Crossing Zero: The AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire

by Paul Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Gould

The war in Afghanistan has become the most complex foreign policy problem the United States has ever faced, spreading into Pakistan and involving the conflicting interests of Russia, India, China and Iran. Written as a companion to Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald's widely acclaimed book Invisible Afghanistan's Untold Story , Crossing Zero focuses on the nuances of the Obama administration's evolving military and political strategy, the people implementing it, and the long-term consequences for the United States and the region. "Fitzgerald and Gould have consistently raised the difficult questions and inconvenient truths about western engagement in Afghanistan. While many analysts and observers have attempted to wish a reality on a grim and tragic situation in Afghanistan, Fitzgerald and Gould have systematically dug through the archives and historical record with integrity and foresight to reveal a series of misguided strategies and approaches that have contributed to what has become a tragic quagmire in Afghanistan. I suspect that many of their assessments while presently viewed as controversial and contentious, will eventually be considered conventional wisdom."—Thomas Johnson "Americans are now beginning to grasp the scope of the mess their leaders made while pursuing misguided military adventures into regions of Central Asia we once called 'remote.' How this happened—and what the US can do to extricate itself from its entanglements in Pakistan and Afghanistan—is the story of Crossing Zero . Based on decades of study and research, this book draws lines and connects dots in ways few others do. It is clear, sober and methodical—an ideal handbook for anyone seeking to understand how the US became the latest imperial power to blunder into this turbulent and fascinating region."—Stephen Kinzer, author of All the Shah's Men and Iran, Turkey and America's Future "I loved it. An extraordinary contribution to understanding war and geo-politics in Afghanistan that will shock most Americans by its revelations of official American government complicity in using, shielding, sponsoring and supporting terrorism. A devastating indictment on the behind-the-scenes shenanigans by some of America's most respected statesmen."—Daniel Estulin "Gould and Fitzgerald have identified the triumphalist strain that has marked American foreign policy over the past 100 years and documented President Obama's failure to introduce change to American national security policy. The war in Afghanistan is consistent with previous failures in U.S. policymaking over the past 50 years as well as with the misuse of military force. This book should be required reading at the National Security Council and the Pentagon."—Melvin A. Goodman; CIA Senior Soviet Analyst, 1966-1990; Professor of International Security at the National War College,1986-2004; Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy, Washington, DC. Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould , a husband and wife team, began working together in 1979 co-producing a documentary for Paul's television show, Watchworks. Called, The Arms Race and the Economy, A Delicate Balance, they found themselves in the midst of a swirling controversy that was to boil over a few months later with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Their acquisition of the first visas to enter Afghanistan granted to an American TV crew in the spring of 1981, brought them into the middle of the most heated Cold War controversy since Vietnam. But the pictures and the people inside Soviet occupied Afghanistan told a very different story from the one being broadcast on the evening news.

Genres: Middle East, History, Nonfiction

253 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

PAUL FITZGERALD and ELIZABETH GOULD, a husband and wife team, began their experience in Afghanistan in 1981 for CBS News and produced a documentary, Afghanistan Between Three Worlds, for PBS. In 1983 they returned for ABC Nightline and contributed to the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour. They have continued to research, write and lecture about Afghanistan history and U.S. foreign policy since."

Reviews

[City Lights Booksellers & Publishers · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The authors portray policies of previous years (e.g., U.S. support of insurgents fighting the Soviet invasion) as now coming back to hurt us, part of a repetition of errors previously made by European powers in the region over the past 400 years. They have marshaled an impressive array of sources, both journalistic and academic, to demonstrate that their ideas have long been available, if only policymakers had chosen to heed them. . . . Readers with a serious interest in U.S. foreign policy or military strategy will find it helpful in thinking about a long-lived issue."
--Library Journal

"Crossing Zero thoroughly documents how the best-laid plans of Western powers have led to three decades of incessant war and the annihilation of Afghanistan’s secular tribal structure, transforming it into one of the most violent and poverty-stricken places on earth. . . . Afghanistan has become more than just a stark illustration of the ineptitude of Obama’s misguided AfPak strategy – it reflects the futility of de-emphasizing diplomacy and how U.S. militarism has worked against our own interests. War and the endless preparations for it do more harm than good, destroying what they claim to protect."
--Michael Hughes, Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael...

"Crossing Zero is an in-depth analysis of the American intervention in Afghanistan and Pakistan. What this book will teach you is that the entire adventure in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been and will continue to be a fiscal, military, diplomatic, and international disaster for the United States."
--The Doug Noll Show
http://www.wsradio.com/internet-talk-...

