Jihad!: The Secret War in Afghanistan

by Tom Carew

In 1980, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher had taken over the leadership of the West and the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan—the most crucial battle of the Cold War was about to begin. In the high mountain passes of the north-west Frontier and the Hindu Kush, the CIA and MI6 saw an opportunity to bring the mighty Soviet army to its knees. Their weapon: the Islamic guerrillas of the Afghan Mujahideen. The first Western agent to link up with the Mujahideen was Tom Carew, a young ex-SAS soldier with a talent for "black bag" covert operations. In the course of an extraordinary year, Carew led a series of reconnaissance missions inside Afghanistan; he took part in an astonishing attempt to hijack a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles from Communist Bulgaria for use by the guerrillas; and he set up the first western-sponsored training camp for Mujahideen in Pakistan. In the course of these operations Carew was accepted and befriended by the fundamentalist Mujahideen, and became as close to them as any European individual could ever get.

Genres: Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, History, Biography, Middle East

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Oceana2602 · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, this was funny.

I was going to write a review that something like this:

"Carew starts off with an insightful, yet not in any way new, essay about the reasons why winning a war in Afghanistan is almost impossible. The rest of the book, however, reads as something that he failed to find a publisher for in the 80s and then decided to cash in twenty years later, when books about Afghanistan, the Taliban and anyone's experience in the military were all the rage.

I don't know what's more irritating - the strange, almost naive way of telling the story, the "eye" for details that seems to cover only irrelevant past conversations and the state of Afghanistan hotel rooms, but not any military details, or the things that were promised to be in this book - meaning an analysis of why fighting a war in Afghanistan proves to be so difficult for the involved nations. Or maybe the fact that even though carew writes about his time in Afghaanistan in 1981, he tells the story as if it happened yesterday. And I don't mean this in a good way.(who remembers every detail of so many conversations over twenty years later anyway??)

The author admits that he typed the book with two fingers, and he should probably have written that in his introduction, so people know what to avoid, but really, he needn't have written it at all - it shows."


BUT.
I always feel bad if I bash memories of people who have served in the armed forces, and so I decided to give Carew the benefit of the doubt. Maybe his book, of which I read the German translation, had really been published in the 80s, and only translated into German much later?

And what do I find?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...

Not only was his book published only in 2000, cashing in on the change in political climate as I had assumed, but it was also made up, and Carew a fake.

Heh. That would explain not only the strange details, but also why it is written as if it just took place.

Oh, and apparently Carew is not named Carew and is also dead, although he may have faked his death before (seriously?), and the timelines, depending on where you read about it, don't really add up.

Oh, the mystery!

*throws book onto give-away pile behind her back without looking*

[Herbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spannend en boeiend gebracht hoe het verloop van een geheime operatie tegen de USSR verloopt. Het is een vrij lijvig boek maar het heeft me nooit verveeld. Ik had zelfs vaak moeite om het weg te leggen.

Vandaar ook de hoge score want ik zou zo opnieuw een boek van hem lezen.

[Roger Cottrell]

Although his provenance as a former member of the SAS was thrown into question by a recent Channel 4 documentary it is still a useful insight into how western second cold war strategy in Afghanistan helped manufacture the Taliban and al-Qaedida. Should be read in the light of the suspicious death of Carew, in Antwerp, and if he was never in the SAS why is he buried in the SAS plot at St. Martin's Church, Hereford

[Tom Aves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Były agent SAS opisujący swój udział w działaniach w Afganistanie. Wędrówki po obozach mudżahidów? (mudżahedinów) , potyczki z Rosjanami, szkolenie wojowników. Wszystko w wartkim tempie, z detalami i wiarygodnie. Wciąga tak że krótki sen w afgańskiej jaskini odbierasz jak swój, napięcie udziela się w trakcie całej lektury. Przeczytałem w jeden weekend.

