Nancy’s Reviews > Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 > Status Update

If there is anything I learned in this book is that corporate interests (gas) were more important than political (USA) interests in Afghanistan.
1996 pipeline agreed upon, 2015 construction...operational gas line 2020. Because the line passes through 5 provinces that are Taliban strongholds...no wonder USA is probably striking a deal with them. We’re leaving as long as you guard and don’t interfere with the gas line.

Part II: just read about the plane crash that killed Pakistan's Gen Zia August 1988. C130 aircraft performing as expected on a clear, cloudless day. Yet it had inexplicably fallen out of the sky. Usual suspects: KGB - CIA? Why was no effort made to unmask the perpetrators? Why was so much effort expended on suppressing incriminating evidence? Crash is still a mystery...Afghan....truly a Ghost War!

1985....very boring chapter about CIA undercover activities in Afghanistan. Really, I cannot keep up with all the names: Massoud, Rabbani, Abdul, Mazar, mujahideen. CIA did send Buffalo sniper rifles to Massoud. You could shoot a target 1-2 km distance!

Ch 3: 1981 Howard Hart is CIA station chief Pakistan...the CIA has NO strategy for this war (Afghanistan)...just money, mules and mortars. "You're a young man; here's your bag of money, go raise hell" was the way Hart understood his orders.

New book for bike rides!
Prologue: 1986 USA 2500 Stingers weapons were given away by CIA to Afghan rebels. Now CIA wants to buy them back! Feels like "close the barn door after the horse has bolted"!
ch 1: Harrowing description of the sacking US Embassy 1979 Islamabad. Gen Zia (Pakistan) left Americans to die...it took 5 hours to make a max 30 min drive to the embassy. Zia = #FairWeatherFriend