"Volume two of an angry dissection of America’s misadventures in Afghanistan. After a critical account of the war to 2008 (Invisible History: Afghanistan’s Untold Story, 2009), this follow-up evaluates how it has fared under President Obama. The news is not good. . . . The authors brush off the administration’s recent proclamation of a shift from fighting to counterinsurgency that emphasizes protecting the population and building infrastructure. They point out that 'protecting the population' requires an immense increase in troops, which neither Congress nor our NATO allies will support. Furthermore, it’s not happening. An intensely documented, detailed and discouraging account from journalists who had high hopes for President Obama." --Kirkus Reviews

"Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould have seen the importance of the 'Great Game' in Afghanistan since the early 1980s. They have been most courageous in their commitment to telling the truth—and have paid a steep price for it. Their views have never been acceptable to mainstream media in our country, but they deserve accolades. If only our establishment had listened to them."—Oliver Stone

"Crossing Zero is much more than a devastating indictment of the folly of U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan. Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould demonstrate that the U.S. debacle in Afghanistan is the predictable climax of U.S. imperial overreach on a global scale. Like their earlier work documenting the origins of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan during the Cold War, Crossing Zero deserves the attention of all serious students of U.S. foreign policy." —Selig S. Harrison, Co-author with Diego Cordovez of Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet Withdrawal


"I loved it. An extraordinary contribution to understanding war and geo-politics in Afghanistan that will shock most Americans by its revelations of official American government complicity in using, shielding, sponsoring and supporting terrorism. A devastating indictment on the behind-the-scenes shenanigans by some of America’s most respected statesmen" —Daniel Estulin, author of The True Story of the Bilderberg Club

"Americans are now beginning to grasp the scope of the mess their leaders made while pursuing misguided military adventures into regions of Central Asia we once called 'remote.' How this happened--and what the US can do to extricate itself from its entanglements in Pakistan and Afghanistan--is the story of Crossing Zero. Based on decades of study and research, this book draws lines and connects dots in ways few others do. It is clear, sober and methodical--an ideal handbook for anyone seeking to understand how the US became the latest imperial power to blunder into this turbulent and fascinating region."—Stephen Kinzer, author of All the Shah's Men and Reset: Iran, Turkey and America's Future

"Fitzgerald and Gould have consistently raised the difficult questions and inconvenient truths about western engagement in Afghanistan. While many analysts and observers have attempted to wish a reality on a grim and tragic situation in Afghanistan, Fitzgerald and Gould have systematically dug through the archives and historical record with integrity and foresight to reveal a series of misguided strategies and approaches that have contributed to what has become a tragic quagmire in Afghanistan. I suspect that many of their assessments while presently viewed as controversial and contentious, will eventually be considered conventional wisdom.” --Professor Thomas Johnson, Department of National Security Affairs and Director, Program for Culture and Conflict Studies, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California

"Gould and Fitzgerald have identified the triumphalist strain that has marked American foreign policy over the past 100 years and documented President Obama's failure to introduce change to American national security policy. The war in Afghanistan is consistent with previous
failures in U.S. policymaking over the past 50 years as well as with the misuse of military force. This book should be required reading at the National Security Council and the Pentagon."
— Melvin A. Goodman, CIA Senior Soviet Analyst 1966-1990, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy, Washington, DC.

"After several decades of facile and destructive answers from Washington policymakers, the authors deploy a phalanx of incisive questions about U.S. policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The result is a book that shatters the key myths promoted by American news media and the last six presidents. Crossing Zero is a searing expose of distortions that have fundamentally warped U.S. perceptions and actions in the 'AfPak' region. Fitzgerald and Gould provide crucial antidotes to poisonous assumptions and bromides of conventional wisdom that continue to delude the USA into further lethal follies. This book deconstructs and dismantles a deadly formula of ignorance and deceit."
—Norman Solomon, author of War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death

"In Crossing Zero, Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould provide a much needed antidote to mainstream accounts of the AfPak war by documenting in detail the disastrous consequences of United States and NATO military intervention in the region. Drawing from a wide range of sources, and written in crisp, clear prose, the book will be useful to students, researchers, policy makers, and anyone interested in knowing the truth."
—Julien Mercille, University College Dublin

"Crossing Zero is much more than a devastating indictment of the folly of U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan. Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould demonstrate that the U.S. debacle in Afghanistan is the predictable climax of U.S. imperial overreach on a global scale. Like their earlier work documenting the origins of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan during the Cold War, Crossing Zero deserves the attention of all serious students of U.S. foreign policy."
—Selig S. Harrison, co-author of Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet Withdrawal

"A ferocious, iron-clad argument about the institutional failure of American foreign policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan." -- Daniel Ellsberg

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull, depressing reading at times. Concur with some of what they say but grew tired of the tone of everything we've ever done is wrong. We are reaping what we have sewn. Serves us right. The Russian invasion in 1979 was instigated by the US and they fell for the trap. It's all the fault of the British. Bush policy was all wrong. Obama policy is all wrong. These people know their Afghan history but are professional critics. I knew when Oliver Stone gave this book accolades it would be interesting and a tirade against our government. They use the Vietnam analogy and it is appropriate. They criticize every approach. We need to get out of Afghanistan but this book doesn't offer any real solutions.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book outlines the history, culture, politics, religion, and military in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and analyzes in depth United States intervention in both of these countries. Anyone who wants to better understand the role that the United States in playing in these countries needs to read this book, which is the culmination of 15 years of research by two jouralists who have lived in Afghanistan for many years.

[Joey-Joey-Jo-Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]