Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism

Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism

by JohnK.Cooley (Author)

Synopsis

To oppose the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the USA formed an extraordinary anti-communist alliance with militant Islamic forces in South Asia. In this controversial book, John Cooley provides a behind-the-scenes account of this alliance and of how the CIA planned and ran the holy war in Afghanistan. In this edition Cooley brings the subject up to date with a description of the Bin Laden-linked terrorist conspiracy network uncovered in the US and Canada since December 1999. He also covers the important events in Pakistan since the military coup of October 1999 and the impact of this on Indo-Pakistani relations, and focuses on recent events in Algeria, which have been linked to the extremist GIA - the group whose members are alleged to be involved in the new US-Canada conspiracies.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
Edition: 2nd Revised edition
Publisher: Pluto Press
Published: 01 Oct 2000

ISBN 10: 0745316913
ISBN 13: 9780745316918

Media Reviews
'The devil of John Cooley's unsettling book is in the detail ... A persuasive argument against one-night stands in international alliances and makes clear that there will be an intolerable price to pay if Islam replaces communism as the next 'Satanic foe?'. Independent on Sunday 'Focuses on the numerous riots, uprisings, and terrorist acts in the Arabic-speaking parts of the Middle East over the last two decades. Cooley carries such ties even to the World Trade Center and Kenyan and Tanzanian embassy bombings. This provocative book certainly will provide insight into many events in the Middle East for the general reader.- Library Journal 'Read this book and you will see the clash between radical Islam and the West in a new light.' Charles William Maynes, former editor, Foreign Policy 'Cooley is to be commended for undertaking the ambitious task of tracing the repercussions of the Afghan war and for coming up with a great many details of value and interest.- New York Times Book Review 'The book is a wonderful and provocative read, and shall prove most helpful for those of us who seek clarity amidst the propagandistic obscurantism of official government policy.' Professor Hal Himmelstein Chair Department of Television and Radio, Brooklyn College 'Cooley has a done a service for the international working class movement in exposing the clandestine operations for the CIA.' News Line 'No Cooley book can be ignored by anyone interested in the politics of the Arab and Islamic world.' New Worker 'Cooley's important and timely book examines a strange love affair that went disastrously wrong, the alliance between America and some of the most conservative and fanatical followers of Islam.' Los Angeles Times Book Review 'Cooley's argument, amply documented, is that virtually everyone involved in the Afghan affair paid an extortionate price. ... His thesis has been vindicated by recent events.' London Review of Books 'John Cooley's remarkable book is the first systematic and detailed account of how the United States utilised the intelligence services of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to create, train, finance and arm an international network of Islamic militants to fight the Russians in Afghanistan.' Tariq Ali, New Left Review 'Indispensible reading for those interested in international politics and the future of our global society.' India Weekly 'This book provides the behind-the-scenes account of the extraordinary anti-communist alliance that the USA formed with militant Islamic forces in South Asia, and how the CIA planned and ran the 'holy war' in Afghanistan.' Oxfam Review of Journals This is an important revised edition of a book that became required reading immediately it was first published... The Morning Star 'The definitive account' The Guardian 'A first rate insight into the US relationship with militan Islam during and since the Cold War... Provides much ammunition for those holding to the line that in supporting the likes of Osama bin Laden during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, teh US was indeed sowing the seeds of a bitter harvest reaped on September 11th 2001.' World Socialism 'Provides a first rate insight into the US relationship with militant Islam during and since the Cold War and provides much ammunition for those holding to the line that, in supporting the likes of Osama bin Laden during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, the US was indeed sowing the seeds of a bitter harvest reaped on 11 September 2001.' Socialist Standard
Author Bio
John K. Cooley is a correspondent for ABC News and has written widely on the Middle East and North Africa. He is the author of five other books on the Middle East, including Payback: America's Long War in the Middle East (1991) and Libyan Sandstorm: Qaddafi's Revolution (1981). n 1996 he received the coveted George Polk Memorial Award from Long Island University for a 'distinguished career achievement in international reportage' for more than 40 years of reporting and living in the Middle East and North Africa.