Counter Jihad: America's Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria

by Brian Glyn Williams

Counter Jihad is a sweeping account of America's military campaigns in the Islamic world. Revising our understanding of what was once known as the War on Terror, it provides a retrospective on the extraordinary series of conflicts that saw the United States deploy more than two and a half million men and women to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Brian Glyn Williams traces these unfolding wars from their origins in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan through U.S. Central Command's ongoing campaign to "degrade and destroy" the hybrid terrorist group known as ISIS. Williams takes readers on a journey beginning with the 2001 U.S. overthrow of the Taliban, to the toppling of Saddam Hussein, to the unexpected emergence of the notorious ISIS "Caliphate" in the Iraqi lands that the United States once occupied.

Counter Jihad is the first history of America's military operations against radical Islamists, from the Taliban-controlled Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, to the Sunni Triangle of Iraq, to ISIS's headquarters in the deserts of central Syria, giving both generalists and specialists an overview of events that were followed by millions but understood by few. Williams provides the missing historical context for the rise of the terror group ISIS out of the ashes of Saddam Hussein's secular Baathist Iraq, arguing that it is only by carefully exploring the recent past can we understand how this jihadist group came to conquer an area larger than Britain and spread havoc from Syria to Paris to San Bernardino.

Genres: War

400 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2016

Reviews

[Greg Jolley · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever wanted to finally understand America's role in the middle East, Mr. Williams excellent book is the best place you could possible go. By describing the US role in that region from the first steps to current day, this fine book provides a lucid and truthful story.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really learned a lot from this book. If you decide to read this I recommend reading Ghost Wars and Inside the Kingdom to get a better idea of what was going on in the U.S./Pakistan/Afghanistan and U.S. Saudi Relationship at the time.

[Grouchy Historian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good introductory survey of the US conflicts in the Middle East from 2001-2016.
Excellent background on 9/11 and the morass that is the ethnic-sectarian swamp of this region.
Recommended for readers wanting a single volume survey of these conflicts.

[Bolti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic deacription of the War on Terror. Doesn't assume you are at all familiar with the different people and organisations involved. Discusses interesting characters and stories eg General Dostum and his campaigns that I would not have heard of otherwise

[James B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent and coherent overview of the past two decades. It seems like a good primer for further reading.

[Allan Pilch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fully encompasses the War on Terror and its origins. I recommend this as a stocking stuffer or gift in general for anybody to enjoy and become educated. Thought provoking and helps remove the ignorant hate surrounding our times today.

[Josh Beaudoin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and helpful to understanding the broad facts of America’s wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. I now have a better grasp of these historic events that have been going on throughout my life.

[Mills College Library]

973.931 W7219 2017