Summary

Chapter 12: Afghanistan – Prior to September 11, Eric recalls not ever having heard of Al-Qaeda. Eric brushes up on his history of Afghanistan, from Alexander the Great through the Soviet invasion of the 1970s. The Soviets were brutal, wiping out entire villages of people. The Americans backed the Mujahideen rebels, who eventually broke the Soviet occupation. In the chaos that followed the Soviet departure, the Taliban rose to power, instilling their own brutal Islamic rule and harboring the terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Congress gives President George. W. Bush the power to find and kill anyone involved in 9/11. Bush gives the Taliban the ultimatum of handing over Bin Laden, or facing war. The Taliban refuse, so the United States sets to war. By 2003, Eric is sent to Afghanistan. While the Taliban have been...