In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan

After the swift defeat of the Taliban in 2001, American optimism has steadily evaporated in the face of mounting violence; a new “war of a thousand cuts” has now brought the country to its knees.In the Graveyard of Empires is a political history of Afghanistan in the “Age of Terror” from 2001 to 2009, exploring the fundamental tragedy of America’s longest war since Vietnam. After a brief survey of the great empires in Afghanistan-the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the British in the era of Kipling, and the late Soviet Union-Seth G.Jones examines the central question of our own war: how did an insurgency develop?Following the September 11 attacks, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime.It established security throughout the country-killing, capturing, or scattering most of al Qa’ida’s senior operatives-and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of struggle and conflict.But Jones argues that as early as 2001 planning for the Iraq War siphon