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Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence (Open Media) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Sonali Kolhatkar, James Ingalls
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy Used: $6.30
You Save: $12.65 (67%)
New (26) Used (12) from $6.30
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 707596
Media: Paperback
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 1583227318
Dewey Decimal Number: 327.730581090511
EAN: 9781583227312
ASIN: 1583227318
Publication Date: September 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In the years following 9/11, US policy in Afghanistan has received little scrutiny, either from the media or the public. Despite official claims of democracy and women’s freedom, Afghanistan has yet to emerge from the ashes of decades-long war. Through in-depth research and detailed historical context, Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls report on the injustice of US policies in Afghanistan historically and in the post 9-11 era. Drawing from declassified government documents and on-the-ground interviews with Afghan activists, journalists, lawyers, refugees, and students, the book examines he connections between US training and arming of Mujahadeen commanders and the subversion of Afghan democracy, to the sad state of warlordism, women’s oppression, and poverty today. Bleeding Afghanistan boldly critiques the exploitation of Afghan women to justify war by both conservatives and liberals, analyzes uncritical media coverage of US policies, and examines the ways in which the US benefits from being in Afghanistan. Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls are the co-Directors of the Afghan Women’s Mission, a US-based non-profit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). Their writings have appeared in Z Magazine, Foreign Policy in Focus, Alternet, Commondreams and Counterpunch. In February 2005, Kolhatkar and Ingalls traveled to Afghanistan to witness first-hand the results of US policy, and to understand how ordinary Afghans felt about the war. Sonali Kolhatkar is the host and producer of Uprising, a popular, daily, drive-time program on KPFK, Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles. James Ingalls is a Staff Scientist at the Spitzer Science Center, at the California Institute of Technology.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 The book on Afghanistan we have been waiting for! January 20, 2007
Heather K. Schreck (Los Angeles, CA United States)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
This is a must read for anyone who truly cares about the Afghan people and their country. It gives very detailed information on the US involvement in the country, that began way before September 11th to what is going on today. It is a book that is hard to stomach at more times than most because of the details given, but it is also vital information in understanding Afghanistan today. It also shows that Afghanistan is far from a success. This book is not only long overdue, but truthfully one of the most powerful books you could ever read on this country. The authors should be commended for not only writing it, but writing it with such love and care for the Afghan people themselves.
What's really happening in Afghanistan--and why January 18, 2007
Mark Graham (allentown, pa United States)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Finally a book that looks at what's happening in Afghanistan from the viewpoint of Afghans. This is a well-written and well-informed account of just why Afghanistan is the way it is. A bit of a spoiler: It has a great deal to do with the United States' criminal support of fundamentalist warlords. These men, who have risen to power in the new "democratic" government, are the same ones who abused human rights with impunity in the 1990s and paved the way for the Taliban. While providing an insightful background in Afghan history that shows their firm grasp of the facts not propaganda, the authors have written their most penetrating analysis on the ways in which Afghanistan has been misrepresented by both liberal feminist groups and conservative media. This is not yet another attempt to cash in on the temporary cool of a war-torn country. It is a genuine effort to draw attention to the vast injustices that are being perpetrated with US aid and collusion as well as to the many Afghans who face death to bring peace and justice to their country.
uncovering the truth of Afghanistan January 12, 2007
Alex Censor (Ashland Oregon)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book will truly reveal what it going on in Afghanistan and the role we have played there and the horrible mistakes that are causing many lives. AS well as billions of dollars going to War Lords,etc, and not the Afghan people.
Important book.
 Afghan suffering March 4, 2007
Georg Solbakken (Oslo, Norway)
8 out of 14 found this review helpful
The book raises important moral and ethical problems for US supporting fundamentalists in the fight against communism during the cold war, and later using the same fractions for fighting the Taliban. The authors' good knowledge on what's going on in Afghanistan shows how the civilian population has suffered during 30 years of war, and how they continue to suffer. The rest of the book including coverage of US policies in general, western imperialism, racism, and media conspiracies are less founded in real facts. To exemplify they try to prove western racism by presenting statistics of media coverage of the Bosnian conflict compared the lack of media coverage of the Afghan civil war. Omitting to add the failed intervention in Somalia, the following genocide in Rwanda, and shadow that WWI and WWII genocides lay over the Balkan conflicts - shows just short of astounding narrow perspectives by the authors. If you can look past the traditional anti western rhetoric, there are still Afghan voices in the book that deserves to be heard.
 Please don't let this book "inform" your view on US/Afghan relations... June 4, 2007
AEW
6 out of 18 found this review helpful
This book simply does not present a balanced perspective on the history of US involvement in Afghanistan. I defy the authors to claim that they began to research this book without a very specific thesis regarding the supposed culpability of the United States for all that is wrong in Afghanistan.
For a well-researched and very balanced perspective on US activities in Afghanistan read Steve Coll's Ghost Wars and spare yourself the largely illogical rant presented in this book. I wish I had... my eyes hurt from rolling so much.
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