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The Resource The hardest place : the American military adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley, Wesley Morgan

The hardest place : the American military adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley, Wesley Morgan

Creator
Author
Summary
"When we think of the war in Afghanistan, chances are we're thinking of a small, remote corner of the country where American military action has been concentrated: the Pech and its tributary valleys in Kunar and Nuristan provinces. The rugged, steep terrain and thick forests made the region a natural hiding spot for targets in the American war on terror, from Osama bin Laden to the Islamic State, and it has been the site of constant U.S. military activity for nearly two decades. Even as the U.S. presence in Afghanistan transitions to a drone war, the Pech has remained at the center of it, a testbed for a new method of remote warfare. Wesley Morgan, who grew up with the war, observing it closely, first visited the Pech in 2010, while he was still a college student embedding with military units as a freelancer. By then, the Pech and its infamous tributary the Korengal had become emblematic of the war, but Morgan found that few of the troops fighting there could explain how or when their remote outposts had been built. In The Hardest Place, he unravels the history those troops didn't know, captures the culture and reality of the war through both American and Afghan eyes, and reports on the snowballing American missteps that made each unit's job harder than the last as storied outfits like Marines, paratroopers, Rangers, Green Berets, and SEALs all took their turn. Through reporting trips, hundreds of interviews with Americans and Afghans, and documentary research, Morgan writes vividly of large-scale missions gone awry, years-long hunts for single individuals, and the soldiers, Marines, commandos, and intelligence operatives who cycle through, along with several who return again and again to the same slowly evolving fight. With these stories, he shows how the Pech Valley has long been a microcosm of the entire war. As the war drags on through its third presidential administration, Morgan concludes that we've created a status quo that could last forever in the Pech, always in search of the next target."--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxvi, 644 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780812995060
Instance
Label
The hardest place : the American military adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley
Title
The hardest place
Title remainder
the American military adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley
Statement of responsibility
Wesley Morgan
Creator
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
"When we think of the war in Afghanistan, chances are we're thinking of a small, remote corner of the country where American military action has been concentrated: the Pech and its tributary valleys in Kunar and Nuristan provinces. The rugged, steep terrain and thick forests made the region a natural hiding spot for targets in the American war on terror, from Osama bin Laden to the Islamic State, and it has been the site of constant U.S. military activity for nearly two decades. Even as the U.S. presence in Afghanistan transitions to a drone war, the Pech has remained at the center of it, a testbed for a new method of remote warfare. Wesley Morgan, who grew up with the war, observing it closely, first visited the Pech in 2010, while he was still a college student embedding with military units as a freelancer. By then, the Pech and its infamous tributary the Korengal had become emblematic of the war, but Morgan found that few of the troops fighting there could explain how or when their remote outposts had been built. In The Hardest Place, he unravels the history those troops didn't know, captures the culture and reality of the war through both American and Afghan eyes, and reports on the snowballing American missteps that made each unit's job harder than the last as storied outfits like Marines, paratroopers, Rangers, Green Berets, and SEALs all took their turn. Through reporting trips, hundreds of interviews with Americans and Afghans, and documentary research, Morgan writes vividly of large-scale missions gone awry, years-long hunts for single individuals, and the soldiers, Marines, commandos, and intelligence operatives who cycle through, along with several who return again and again to the same slowly evolving fight. With these stories, he shows how the Pech Valley has long been a microcosm of the entire war. As the war drags on through its third presidential administration, Morgan concludes that we've created a status quo that could last forever in the Pech, always in search of the next target."--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Morgan, Wesley
Dewey number
958.104/742
Illustrations
  • maps
  • plates
  • photographs
Index
index present
LC call number
DS371.4123.P43
LC item number
M67 2020
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Afghan War, 2001-
  • Afghan War, 2001-
  • Afghan War, 2001-
  • Military campaigns
  • Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan
Label
The hardest place : the American military adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley, Wesley Morgan
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 519-620) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
  • cri
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxvi, 644 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780812995060
Lccn
2020011937
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
photographs (chiefly color), maps
System control number
(OCoLC)on1129784726
Label
The hardest place : the American military adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley, Wesley Morgan
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 519-620) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
  • cri
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxvi, 644 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780812995060
Lccn
2020011937
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
photographs (chiefly color), maps
System control number
(OCoLC)on1129784726

Subject

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