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Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert D. Kaplan
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 90266
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Vintage Departures Ed
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 1400030250
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.1045092
EAN: 9781400030255
ASIN: 1400030250
Publication Date: November 2001
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Product Description
First time in paperback, with a new Introduction and final chapter
World affairs expert and intrepid travel journalist Robert D. Kaplan braved the dangers of war-ravaged Afghanistan in the 1980s, living among the mujahidin—the “soldiers of god”—whose unwavering devotion to Islam fueled their mission to oust the formidable Soviet invaders. In Soldiers of God we follow Kaplan’s extraordinary journey and learn how the thwarted Soviet invasion gave rise to the ruthless Taliban and the defining international conflagration of the twenty-first century.
Kaplan returns a decade later and brings to life a lawless frontier. What he reveals is astonishing: teeming refugee camps on the deeply contentious Pakistan-Afghanistan border; a war front that combines primitive fighters with the most technologically advanced weapons known to man; rigorous Islamic indoctrination academies; a land of minefields plagued by drought, fierce tribalism, insurmountable ethnic and religious divisions, an abysmal literacy rate, and legions of war orphans who seek stability in military brotherhood. Traveling alongside Islamic guerrilla fighters, sharing their food, observing their piety in the face of deprivation, and witnessing their determination, Kaplan offers a unique opportunity to increase our understanding of a people and a country that are at the center of world events.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 The Roots of the Taliban January 27, 2005
Edward P. Trimnell (Cincinnati, OH USA)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Soldiers of God is a first-hand narrative of journalist Robert Kaplan's travels with the mujahadeen in Afghanistan during the waning days of the Soviet occupation. Set in the late 1980s, this book does not cover the more recent Taliban movement that will probably be of more immediate interest to most readers. However, Soldiers of God does impart a clear understanding of the background conditions that led to the rise of the Taliban and the influence of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Soldiers of God is the story of a third-world nation that was brutalized by the Soviets, then manipulated and mismanaged by the Pakistani agents who were acting as U.S. surrogates. Kaplan explains how the United States entrusted the Zia and Bhutto regimes of Pakistan with most of the day-to-day details of the war. The result was the gradual encouragement of the militant Islamist elements that would eventually coalesce into the Taliban.
Tragically, Afghanistan was a comparatively minor sideshow in the Cold War. The country was difficult for journalists to enter, so the conflict was largely neglected by the American press; and Eastern Europe and Nicaragua were much higher on the list of U.S. priorities. Kaplan provides detailed accounts of Soviet atrocities which received little mainstream press attention at the time.
However, the most captivating aspect of the book is richness of the narrative itself. Part diary, part political commentary, Soldiers of God gives the reader a visceral sense of what it was like to live as a mujahadeen during the Soviet-Afghan conflict. Kaplan describes the miserable climate, maggot-infested food provisions, and the constant fear of Soviet mines with exacting detail.
Kaplan also gives us insights into the characters of the mujahadeen themselves. As a reader, I felt a mixture of contempt and admiration for the men who lives unfolded in this book. On one hand, the mujahadeen emerge as heroic underdogs fighting to free their country from a vastly superior Soviet military. On the other hand, Kaplan acknowledges many of the Afghan societal flaws which would later be amplified by the Taliban. We read about a country in which women have little or no rights, and religious laws have no secular counterbalance.
I have found few books on the Soviet-Afghan conflict; and I would guess that this one is among the best of the bunch.
 The book to read to understand Afghanistan November 24, 2001
Art (Virginia, USA)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
You can watch 300 hours of CNN and not learn as much about what is occuring in Afghanistan as you would in 1 hour of reading this book. Even though it was written in the late 1980s it still rings true. Kaplan has an eye for detail and telling a story that makes the conflict real. The challenges that Kaplan pointed out in 1988 are the same ones our leaders are facing today. Well worth your time.
Interesting, if biased, account of what was up pre 9/11 May 24, 2002
RDN (Baltimore, MD USA)
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
As an American living in several parts of the world in which Islam has a strong influence, I have always had a bit of a problem with the mainstream categorization of Islam as a fanatical approach to solving normal human problems.Kaplan, once again, gets beneath the surface of things to discover that all is not what it seems. As he himself freely admits in the new introduction to this edition, he was somewhat biased by his visceral experiences on the front lines in 1980s Afghanistan, in which he shared life and death with the mujahidin. His square placement of blame on the US for its blind reliance on Pakistan to provide intelligence and diplomacy on the war in Afghanistan is probably a bit short-sighted. Nevertheless, if anyone has any curiosity about how Bin Laden and his ilk came to find Afghanistan a safe-have, they should read this book. The updated intro and new last chapter are good additions in light of the prescience which lies beneath the surface of the original prose.
An invaluable book April 9, 2002
scott shadian (Poway, CA)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Kaplan, D. Robert, Solders of God (Vintage Books, New York, NY, November 2001). xxi+254. 1 map. Index. ISBN 1-4000-3025-0.
In his own personal account, Robert D. Kaplan, international affairs expert and war-time journalist, chronicles his journey with the mujahidin y yholy warriorsy - through the forbidden and vicious landscape of Afghanistan. In Solders of God Kaplan attempts to unravel the sheer chaos of Afghanistan through an inter-personal level of analysis, first by gaining access to some of the most important tribal/resistance leaders, and then accompanying them on their Jihad y or yholy wary y against the Soviet Union. Kaplan purposely uses his experience with the mujahidin to help explain the chain of events over the past 30 years which left the door open for the fanaticism of the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden.
