“History repeats itself in the tragedy of Afghanistan,” stated many headlines, this August, in reaction to the Taliban’s storming of the presidential palace and occupation of Kabul.
Images of a Chinook airlifting Americans out of their Afghan embassy have prompted comparisons to the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese in 1975. The Taliban are set to announce the establishment of a new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches in September.
The historic enormity of the Taliban’s victory and the US’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan makes the publication of First Casualty: The Untold Story of the Battle that Began the War in Afghanistan, by Toby Harnden, even more poignant.
Harnden, a former naval officer, foreign correspondent for UK newspapers The Sunday Times and The Telegraph and Orwell Prize winner, has spent decades reporting on war zones, including in Zimbabwe and Northern Ireland.
His new book tells the story of how America, its allies and the Afghan government have tried and failed to resist the Taliban. The book does this by exploring the experiences of the first CIA and Green Beret Special Forces troops sent to Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks to aid the Northern Alliance, a coalition of Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and Turkmen, in the north of the country.
Harnden focuses on the relationship between the CIA’s Team Alpha, the first Americans behind the Taliban’s lines, and Abdul Rashid Dostum, a charismatic and fearsome Afghan warlord and Northern Alliance commander who fought for the Soviets and the mujahideen resistance during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989).
Within Team Alpha, First Casualty gives the most attention to David Tyson, an ex-academic, CIA case officer and Central Asian linguist; and Mike Spann, a paramilitary CIA officer and ex-marine. Tyson embodies the eccentric, adaptive and intellectual spies found in John le Carre novels. Spann comes across as an all-American southerner with a guerilla fighter’s mindset.
Harnden seems to see Spann and Tyson, the exemplary agent and expert, as representative of the successful lighter-touch US intervention pursued immediately after 9/11.
“First Casualty is the story of Team Alpha, a group of eight Americans who became the first to fight behind enemy lines after 9/11. It is a rousing tale of the remarkable success they achieved when, for perhaps six weeks, the CIA ran the war. These men brought regional expertise, languages, and a focus on tribal dynamics and human psychology,” writes Harnden.
In contrast, he blames the Pentagon, former vice president Dick Cheney, former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and former deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, for having a “Cold War mindset". He also argues that plans to invade Iraq became a constant distraction in meetings with the president.
First Casualty notes that the Pentagon briefed against CIA efforts and was reluctant to use small groups of special forces and later insisted on sending in senior officers not trusted by Dostum and other Northern Alliance commanders.
Harnden writes that while junior Green Beret officers, who were the first to co-ordinate with the Northern Alliance, had the attitude “that Dostum was in charge and the Green Berets were advisers”, other senior officers “seemed to treat Dostum as a subordinate”.
Yet, Team Alpha, along with a small group of Green Berets, in the first months after 9/11, had great success working alongside the Northern Alliance. Within weeks of landing in 2001, they had recaptured the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif, an outpost of anti-extremist resistance.
However, Mazar-i-Sharif fell to the Taliban again on August 15 this year. Team Alpha’s lightning-speed victories in northern Afghanistan, according to Harnden, were due, in part, to the Afghan “practice of switching sides ... to survive.”
This allowed the CIA to capture numerous Al Qaeda suspects who were imprisoned in Qala-i-Jangi, a 19th-century fort built to defend against British invaders during the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1879-1880).
However, several ex-Taliban commanders betrayed the Northern Alliance at the last minute, and Spann was killed in the resulting prisoner uprising. He became the first American casualty in a war that would last for another 20 years.
The trend of fluid and changing allegiances has played out again in 2021 with Afghan government officials and army officers making deals with the Taliban, which allowed the insurgents to rapidly advance towards Kabul.
The historic success of insurgents in Afghanistan was recognised at the time by CIA director George Tenet, who stressed that according to Harnden, “Americans would be insurgents rather than invaders, helping Afghans rid their country of the foreign occupiers of Al Qaeda”.
However, this quickly ended as “conventional troops poured into the country and fortified bases were established". This, according to First Casualty, led to “western standards of morality and fair play [being] applied, even retrospectively, as the US tried to create a nation in its own image. Early success became a long-drawn-out failure.”
For Harnden, the initial CIA mission into Afghanistan is ultimately “an inspiring story of what was achieved then, and a plaintive one of what might have been since”.
CONCRETE COWBOY
Directed by: Ricky Staub
Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome
3.5/5 stars
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
Company%20Profile
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EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
The biogs
Name: Zinah Madi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and links
Nationality: Syrian
Family: Married, Mother of Tala, 18, Sharif, 14, Kareem, 2
Favourite Quote: “There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.”
Name: Razan Nabulsi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and Links
Nationality: Jordanian
Family: Married, Mother of Yahya, 3.5
Favourite Quote: A Chinese proverb that says: “Be not afraid of moving slowly, be afraid only of standing still.”
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
