BATTLE FOR AFGHANISTAN (ISBN 1844156168)

Important but neglected:
The author was in a leading position during the Afghan-Soviet war. It details why the Soviet Union lost the war and how the Mujahideen's victory was squandered thereafter. Since the book is written from the inside of the Pakistani security services it provides a different view than we are accustomed to. It also shows why the Afghan war, the US and its allies is currently engaged in, is not winnable in the traditional military sense and why our planners in the Pentagon should take the lessons which the Soviets learned the hard way to heart. Brigadier Yousaf, provides details of battle plans, does not mince words and also points to the inadequacies of the CIA's approach to the war. The fact that 85,000 Soviet troops on the ground could not control the country leads one to wonder why a smaller force should be able to do it now. Since Afghans are some of the most fiercely independent people in the world a rethinking of our strategy in that country is urgently required and this book can be of great help in this respect.