Ghost Wars
Authors: Steve Coll
Tags: #Afghanistan, #USA, #Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism, #Political, #Asia, #Central Asia, #Terrorism, #Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations, #Political Freedom & Security, #U.S. Foreign Relations, #Afghanistan - History - Soviet occupation; 1979-1989., #Espionage & secret services, #Postwar 20th century history; from c 1945 to c 2000, #History - General History, #International Relations, #Afghanistan - History - 1989-2001., #Central Intelligence Agency, #United States, #Political Science, #International Relations - General, #General & world history, #Soviet occupation; 1979-1989, #History, #International Security, #Intelligence, #1989-2001, #Asia - Central Asia, #General, #Political structure & processes, #United States., #Biography & Autobiography, #Politics, #U.S. Government - Intelligence Agencies
PRAISE FOR
GHOST WARS
“
Ghost Wars,
Steve Coll’s objective—and terrific—account of the long and tragic history leading up to September 11, is . . . certainly the finest historical narrative so far on the origins of al Qaeda. . . . Coll’s riveting narrative makes the reader want to rip the page and yell at the American counterterrorism officials he describes—including Clarke—and tell them to watch out.”
—James Risen,
The New York Times Book Review
“A long overdue look at the peaks and valleys of the CIA’s presence in Afghanistan through the decades leading to September 10, 2001 . . . a wellwritten, authoritative, high-altitude drama with few heroes, many villains, bags of cash, and a tragic ending—one that may not have been inevitable.”
—James Bamford,
The Washington Post
“Terrifying and substantive . . . Coll offers a surprisingly cohesive narrative of the makings of September 11, 2001.”
—Suzy Hans,
Salon
“Mr. Coll’s book is well documented . . . Indeed, of the more than one hundred published books dealing with the September 11th attacks . . . none approach Mr. Coll’s work for clarity and insight into the agency itself. . . . truly a page turner . . . an important work.”
—Andrew Wolf,
The New York Sun
“Gripping new history of the events leading up to September 11, 2001 . . . Coll never simplifies a complex situation.”
—John Hartl,
The Seattle Times
“Coll’s research is extensive; his access to senior officials of all the principal countries involved in Afghanistan is nothing short of astounding. . . . With this book, Coll establishes a reputation as large as that of his
Post
colleague, Bob Woodward.”
—Wesley K. Wark,
The Globe and Mail
(Toronto)
“Goes a long way toward explaining the systemic errors that caused the United States, through five administrations, to fail its most important foreign policy challenge since World War II. . . . A powerful book, impeccably reported, containing hundreds of interviews with the principals in the U.S. intelligence and national security establishments.”
—John Dinges,
Newsday
“Steve Coll has distilled the essence of what led to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks . . . highly readable . . . Beyond that, he did it while holding one of the most demanding jobs in American journalism. That anyone could write a book while holding such a job is quite an accomplishment, writing such a compelling narrative about terrorism and the failures of American intelligence is a triumph.”
—Ray Locker, The Associated Press
“No one else I know of has been able to bring such a broad perspective to bear on the rise of bin Laden; the CIA itself would be hard put to beat his grasp of global events. . . . Coll’s book is deeply satisfying because . . . it’s an inside account written by an outsider, the most objective history I have read of the many failures of the CIA and the U.S. government in the region.”
—Ahmed Rashid,
The New York Review of Books
PENGUIN BOOKS
GHOST WARS
Winner of a 1990 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism, Steve Coll has been managing editor of
The Washington Post
since 1998 and covered Afghanistan as the
Post’s
South Asia bureau chief between 1989 and 1992. Coll is the author of four books, including
On the Grand Trunk Road
and
The Taking of Getty Oil.
He lives with his wife and three children in Maryland.
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada M4V 3B2 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,
New Delhi – 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310,
New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank,
Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in the United States of America by The Penguin Press,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2004
Published in Penguin Books 2005
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Copyright © Steve Coll, 2004
All rights reserved
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE HARDCOVER EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Coll, Steve.
Ghost wars : the secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001 / Steve Coll.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59420-007-6 (hc.)
ISBN 0 14 30.3466 9 (pbk.)
1. Afghanistan—History—Soviet occupation, 1979–1989. 2. Afghanistan—History—1989–2001. 3. United States. Central Intelligence Agency. 4. Bin Laden, Osama, 1957– . I. Title.
DS371.2.C63 2004
958.104'5—dc22 2003058593
Printed in the United States of America
Designed by Amanda Dewey
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
For Susan,
who understood
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Griff Witte, a 2000 graduate in history from Princeton University and a former reporter for the
Miami Herald,
worked for more than a year as my assistant on this book. He was a full partner in every respect. He contributed research, reporting, writing, editing, and ideas. He traveled to Afghanistan, Dubai, and across the United States to conduct interviews with dozens of sources. He wrote outstanding first drafts of chapters six and seventeen. His intelligence, persistence, resourcefulness, and high standards strengthened the book elsewhere in countless ways. He was an ideal collaborator and essential to the entire project.
