In the warlords' shadow : special operations forces, the Afghans, and their fight against the Taliban /

Green is a defense fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and his civilian and uniformed service experiences during multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, academic qualifications, and publications are superb credentials for writing this book. It focuses intensely on village stability operations conducted by US special operations forces and their local and international partners in Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province. This captivating first-person narrative offers an intimate, ground-level perspective on local engagement in the wider context of ongoing US war and peace building efforts. Green attributes their relative success to the critical importance of local knowledge and relationships. In the Warlords' Shadow joins a growing number of thoughtful "after-action" analyses by field officers set in the context of local and national politics and evolving US policies. Not surprisingly, Green provides sobering reflections and recommendations on the American way of war, dysfunctional civil-military bureaucratic behavior, varieties of "victory," public misunderstanding, and the key elements of tailored strategies for fighting small wars. Appendixes on lessons for special operations task forces and criteria for successful village stability operations bring the book back to the ground level Green knows so well. Recommended for university and large public libraries and collections supporting international affairs and military and security studies. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. --Joseph P. Smaldone, Georgetown University