My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan
by
Gary Schroen
While America held its breath in the days immediately following 9/11, a small but determined group of CIA agents covertly began to change history. This is the riveting first-person account of the treacherous top-secret mission inside Afghanistan to set the stage for the defeat of the Taliban and launch the war on terror.
As thrilling as any novel, First In is a uniquely int...more
As thrilling as any novel, First In is a uniquely int...more
Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages
Published
May 1st 2007
by Presidio Press
(first published 2005)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
324)
A very interesting account of how CIA paramilitary operatives work in he field. I had read Jawbreaker in sixth grade first, and came upon the title in the footnotes. I never got around to buying it until ninth grade.
It has some historical errors though
On page 26, he writes that the level of violence in Tajikistan's capital in the 1990s prevented CIA visits there, but it was pretty quiet in the capital.
Ben B. is obviously Ben Bonk and Hank C. obviously Henry Crumpton. John R. was J...more
It has some historical errors though
On page 26, he writes that the level of violence in Tajikistan's capital in the 1990s prevented CIA visits there, but it was pretty quiet in the capital.
Ben B. is obviously Ben Bonk and Hank C. obviously Henry Crumpton. John R. was J...more
First In, is a first person account of the events between the 19th of September until the 10th of November, told mainly from the perspective of Gary Schroen, leader of the JAWBREAKER CIA squad sent to establish relations with the Northern Alliance in the Panjshir Valley, near the stalemated frontlines of the Taliban. Despite being the lead of US forces in Afghanistan (a 7 man crew), his account is very low to the ground, recounting the incessant problems of Diarrhea and relations and the daily i...more
While an interesting tale of coalition building and coordination with tribal rebel factions and airport setup and startegy, I was hoping for more. The author claims that there was surprisingly little that he wrote which was censored for national security during the review stages, but this is also because a senior veteran CIA agent such as he had a pretty good idea what he could get away with exposing in the first place - and he self-censored probably 90% of what you'd want to be in the book for ...more
I found the book very interesting. It was a different perspective than other books I've read on the war in Afghanistan. All and all I liked it, it gave a good account of what life was like for a CIA Operative arriving in Afghanistan in 2001 and it described the struggle of dealing with the Afghans as well as the bureaucrats in Washington.
Very interesting topic. I admire Mr. Schroen in many ways and I think his policy recommendations at the end of the text are very well thought out and insightful. However, he is not a narrative non-fiction writer. Text was slightly stilted and I found myself grimacing every time he mentioned his repetitive bowel issues. However, if you're interested in how the war in Afghanistan started, definitely check this out.
Feeling like I needed to revisit the US response to 9/11 and it's first [CIA:] mission to Afghanistan following 9/11 prompted my interest in reading this book now - plus my dad recommended it as a good read! It was interesting to learn about U.S. relations with the Northern Alliance early on, the amount of cash flow CIA agents had on hand was pretty overwhelming, friendly fire mishaps, Starbucks coffee, and gross descriptions of bathroom stalls & male camaraderie[regarding it:] added to the rea...more
view 2 comments
I suspect few know how important the CIA was in Afghanistan both during the Soviet invasion and the 2001 invasion. Yet they'll be forever remembered for the Iraq WMD mess.
Early info on OEF. Love the admission about very few American agents with very many American dollars sent to pave the way.
Very interesting account of CIA's involvement in Afghanistan
Quite an interesting story on the initial CIA team's injection into Afghanistan.
Way overwritten, often too much detail to maintain interest, and too much of an aspect from the ground up, meaning lots of complaining about the stupidity of policy makers. But there is information and insight obtainable skimming and finding the nuggets. Also some amazing narratives, like the Northern Alliance cavalry charge against the Taliban.
After visiting the CIA, I was intrigued by the group of men who went into Afghanistan immediately after 9/11. This was a great account of their tremendous risks, conditions and insight into the Special Forces that followed as well as the history preceding them in Afghanistan.
Josh Jones
added it
Gives a good general overview of the first CIA and ODA teams into Afghanistan after 9/11. Helps to understand how some of the political lines across Afghanistan formed into the present day factions.
Very interesting read. Gives a good background on U.S. Afghan relations going back to the 70s. Also interesting how these guys set up with the Northern Alliance once they got to Afghanistan.
A great view of how uncoordinated our government is. only though the initiative of a few key CIA people did we attack afghanistan so quickly.
It was a little hard to follow but overall I really enjoyed just learning the insiders view of how things work in that environment.
Ehren
added it
Reading parts of this book for school. Good 'insider' look at the operations and strategy of the afghanistan invasion.
A really well-written, detailed account of operations in Afghanistan up to and during the war there.
Solid read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
