John Fairweather's The Good War

There have been many powerful accounts that voice the stories of events that took place prior to, the day of, and after September 11, 2001 but many of those represent one outlook depriving the reader of the different perspectives and leaving the story incomplete. In the book, The Good War, author Jack Fairweather in some way assembles various short stories that while following the timeline of the War in Afghanistan, also offers assorted encounters that paint detail to critical events (whether it be of actions or lessons learned) of others viewpoints that complement the title of his book, “Why we couldn’t win the war or the peace in Afghanistan”. As an award winning war reporter and expert on American and British military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan Fairweather reported the war in Afghanistan for the Washington post. He was also embedded with troops during the Iraq invasion, and his first-hand experience as well as quotations attributed to key individuals throughout the book immerses the reader into the story as if they are validating what has been written and climaxes the content in the book. The debate over the United States and its war in Afghanistan is captivating as Fairweather uncovers controversial topics, illuminates areas where the United States created costly mistakes, discusses the amount of money that was spent in Afghanistan, and exposes the span the United States was willing to go in order to catch Osama Bin Laden. From the first page to the last Jack Fairweather is able to tell the story of how the American war in Afghanistan turned from “Good” to “Tragedy” and provides different approaches and various tactics used by other nations within the war that illustrates the chaos and difficulty on why “Winning” the war became overdue and how vital the lessons learned in Afghanistan are essential for altering future policy. Strategy is vital to success and failure of outcomes. In 1996 under the Clinton administration the threat Al Qaeda posed was understood and in 1999 the opportunity to eliminate the Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was squandered when fear of not being able to positively identify him and the consequences of error of such a high-profile mistake succeeded as the moment passed. Fairweather goes on to describe in his book how the year prior a costly strike on what was thought to be against Al-Qaeda facilities in Sudan and Afghanistan turned out to be a pharmaceutical factory with no links to the terrorist group. (pg. 7) Vital to the story of how recognized this organization was to the US prior to the attacks carried out in 2001, this background story highlights the risk reward strategy that the US faced with all major decisions throughout the war. The questioning of strategies are common throughout the war from initial bombing of the “shock and awe” operation to partnering with warlords are all covered by Fairweather. “So far, American bombs had targeted Afghanistan’s …show more content…
Though the campaign against terrorism started with great support as the years passed it has dwindled down. With the promise of troops withdrawing from Afghanistan approaching within the years to come, the finals chapters of the war are currently writing themselves. Despite being such a significant war there has been much information that has been obscure and different perspectives that are intentionally or unintentionally left out, but John Fairweather eliminates all the questions on why the war started, the obstacles that had to be overcome, some influential key players, and the role of money all while remaining impartial to any one side. With no notable weaknesses in his writing, a conclusion of, The Good War, is that Fairweather leaves you as a reader with every significant aspect, side meeting, and paints the War with everything the reader would want to know feeling well-informed answering all questions. The question, “With no attainable way to succeed why have we been there for so long?” was the question I came in and out of the book with and although my answer has changed over and over I feel as though I know the answer and like others feel as though by answering no you discredit all the service members who scarified their lives for the greater cause so we choose to dismiss some