In the 80ys ywar-timey reporting was largely focused around the civil war in Lebanon or apartheid in South Africa. Rarely was their a first-hand report from the front lines of Afghanistan, which is what makes Kaplanys accounts of what some journalists call, the yforgotten wary, an invaluable tool in understanding present day international affairs.
During his time with the mujahidin, Kaplan details the lives of these mainly young, devote, and incredibly resistant solders who portray almost superhuman like qualities. As the Sherpas of Nepal have essentially evolved to conquer the highest of altitudes, the mujahidin of Afghanistan have evolved to become some of the worldys best guerrilla fighters. Insidious and intolerant as the mujahidin might seem, Kaplan exposes a fissure between the modern day authoritarian Islam of the Arabic world and the more introverted democratic, and egalitarian Islam of the Afghani tribes, specifically the Pathans in the north. Kaplan finds that while they were fanatical, many Afghani Moslems were incredibly tolerant of ynon-believersy and women journalist (who many times felt safest with the mujahidin).
Some of the most shocking pieces of Kaplanys account shows the ferociousness, relentlessness, and brutality of the Soviet invasion. Kaplan describes how the miscalculated and misguided Soviet war of attrition has left the yfootprinty of war on Afghanistan to this very day. Riddled with Soviet landmines, Afghanistan has become a country of amputees, disabling a majority of an already diseased population.
Kaplanys relationship with renowned leaders such as Abdul Haq (Pathan leader; known as the yLion of Afghanistany), Ahmad Shah Massoud (Tajik leader; known as the yPanshir Liony), and Hamid Karzi (current Afghan interim leader), allows the reader to better understand the incoherence and complexity of the ethnic and tribal codes that rule Afghani politics.
Because of his intimacy with the Mujahidin, one might criticize Kaplan for romanticizing the bravado and machismo of these Afghan guerrillas. However, rather than romanticize, Kaplan delivers a telling and respectful account of a people and a country yorphaned by wary.
In Kaplanys final analysis he shifts focus to neighboring Pakistan where the majority of Afghani refugees reside. Combined with past support (financial and political) for the Taliban and a fevering wave of fundamental Islam, seen coming directly from the Saudi sponsored Madrassas (religious schools); an explosive cocktail of factionalism is predicted on the horizon. In a chilling conclusion Kaplan warns of potential Balkanization in Pakistan. However unlike Yugoslavia, Pakistan has a Nuclear Arsenal. Scott Shadian
Captivating and Informative April 10, 2002
Zhaklin Ovsepyan (burbank, ca United States)
10 out of 14 found this review helpful
From the opening pages to the closing chapter of Soldiers of God, Robert D. Kaplan paints an intricate and vivid image of his experiences in Afghanistan throughout the 1980's. Soldiers of God intimately describes the details of the author's tumultuous stay in Afghanistan and his close personal relationship with many of the important figures in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation from 1979-1989.
The accumulation of Soldiers of God lies in Kaplan's numerous associations with various Islamic warriors, important figures in Afghanistan and journalists he encounters along the way. Various individuals he meets catalyze the linear narrative of the book and serves as a means of advancing the book through his memoirs. "[He] had met Palestinian leaders in Syria and Jordan, Polisario leaders in Algeria, Kurdish guerrillas in Iraq and Iran, and Eritrean and Tigrean guerrillas in northern Ethiopia," demonstrates the extent to which Kaplan met and befriended an insurmountable array of people and learned about Afghanistan (pg. 47). Through Kaplan's associations the reader gains an in-depth look at Afghanistan through the people Kaplan consorts with.
By relating his stories through information about the Punjabi, Abdul Haq, Ahmed Shah Massoud, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Savik Shuster, Haja Baba and Gucci Muj the audience gains a complete understanding of the existing turmoil in Afghanistan and further insight into various aspects like religion and women. Through Abdul Haq, for example, the reader learns of the intestinal fortitude existing in Islamic warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan through Haq's courageous dealing of his amputated foot. Also, the reader learns of the increasing impertinence of Abdul Haq towards the United States.
For example, "Haq was convinced the US was trying to kill him," because they forced him to wait in the London airport for hours in excruciating pain due to Washington regulations, which stipulated that he must board only an American carrier (pg. 71). In addition, through Abdul Haq we learn that "Woman are as private to a Pathan as his private parts," depicting the extent to which women are secluded from society (pg. 50). An example concerning the importance of religion relates to Savik Shuster, a Lithuanian Jew and a former Soviet citizen. Shuster aggravates Haq when he claims to be agnostic causing Haq to exclaims, "Now you sound like a Soviet" (pg. 65). The above elements of US carelessness, women and religion signify the importance of Soldiers of God in relation to the growing interest in Afghanistan today. Kaplan's book conveys the significant details of the many facets and faces of Afghanistan life, which remain of vast interests since the events following September 11, 2001.
Robert D. Kaplan explanation for the purpose of Soldiers of God arises from his meticulous and realistic portrayal of the events he witnesses starting his prologue and finalizing through his later chapters, placing his reader in close proximity to understanding the book. Kaplan immediately captures his/her reader in the prologue entitled, "Walking Through a Minefield" and further enhances intrigue in the chapter entitled, "Going Up Khyber." By using pop culture and mostly Western references to Star Wars, Michael Jackson and Coca-Cola Kaplan allows his readers a more closer association with the book rather than isolating his audience to mainly factual and bland information. By relating his experiences through interwoven associations with various individuals Kaplan captures the essence of an Afghanistan, deeming Soldiers of God an essential book in understanding the richly historic country.
Zhaklin Ovsepyan
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