What the Taliban Told Me - Ian Fritz - 3.5

[Booknblues]

Ian Fritz's memoir What the Taliban Told Me could well be the All Quiet on the Western Front of the Afghanistan War. What it is not is a revelatory tale of what the Taliban thought and said despite the blurb.

Ian Fritz was 18 when he joined the Air Force where he hoped to put his facility with languages to use and receive the benefits from enlisting. As might be expected there is a certain testosterone charged cockiness in his voice. Fritz was a smart kid and he is not afraid to let us know.

The training and the life as a DSO or direct support operator is intriguing and Fritz tells the story well once you accept the late adolescent male voice. But the heart of the story is the falling apart. The PTSD.

Fritz may get into philosophical questions a bit to much for my taste. He also has a tendency toward ranting. But at the end it is his story and how he saw it and how it felt to him.

I appreciate his insight and his honesty. I am inclined to think that there are those who read this and ardently disagree with him.