What is the importance of Fort Bragg in the nonfiction book, The Afghanistan Papers?

Fort Bragg is one of the world’s largest military and installations. Located within Cumberland and Hoke counties in North Carolina, the base is home to US Airborne and Special Forces, making it one the most significant sites within the US military establishment. The base features prominently in the book, with Special Forces trained and billeted there quoted throughout the text. The numerous controversies to emerge from Special Forces at Fort Bragg remain outside the scope of Whitlock’s interest. But in 2021, Rolling Stone reported on a string of uninvestigated murders that took place there in 2020, one of which was the beheading of Enrique Román-Martinez, a twenty-one-year-old soldier from the 81st Airborne Division. Around this time, Delta Forces operator William Lavigne killed Green Beret Mark Leshikar in front of his family. Lavigne was later murdered in unknown circumstances that appear to be related to drug trafficking.

As of January 2023, the base has been put under investigation for drug trafficking and the sexual exploitation and human trafficking of minors.