With deep insights into Afghanistan's culture and history, this important book traces the chronology of catastrophe and the failed US "War on Terror."

Operation Enduring Freedom on October 7, 2001 marked the beginning of the so-called “War on Terror” in Afghanistan, which to date has become the longest war fought by the USA and its allies, with thousands of deaths and injuries. For the first time, Emran Feroz describes this 20-year war from an inner Afghan perspective.

From speaking to Hamid Karzai and Taliban officials to interviews with affected citizens who suffered the most from this war, this important book gives a true picture from a non-western point of view—one that is rarely heard in mainstream media reporting. It makes one thing more than clear: The US’s “Saigon moment” in Kabul in August 2021 was more than foreseeable.