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|  | Author: Doug Stanton
Publisher: Scribner
List Price: $28.00
Buy New: $14.47
as of 11/23/2009 11:15 CST details
You Save: $13.53 (48%)
New (42) Used (28) Collectible (5) from $11.25
Seller: NextstepBK
Rating:  86 reviews
Sales Rank: 1757
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1416580514
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.1047
EAN: 9781416580515
ASIN: 1416580514
Publication Date: May 5, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 11-15 of 86
 Looking forward to reading this! September 25, 2009
Deborah Walker (Ridgefield, WA USA)
The delivery and price of this book was flawless. I haven't had the opportunity to start reading it yet, but the reviews I've read have given it 5 stars and say its an exciting 'must read' book.
 Hidden left wing agenda September 25, 2009
Marty
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I loved the book at first. Then it did seem a little off but I could not but my finger on why until near the end when author started talking about good war and bad war. Saying that some of our Special Forces men thought Iraq was a bad war. Our Special Forces heros put their lives on the line to protect our country and good war and bad war is just not in their mind set, period. Then I read about the author's friends, George Clooney and Harrison Ford and the reason became clear. Great actors but people who are against the war in Iraq, the bad war. If I had read about who his friends were I could have guessed the ending and would not have bought the book. The author used the memories of some of our countries fallen heros to further his hidden agenda. Shame on him. Marty
 The Amazing Special Forces September 22, 2009
Agustin Guerrero (Guayaquil, Guayas Ecuador)
The taking of Masar I Sharif was an outstanding example of what can be accomplished by the U.S. Special Forces. What many analysts onsidered could take two years to be accomplished took only three weeks. What made possible this success was a combination of technology, massive air power, and most of all the ability to make the Northern Alliance forces a reliable ally for the United States effort in Afghanistan. No other force in the World could accomplish this more capably than the U.S. Special Forces or Green Berets because of its specialized training as guerrilla fighters and most of all as diplomats enabling them to form a bond with the native forces fighting a common enemy. The Northern Alliance soldiers provided the boots in the ground and the bulk of the fighters while the Special Forces teams could call upon the aerial support and with the lazer guiding systems and GPS guided smart bombs rain destruction with pinpoint accuracy in the Taliban positions. The Air Force alone could not find the targets so the Special Forces provided the eyes in the ground and guided the smart bombs with their guiding systems. To accomplish this the teams had first to gain the trust of the Northern Alliance chieftains that were also engaged in internal disputes after the assasination of Massoud. In this aspect the Special Forces were brilliant and accomplished a very hard feat of preventing Dostum and his rivals to fight against each other instead of concentrating their efforts against the Taliban.
In this context the book achieved wonders, it presented in clear fashion the facts making clearer for a layman reader the very complex operations that took part in October and Novenmer of 2001, but it also provided human portraits of the actors and told the human side of the story. It was a very romantic period for these warriors riding in horses to battle but bringing the tools of destruction of the XXIst century with them. The book also humanized the Afghans fighting in both sides of the conflict and the foreign fighters allied with the Taliban especially portraying the motivations and the uncommon story of John Walker Lindh the American Taliban. It did not leave the prowess of the helicopter pilots that supplied the lifeline of logistics to the operation flying in terrible weather conditions with the ever present threat of antiaircraft fire leveled against them.
We are also presented with the uprising of the Kalang I Jing fortress in which several hundred Taliban and Foreign Al Qaeda fighters took arms against the Northarn Alliance and the Americans that imprisoned them. In this desperate battle in which American CIA operator Mike Spann was killed the balance of the campaign hanged for a while as this could have been a ruse in part of the Taliban to retake Mazar. This battle was told in all its gory and heroic detail.
In the end we are left wondering how after this brilliant campaign that ousted the Taliban from Afghan power in less than a month now after eight years the war has not been sucessfully concluded and the Taliban is again on the rise. Maybe the lessons of the campaign were forgotten and the regular army and marines cannot handle the situation as well as the Special Forces and their Afghan allies. The epilogue of the Afghan war is yet to be written but no matter the outcome the feat of the Special Forces teams in Afghanistan during 2001 will always be remenbered in the annals of warfare as a model for successfully conducting wars with economy of resources and in an effective way. In this campaign the American Special Forces were nothing less than amazing.
Disgusting politics September 13, 2009
Rose Burkhart
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
That American politicians and other PTB deliberately formulate restrictive rules by which US military and intelligence personnel must abide nauseates me.
To dictate that our CIA and military must not search Islamist terrorist lest the bodies of Islamist terrorists be touched by 'infidels' borders upon insanity. Surrendering Taliban hide grenades, knives, etc. beneath their robes and await the moment to strike, then murder American and Coalition forces as they did Mike Spann and his colleagues at Qala-i-janghi Fortress.
Doug Stanton's documentary in story form, 'Horse Soldiers', will infuriate and sicken you unless you are an America-hater, a freedom-hater, and/or want progress to cease.
You will alternate between the joy of reading about our sons, husbands, and fathers' courage and the shocking realization that without absurd restrictions placed upon our military and intelligence, Iraq and Afghanistan could today thrive in relative peace.
You will be sickened at the bragging words of playboy and America-hater John Walker Lindh and his suave, smooth-talking father.
Every war in which the US is involved reveals every-day men who exhibit extraordinary valor and courage when the need arises. 'Horse soldiers' will warm your heart with humor, yet cause you to emit anguished sobs, and will anger you against those inside the DC Beltway whose main aim appears to be the destruction of our excellent military and intelligence communities.
Lauds and compassion for the spouses and families of extraordinary men who perform extraordinary feats in their attempts to keep us safe and secure.
Mr. Stanton lists sources for his facts that you may check and recheck. If you do not feel horror and disgust at those who manipulate and work to destroy our nation and its true citizens, you do not deserve to live in the USA.
Wonderful Insights into the Hidden Side of the War in Afghanistan September 12, 2009
Early C. Ewing (Madison, MS USA)
This book provided me with a thrilling behind the scenes look at the War in Afghanistan. This was not the picture of the battles that I had from the news and certainly not what I had envisioned. This first hand account provided a view of the personal hardships our soldiers endure, not just the battle but the barriers in culture and politics, not to mention language.
Without the book, I don't think this story would have been told.
The technology, the role of the CIA and the human interest side of the war was particularly enthralling. I loved it.
Showing reviews 11-15 of 86
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