[Adrian Clark]

Surprised that Good Reads still promotes this fictional construction by a non existent Tom Carew, actually one Philip Sessarego, hoaxer, fantasist, who never served in Afghanistan. See Dadland by Keggie Carew, in her fascinating biography of her father, Tom Carew, real WW2 hero (esp. pp 365-6).

[Dave Bones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book UK squaddie meets devout nutter Afghans chaos ensues but is it all bollox?

[Rafay Ansari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give it a 3.5. Shows you some of the insights of the russian invasion in Afghanistan. Also the real reason why the USA is still there and will not go away in the near future and the whole taliban drama they created just for trafficking opium. Which the USA did train the taliban and Alqaeda. ( for more in depth knowledge check out Al Jazeera ).

[Corina Carter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ken je dat, van die mensen die veel praten maar weinig zeggen? Dat is in mijn opinie de definitie van dit boek. Wat een kriem om te lezen. Echter wel een goede toevoeging aan mijn bibliotheek van controversiële boeken. Google de schrijver maar eens, dat is een interessanter verhaal om te lezen dan zijn boek.

[Scott Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was much better than I expected it to be. It reads very well and I couldn't put it down. One of the best accounts of combat espionage I have read. It has certainly inspired me to find more books and accounts of this kind. A truly remarkable story and a read I would highly recommend

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good read a real insight to the dirty tactics of the West and how we have to deal with the repercussions of there actons in today's society.. channel 4 and the British government went all out I believe to cover it up.

[Travis Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Not) The real thing by a veteran of the covert efforts to train the mujahideen against the Soviets. The "good old days" of the Cold War are depicted here, in this book of the year Twenty-oh-one in which the ironic hints and dark forebodings may be found of what is soon to come...

Amended 15.11.2013: As Jim has pointed out, Philip Sessarego (Carew) never served in the SAS and his exploits as a merc in Afghanistan are unverifiable. Particularly as he is now deceased. A good yarn but now somewhat tarnished.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein britischer Elitesoldat Ende 70er/Anfang der 80er auf geheimer Mission im von Sowjets besetzten Afghanistan. Spannend geschrieben ...

aber: lt. BBC-Recherchen war der Autor entgegen seinen Behauptungen nie Mitglied der Eliteeinheit SAS. Ist dann der Rest der Geschichte auch ausgedacht?

Großer Negativpunkt: die Übersetzung. "He fired two rounds" wird direkt mit "Er feuerte zwei Ringe" übersetzt anstatt mit "Er feuerte zwei Schuss". Gruselig.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent read for a bus/train ride just don't take it seriously. Tom Carew is an alias of Philip Sessarego, a con man who never got anywhere near Afghanistan and whose life story would probably make for a more interesting book. He's dead now supposedly, he apparently faked his own death once before back in the early 90's.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

didn't think i was going to like it but loved it, i cant believe i read it, was really well written easy to follow

[Eric]

it sucked it just tells u about a dumb mistake made and now our soldiers have to fight against there self practicly idk wat to think ecspecilly as i am possibly headin there in a few months o well

[Robert Hellier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this many years ago and really enjoyed it so I decided to give it a re-read. I have since found out that it was a fake and upon a second reading you can really tell,

[Andrew Hoobin]

Boys' own, ripping yarn; wannabe James Bland; IQ: .007. However, the author unwittingly outlines CIA involvement in the drugs trade, via the Tennessee mule trains bringing weapons and guns to the mujahideen and, then, leaving the country loaded up with saddle bags full of opium; something, I gather, he wasn't supposed to see - or mention. The author paid the price: he absconded to continental Europe, once he realised he'd mentioned something he shouldn't have. His body was later found in a disused warehouse. Official disclaimers followed: apparently the death was carried out by former SAS colleagues of his, harbouring a grudge of some description; the individual in question was never inducted into the SAS (he had failed induction; he was a fantasist, given to wild flights of fancy as to his soldiering), etc. Plausible deniability. QED. Just another liar and statistic, as with CIA asset/trained assassin, Roland Haas. Sic transit gloria mundi. All care taken; no responsibility accepted.