Afghanistan War: References & Edit History
More Articles On This Topic
- AfghanistanU.S.-led invasion and toppling of the Taliban
- BagrāmModern period and Bagrām Airfield
- John Manley
- John Walker Lindh
- Deadliest Wars of the 21st CenturyAfghanistan War
- DenmarkDenmark since the 1990s
- Haqqani networkRelationship with the Taliban
- improvised explosive device
- Khyber Pass
- Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
- Special Boat Service
- B-52Versions and operational history
- war on terrorism
- United StatesThe George W. Bush administration
- September 11 attacksThe aftermath
- James MattisMilitary career
- Stanley McChrystal
- Barack ObamaWars in Iraq and Afghanistan
- David Petraeus
- Donald Rumsfeld
- United States ArmyAfghanistan and the war on terrorism
- Withdrawal of United States troops from AfghanistanAfghanistan War
Additional Reading
The Antecedents to War
Explorations of the events leading up to September 11, 2001, and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Afghanistan are provided by Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (2004); Stephen Tanner, Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War Against the Taliban, updated ed. (2009); Barnett R. Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System, 2nd ed. (2002); and Jon Lee Anderson, The Lion’s Grave: Dispatches from Afghanistan (2002).
Contemporary histories
Contemporary histories of the war include Seth G. Jones, In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan (2009); Antonio Giustozzi, Koran, Kalashnikov, and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan (2007); and Bob Woodward, Bush at War (2002). Ahmed Rashid, Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia (2009), offers a detailed critique of U.S. policy in the region. David Kilcullen, The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One (2009), presents an in-depth exploration of how counterinsurgency doctrine could be used in Afghanistan.
First-person accounts
Gary C. Schroen, First In: An Insider’s Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan (2005), provides a veteran CIA officer’s account of the war’s initial stages. Sarah Chayes, The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban (2006), describes how U.S. policy in Afghanistan went adrift. Other insider accounts include Tommy Franks, American Soldier (2004); George Tenet, At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA (2007); Douglas J. Feith, War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism (2008); and Pervez Musharraf, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir (2006). Nicholas Schmidle, To Live or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan (2009), provides insights into the Pakistani militant groups that help feed the insurgency in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. .
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- Griff Witte
-
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corrected details about the 2009 suicide bombing in Khost. | Nov 09, 2026 | ||
| Anniversary information added. | Sep 19, 2026 | ||
| Modified link of Web site: Imperial War Museums - Afghanistan War: How did 9/11 lead to a 20-year war? | Sep 18, 2026 | ||
| Top Questions added. | Jan 26, 2026 | ||
| Added casualty statistics. | Jan 24, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: CNN - US War in Afghanistan Fast Facts. | Nov 25, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Al Jazeera - Afghanistan: The price of peace. | Jul 22, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Academia - The Afghanistan war and the breakdown of the Soviet Union (PDF). | Jun 11, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: BBC - Afghanistan war: What could peace look like? | Feb 10, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Teach Democracy - The War in Afghanistan: What Should America's Policy Be? | Oct 21, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Army Museum - War in Afghanistan. | Jul 26, 2024 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Apr 22, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: University of Houston - Cullen College of Engineering - Raymond Albert Kroc. | Feb 16, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: United States Institute of Peace - In Afghanistan, Was a Loss Better than Peace? | Dec 04, 2023 | ||
| Media added. | Sep 12, 2023 | ||
| Link added. | Aug 18, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Imperial War Museums - Afghanistan War: How did 9/11 lead to a 20-year war? | May 15, 2023 | ||
| Added mention of the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2021. | Aug 16, 2021 | ||
| Revised the discussion of the war's prelude. | Oct 31, 2020 | ||
| Add new Web site: The Canadian Encyclopedia - War in Afghanistan. | Oct 04, 2018 | ||
| Revised discussion of the opium industry in Afghanistan. | Feb 21, 2018 | ||
| Media added. | May 02, 2017 | ||
| Media added. | Oct 14, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: BBC History - The War in Afghanistan. | Feb 06, 2015 | ||
| Add new Web site: BBC History - The War in Afghanistan. | Feb 06, 2015 | ||
| Updated to mention the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement in September 2014 and the end of NATO combat operations in December 2014. | Dec 30, 2014 | ||
| Updated to mention events of 2012. | Mar 07, 2013 | ||
| Updated to mention events of late 2011 and early 2012. | May 03, 2012 | ||
| Updated to mention Obama's announcement of an accelerated timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. | Jun 23, 2011 | ||
| Updated to mention that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan on May 2, 2011. | May 02, 2011 | ||
| New bibliography added. | Feb 08, 2011 | ||
| Updated to mention the contents of the documents released online by WikiLeaks. | Jul 27, 2010 | ||
| Further description of McChrystal dismissal added. | Jun 28, 2010 | ||
| Added description of Pres. Obama's dismissal of Gen. McChrystal. | Jun 23, 2010 | ||
| New article added. | Jun 07, 2010 |