Table of Contents
Foreword xv
Part 1 A False Taste of Victory, 2001-2002
Chapter 1 A Muddled Mission 3
Chapter 2 "Who Are the Bad Guys?" 17
Chapter 3 The Nation-Building Project 29
Part 2 The Great Distraction, 2003-2005
Chapter 4 Afghanistan Becomes an Afterthought 43
Chapter 5 Raising an Army from the Ashes 55
Chapter 6 Islam for Dummies 67
Chapter 7 Playing Both Sides 77
Part 3 The Taliban Comes Back, 2006-2008
Chapter 8 Lies and Spin 91
Chapter 9 An Incoherent Strategy 103
Chapter 10 The Warlords 115
Chapter 11 A War on Opium 129
Part 4 Obama's Overreach, 2009-2010
Chapter 12 Doubling Down 145
Chapter 13 "A Dark Pit of Endless Money" 157
Chapter 14 From Friend to Foe 169
Chapter 15 Consumed by Corruption 183
Part 5 Things Fall Apart, 2011-2016
Chapter 16 At War with the Truth 199
Chapter 17 The Enemy Within 213
Chapter 18 The Grand Illusion 227
Part 6 Stalemate, 2017-2021
Chapter 19 Trump's Turn 241
Chapter 20 The Narco-State 253
Chapter 21 Talking with the Taliban 263
Epilogue 277
Acknowledgments 285
Note on Sources 291
Endnotes 295
Bibliography 333
Photo Credits 335
Index 337