Contents
September 1996
November 1979 to February 1989
7. “The Terrorists Will Own the World”
8. “Inshallah, You Will Know My Plans”
PART TWO THE ONE-EYED MAN WAS KING
March 1989 to December 1997
14. “Maintain a Prudent Distance”
16. “Slowly, Slowly Sucked into It”
19. “We’re Keeping These Stingers”
20. “Does America Need the CIA?”
January 1998 to September 10, 2001
21. “You Are to Capture Him Alive”
24. “Let’s Just Blow the Thing Up”
30. “What Face Will Omar Show to God?”
31. “Many Americans Are Going to Die”
The Birth of Modern Saudi Arabia
The CIA in the Panjshir, 1997–2000
The Central Intelligence Agency
FRANK ANDERSON, Director, Afghanistan Task Force, 1987–1989; Chief, Near East Division, Directorate of Operations, 1991–1994
MILTON BEARDEN, Chief of Station, Islamabad, 1986–1989
J. COFER BLACK, Chief of Station, Khartoum, 1993–1995; Director, Counterterrorist Center, 1999–2002
WILLIAM J. CASEY, Director, 1981–1987
DUANE R. “DEWEY” CLARRIDGE, Director, Counterterrorist Center, 1986–1988
JOHN DEUTCH, Director, 1995–1997
ROBERT GATES, Director, 1991–1993
HOWARD HART, Chief of Station, Islamabad, 1981–1984
JEFF O’CONNELL, Director, Counterterrorist Center, 1997–1999
JAMES PAVITT, Deputy Director, Operations, 1999–
WILLIAM PIEKNEY, Chief of Station, Islamabad, 1984–1986
PAUL PILLAR, Senior Analyst, later Deputy Director, Counterterrorist Center, 1993–1999
RICH, Chief, Bin Laden Unit, Counterterrorist Center, 1999–2001
MICHAEL F. SCHEUER, Chief, Bin Laden Unit, Counterterrorist Center, 1996–1999
GARY SCHROEN, Case Officer, Islamabad, 1978–1980; Chief of Station–designate, Kabul, 1988–1990; Chief of Station, Islamabad, 1996–1999; Deputy Chief, Near East Division, Directorate of Operations, 1999–2001
GEORGE J. TENET, Director, 1997–
THOMAS TWETTEN, Deputy Director, Operations, 1991–1993
HARRY, Chief of Station, Islamabad, 1989–1992
JAMES WOOLSEY, Director, 1993–1995
The White House
SAMUEL L. “SANDY” BERGER, Deputy National Security Adviser, 1993–1997; National Security Adviser, 1997–2000
ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, National Security Adviser, 1977–1980
RICHARD CLARKE, Counterterrorism Coordinator, National Security Council, 1998–2001
ANTHONY “TONY” LAKE, National Security Adviser, 1993–1997
Department of State
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, Secretary of State, 1997–2000
KARL F. “RICK” INDERFURTH, Assistant Secretary for South Asia, 1997–2000
EDMUND MCWILLIAMS, Special Envoy to the Afghan resistance, 1988–1989
WILLIAM MILAM, Ambassador to Pakistan, 1998–2001
ROBERT OAKLEY, Ambassador to Pakistan, 1988–1991
TOM PICKERING, Undersecretary of State, 1997–2000
ROBIN RAPHEL, Assistant Secretary for South Asia, 1993–1997
GEORGE SHULTZ, Secretary of State, 1982–1989
TOM SIMONS, Ambassador to Pakistan, 1996–1998
PETER TOMSEN, Special Envoy to the Afghan resistance, 1989–1992
In Afghanistan
ABDULLAH, foreign policy aide to Ahmed Shah Massoud
MOHAMMED ATEF, Egyptian-born military commander in bin Laden’s al Qaeda
ABDULLAH AZZAM, Palestinian-born spiritual leader, headed al Qaeda precursor group until 1989
ABURRASHID DOSTUM, former communist, Uzbek militia leader, sometime ally of Massoud
MOHAMMED FAHIM, intelligence and military aide to Massoud
ABDUL HAQ, Afghan Pashtun tribal and guerrilla leader, breaks with CIA during late 1980s
JALLALADIN HAQQANNI, radical Afghan Islamist guerrilla leader, successful military commander, CIA and Saudi intelligence ally during 1980s,joins Taliban during 1990s
GULBUDDIN HEKMATYAR, radical Afghan Islamist guerrilla leader, rival of Massoud
HAMID KARZAI, Afghan Pashtun tribal leader and political activist, initially backs Taliban, later joins Pashtun opposition to Taliban
MASSOUD KHALILI, schoolmate and close aide to Ahmed Shah Massoud
OSAMA BIN LADEN, Saudi-born leader of al Qaeda after 1989
AHMED SHAH MASSOUD, Tajik guerrilla commander, leads anti-Soviet resistance in northern Afghanistan, later forms Northern Alliance, leadsopposition to Taliban
PRESIDENT NAJIBULLAH, Soviet-backed Afghan communist leader
MULLAH MOHAMMED OMAR, supreme leader of the Taliban; after 1996, self-declared emir of Afghanistan