Summary

Chapter Five focuses on a series of events in Band-i-Timor, a collection of settlements in a desert area of Kandahar province. In late 2001, the area was controlled by a collection of tribal elders, led by Hajji Burget Khan and Hajji Bashar. Following the U.S. invasion, these two men led their community in supporting the U.S.-backed government and agreed to participate in a national assembly of tribal elders Hamid Karzai had proposed to select a transitional government. At this time, U.S. forces settled into former Soviet bases and began contracting local Afghans to provide logistical support and supplies. This was an enriching practice for Afghans but many, including Gul Agha Sherzai in Kandahar province, began pushing these relationships beyond the provision of supplies. Knowing that the military had been ordered to find and eliminate terrorists, Sherzai began feeding intelligence...