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. 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