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Mohammad Yousaf
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Afghanistan: The Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower Hardcover – November 25, 2008

by Mark Adkin (Author), Mohammad Yousaf (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 87 ratings
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How did the horrendous situation in Afghanistan, with all its implications for recent events and the present time, come to pass? What was the role of the CIA and Pakistani intelligence in the creation of what became the Taliban? What are the implications for the future and lessons from the past for American forces today?

This highly controversial book reveals one of the greatest military, political and financial secrets of recent times. It is nothing less than the true, if fantastic, account of how Pakistan and the USA covertly controlled the largest guerrilla war of the 20th Century, dealing to the Soviet Russian presence in Afghanistan a military defeat that has come to be called 'Russia's Vietnam'.

This compelling book, put together with great skill by the military author, Mark Adkin, is essential reading for anyone interested in the truth behind the Soviets' Vietnam, and the reasons why, to this day, the war in Afghanistan still drags on despite the victory that the Mujahideen were denied when the Soviets withdrew.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    244 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Casemate
  4. Publication date
    November 25, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0971170924
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0971170926
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Major Mark Adkin was commissioned into The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment in 1956 and served with it and The Royal Anglian Regiment in Germany, Malaya, Mauritius and Aden. On leaving the British Army he joined the Overseas Civil Service and was posted to the Solomon Islands. Transferred to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, he was one of the last British District Officers anywhere in the world.

His final overseas post was as a contract officer for five years with the Barbados Defence Force, and it was as the Caribbean operations staff officer that he participated in the US invasion of Grenada in 1983. He now lives in Bedford.

Brigadier Mohammed Yousaf was born in 1937 and was commissioned as an infantry officer into the Frontier Defence Force Regiment of the Pakistan Army in 1961. Subsequently his career took him through the usual sequence of command and staff appointments, including active service against India. He also attended the Command and Staff College at Quetta and the National Defence College at Rawalpindi. While commanding and infantry bridge he was selected by the Director of the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) to head its Afghan Bureau, a post he help from 1983 to 1987, until he resigned as a matter of principle and left the Army. During these four years he was responsible for training, and operational planning of the Mujahideen inside Afghanistan and later inside the Soviet Union.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Casemate; First Edition (November 25, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0971170924
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0971170926
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.01 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 87 ratings

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Mohammad Yousaf

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
87 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

johnmurphy
5.0 out of 5 stars WAR IN AFGHANISTAN FROM THE PAKISTANI SIDE OF THE HILL
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2022
Verified Purchase
Afghanistan: The Bear Trap, The Defeat of A Superpower is a unique look at the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the fierce war that followed it. It is written by the Pakistani General Mohammad Yousaf, assisted by the British Army veteran and author Mark Adkin. In General Yousaf's account, you get a perspective that I have not found in any of the several books on the Afghan War that I have read, and subsequently reviewed for Amazon.com. It is a truly frank account by a man who tells his story irrespective of who likes it and who does not. General Yousaf was, more than any other Pakistani officer, intimately involved in the training and the operations of the army of the Afghan mujahideen, "the soldiers of the Faith," who left their families and their small farms to take on, and with Pakistani help, fight the Russians for nine bitter years. The Atlantic Monthly noted in an article by Alan Taylor on August 4, 2014, that "in the brutal nine-year conflict, an estimated one million civilians were killed, as well as 90,000 Mujahideen fighters, 18,000 Afghan troops [who the Russians supported in the conflict], and 14,500 Soviet-Russian soldiers." While you may not agree with all General Yousaf's opinions, expressed here or elsewhere, his book is written with a visceral intensity that commands your attention. Cheers and happy reading, Professor John F Murphy
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Glanton
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on Unconventional Warfare ever written
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2013
Verified Purchase
If you are wondering if/why Pakistan still supports Taliban in Afghanistan, this book lays out the growth and development of those linkages. A lot of insight into the challenges of running a UW campaign, or simply operating in Af/Pak. First hand account of the CIA living to their namesake, Clowns In Action.
One person found this helpful
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WAYNE YUNGHANS
5.0 out of 5 stars OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT OF THE AFGHAN RESISTANCE AS TOLD BY ITS ARCHITECT
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2006
THIS IS A FACTUAL, READABLE AND DETAILED, INSIDER'S ACCOUNT OF THE AFGHAN WAR AGAINST THE SOVIETS. THAT SAID, IT MOVES WELL ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN THE READER'S INTEREST.

THE AUTHOR LITERALLY COULDN'T BE MORE QUALIFIED TO SPEAK. AS HEAD OF THE PAKISTANI INTELLIGENCE SERVICE'S AFGHAN BUREA FOR FOUR CRUCIAL YEARS FROM 1983-1987, HE WAS THE STRATEGIC AND SOMETIMES TACTICAL BRAINS BEHIND THE MUJAHIDEEN EFFORT AGAINST THE SOVIETS, PROVIDING LEADERSHIP FOR MUJAHIDIN COMMANDERS IN THE FIELD AS WELL AS THE OVERALL CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS. HE IS ARTICULATE AND COGENT IN HIS PRESENTATION (THE BOOK IS QUITE WELL WRITTEN) AS WELL AS SURPRISINGLY VULNERABLE IN WHAT HE SHARES.

