The Afghanistan Papers

A Secret History of the War

By: Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post

Narrated by: Dan Bittner

A Washington Post Best Book of 2021

The number-one New York Times best-selling investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about America’s longest war, foreshadowing the Taliban’s recapture of Afghanistan, by Washington Post reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Whitlock.

Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforward and clear: Defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off-course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives.

Distracted by the war in Iraq, the US military become mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. But no president wanted to admit failure, especially in a war that began as a just cause. Instead, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations sent more and more troops to Afghanistan and repeatedly said they were making progress, even though they knew there was no realistic prospect for an outright victory.

Just as the Pentagon Papers changed the public’s understanding of Vietnam, The Afghanistan Papers contains “fast-paced and vivid” (The New York Times Book Review) revelation after revelation from people who played a direct role in the war, from leaders in the White House and the Pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines. In unvarnished language, they admit that the US government’s strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the Afghan government. All told, the account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the US government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground.

Documents unearthed by The Washington Post reveal that President Bush didn’t know the name of his Afghanistan war commander - and didn’t want to meet with him. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld admitted that he had “no visibility into who the bad guys are”. His successor, Robert Gates, said: “We didn’t know jack shit about al-Qaeda.”

The Afghanistan Papers is a “searing indictment of the deceit, blunders, and hubris of senior military and civilian officials” (Tom Bowman, NRP Pentagon Correspondent) that will supercharge a long-overdue reckoning over what went wrong and forever change the way the conflict is remembered.

©2021 Craig Whitlock and The Washington Post (P)2021 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"Craig Whitlock has forged a searing indictment of the deceit, blunders, and hubris of senior military and civilian officials, with the same tragic echoes of the Vietnam conflict. The American dead, wounded, and their families deserved wiser and more honorable leaders.” (Tom Bowman, NPR Pentagon correspondent)

“At once page-turning and rigorous, The Afghanistan Papers makes a lasting and revelatory contribution to the record of America's tragic management of our longest war. In transparent and nuanced detail, Whitlock chronicles how American leaders and commanders undermined their country's promises to the Afghans who counted on them and to the US troops who made the ultimate sacrifice after 9/11.” (Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars and Directorate S)

“The Afghanistan Papers is a gripping account of why the war in Afghanistan lasted so long. The missed opportunities, the outright mistakes, and more than anything, the firsthand accounts from senior commanders who only years later acknowledged they simply did not tell the American people what they knew about how the war was going.” (Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon correspondent)

Great work, fascinating

I liked this audiobook very much, it revealed a lot things that had been hidden, something we did know most not I am recommending this audiobook to everyone who is interested. Hopefully we will never get in a situation like this as a nation again

Easy read…well documented

Recommended by author Jack Carr. Opened my eyes to the corruption behind our longest war, a sad story.
I would have given the book a 5 overall but the author could not put side his hatred for Trump with subtle jabs and insults. His excellent reporting was overshadowed by his bias.
Overall a fair book.

Worthwhile listen

We should erase the word "progress" from our dictionary. Our military generals and so-called leaders have butchered the meaning of the word to the point it is no longer an useful indication of anything.

Excellent listen. Hard to hear the truth of our epic failures. Sadly, the lessons of Vietnam went completely unheeded a short 30 years later.

Outstanding History of a Debacle

I expected a hatchet piece and nothing more, which it is to some extent. However, the book is very sympathic, and rightly so, for the men and women who were boots on ground trying to make a difference and pull Afghanistan out of the dark ages and into the 20th and 21st century, even though most of those efforts were ineffective, wasteful projects in support of nebulous goals. It is perplexing that professional officers with decades of experience, training, and advanced degrees could be so oblivious to the same mistakes made in Vietnam. The parallels are striking and depressing in equal measure, an ugly mix of hubris, ignorance, and rampant careerism. The book also shows that the prevailing view that Afghanistan was unwinnable is incorrect. The Taliban may have deserved to win, but we certainly deserved to lose.

I never write reviews. This book matters!

The writing and narration are both top notch, but the important takeaway from this book is how it illustrates the BIG PICTURE in how our American system works, and how dangerous the unintended consequences of good intentions can be.

The book was at times hilariously funny in a macabre sort of fashion. I beg my fellow Americans to arm yourselves with knowledge and begin to normalize the virtues of modesty and humility.

Apolitically well-balanced & car wreck gawkingly insightful

Summation of foreign gov’t approach taken perhaps most concisely stated in one line near the end, referencing the book “The Kite Runner.”

Eye opening !!!

The politicians should have no say military operations. Let the military go in and do their jobs.
3 out of 4 commanders and chief have a military background. All they were concerned with was their own political gain.
Great book !
I highly recommend it!

Great detail of the years of the war, but the pull out of American forces isn’t even touched on or even discussed!

I didn’t like that the Biden pull out isn’t even discussed. I believe that is a grave oversight.

Surprised (Not)

Craig Whitlock has penned an outstanding summary of his incredible investigative work for the Washington Post concerning the USA’s longest war. Anyone wishing for a solid background on the decades of mismanagement and deception that helped keep the US involved in Afghanistan should listen to or read this book.

Very Informative but a bit redundant

fantastic information highlights the shortcomings of officials and leadership, but a bit repetitive at times. Overall a real eye opener