental children to grow up and live like adults. No one's been able to do it yet.
May 6, 2012
This was an honest assessment of the missions and difficulties that U.S. and British soldiers faced in Afghanistan. It was not always a flattering depiction of U.S. involvement, as as such I appreciated the candor of the author.
October 6, 2012
This is something anyone who wants to understand what is happening in Afghanistan should read. It is well-written and offers a very real, non-politicised picture of what has been and continues to happen to both British and American troops stationed out there.
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