WHAT RESULTS IS AN AUTHORITATIVE AND PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF THE SOVIET AFGHAN WAR, TOLD BY THE PAKISTANI GENERAL WHO SERVED AS ITS ARCHITECT. THE AUTHOR LAYS OUT HIS THINKING AND INVITES THE READER INTO THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS (AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY) AS HE SEEKS TO DISCERN HOW BEST TO EMPLOY HIS LIMITED AND DISPARATE FORCES AND RESOURCES TO OPPOSE (AND EVENTUALLY DEFEAT) THE VASTLY SUPERIOR FIREPOWER AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE SOVIET ARMY. HE LAYS OUT THE IMMENSE LOGISTICAL, POLITICAL AND CULTURAL PROBLEMS WHICH FACED HIM AT THE OUTSET.

IN THIS BOOK THE READER BASICALLY GETS TO SIT DOWN WITH PAKISTANI BRIGADIER GENERAL MOHAMMAD YOUSEF AND LISTEN TO HIM TELL HIS STORY. IT'S QUITE AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY IF THOUGHT OF IN THOSE TERMS... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO THOSE WITH AN INTEREST IN THE HISTORICAL EVENTS WHICH HE DESCRIBES, OR THOSE WITH A GENERAL INTEREST IN EITHER PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN OR THE MILITARY DECISION MAKING PROCESS. IVE READ SEVERAL BOOKS OF SIMILAR SUBJECT MATTER - THIS ONE IS REALLY A GEM.
5 people found this helpful
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Paul M. Livingston
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent background on the Afghan situation
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2014
Verified Purchase
Provides a different perspective and some not readily available background on how we got into the mess in Afghanistan going back to before the Soviet occupation. A good read if you are interesting in history
2 people found this helpful
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D. Chapman
5.0 out of 5 stars Pay no attention to that Man behind the Curtain
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2002
This is one hell of a book. It goes into a lot
more detail than most people want regarding
covert operations against the Soviets during
the Afghanistan war. The descriptions of the
CIA's efforts to obtain deniable armaments is
tragedy mixed with comedy. Checkbook war-fighting
doesn't work very well.
The most interesting thing I found in the book was
the description of the failures of the SAM-7 and
blowpipe missiles to bring down Soviet helicopters,
followed by the success of the Stingers. In the
book, Stingers are described as having IFF, which
makes them incapable of shooting down American
military aircraft. Perhaps this is true. If it's
not true, why would a book published 10 years ago
make an offhand claim like that?
The story of how the war ended is disturbingly
familiar to those who watched the end of the Gulf War.
Because we preferred anarchy over a fundamentalist
government, the US betrayed the mujahadeen as soon
as the Soviets left the country. After five more
years of civil war, the fundamentalists took over, anyway.
There are lots of other tidbits, and the overall
effect is to bring things into focus. It's not a
pretty picture. You can see why the various governments
involved didn't really want this book published.
After September 11, it is more relevant than ever.
26 people found this helpful
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M. Shukla
3.0 out of 5 stars Single dimensioned point of view
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
Single dimension rendition of the Afghan war. I would have expected a broader view.
2 people found this helpful
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H. Ingram
4.0 out of 5 stars Well known and well reputed history of the Soviet occupation period of Afghanistan
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2015
Verified Purchase
It was about what I'd heard and expected.
A thorough history of the mujahedin experiences in Afghanistan facing the Soviet Army and Soviet-backed Afghan Communist government forces.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Matthew Cawthorne
5.0 out of 5 stars The challenge of Afghanistan
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2022
Verified Purchase
This is a fascinating book written by a soldier at the heart of the war in Afghanistan. The crystal clear language offers a coherent and convincing account of planning, events and consequences. There are few insiders’ stories of any conflict with such detail and insight. Highly recommended.
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Saksham
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Quality
Reviewed in India on August 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
I have been trying to look for this book for a very long time. It was always unavailable and imported/used ones came for INR 5,000-6,000.

When I saw the book listed, I was apprehensive that it might be a cheap photocopy/fraud. But it is not. It is hardcover, with great binding, good paper quality. It is the genuine one.

It is published by an Indian Book house from Delhi. Overall I am happy because I was expecting a fraud.

It's a great book to learn about intelligence operations, and most importantly about guerilla warfare in mountain terrain. Discerning readers from India will find that insurgents of North East/Naxals also follow many similar tactics of GW as shown in the book. (Along with their own unique ones).

I think price can be significantly reduced. I purchased for 795. The book can be sold around, 500-550. But it is a niche book, with few readers, so maybe...
6 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Genuine authering
Reviewed in India on August 30, 2022
Verified Purchase
Genuineness in authoring. Gives you g irs5 hand insight
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NixVoltage01
5.0 out of 5 stars Snap them up!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
Been after this book for a while, it'll come in handy for a history dissertation. Great seller highly recommended
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
Reviewed in India on December 4, 2021
Verified Purchase
One of the few books that give you an insight into the working of ISI.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
Reviewed in India on December 4, 2021
One of the few books that give you an insight into the working of ISI.
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One person found this helpful
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