Table Of Content

(cid:36)(cid:48)(cid:40)(cid:53)(cid:44)(cid:38)(cid:36)(cid:182)(cid:54)(cid:3)(cid:54)(cid:40)(cid:38)(cid:53)(cid:40)(cid:55)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:36)(cid:53)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:49)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:41)(cid:42)(cid:43)(cid:36)(cid:49)(cid:44)(cid:54)(cid:55)(cid:36)(cid:49)(cid:3) (cid:20)(cid:28)(cid:26)(cid:28)(cid:177)(cid:27)(cid:28) Bruce Riedel I n February 1989, the CIA’s chief in Islamabad famously cabled headquarters a simple message, “We Won.” It was an understated coda to the most successful covert intelligence operation in American history. In What We Won, CIA and National Security Council veteran Bruce Riedel tells the story of America’s secret war in Afghanistan and the defeat of the Soviet 40th Red Army in a struggle that proved to be the final and decisive battle of the cold war. By answering the question—why did this intelligence operation succeed so brilliantly?— Riedel presents a nuanced narrative about the conflict to show how, counterintuitively, America won this intelligence battle. Riedel has the vantage point few others can offer: he was ensconced in the CIA’s Operations Center when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on Christmas Eve 1979. The invasion took the intelligence community by surprise. But the response, initiated by Jimmy Carter and accelerated by Ronald Reagan, was a masterful intelligence enterprise. Many books have been written about intelligence failures—from Pearl Harbor to 9/11. Much less has been written about how and why intelligence operations succeed. The answer is complex. It involves both the weaknesses and mistakes of America’s enemies, as well as the good judgment and strengths of the United States Riedel introduces and explores the various personalities pitted against each other— the Afghan communists, the Russians, the Afghan mujahedin, the Saudis, and the Pakistanis. And then there are the (continued on back flap) Americans—in this war, no Americans fought on the battlefield. The CIA did not send officers into Afghanistan to fight or even to train. In 1989, victory for the American side of the cold war seemed complete. Looking back, now we can see that a new era was initiated in Afghanistan in the 1980s—the era of the global jihad. This book examines the lessons we can learn from the Afghan intelligence operation, while it also considers what came next in Afghanistan—and what is likely yet to come. BRUCE RIEDEL is senior fellow and director of the Brookings Intelligence Project. Riedel joined Brookings following a thirty-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency. He served as a senior adviser to four U.S. presidents on South Asia and the Middle East, working as a senior member of the National Security Council. In 2009 President Obama made him chairman of a strategic review of American policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is author of the Brookings best seller The Search for al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future. COVER PHOTOGRAPH: © REUTERS/SERGEI KARPUKHIN COVER: SESE-PAUL DESIGN 00-2595-4 fm.indd 1 4/30/14 2:14 PM 00-2595-4 fm.indd 2 4/30/14 2:14 PM AmericA’s secret WAr in AfghAnistAn, 1979–89 bruce riedel brookings institution press Washington, D.C. 00-2595-4 fm.indd 3 4/30/14 2:14 PM Copyright © 2014 the brookings institution 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 www.brookings.edu All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Brookings Institution Press. The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to research, education, and publication on important issues of domestic and foreign policy. Its principal purpose is to bring the highest quality independent research and analysis to bear on current and emerging policy problems. Interpretations or conclusions in Brookings publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Riedel, Bruce O. What we won : America’s secret war in Afghanistan, 1979–89 / Bruce Riedel. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8157-2584-8 (hardcover : acid-free paper)—ISBN 978-0-8157- 2595-4 (paperback : acid-free paper) 1. United States—Foreign relations— Afghanistan. 2. Afghanistan—Foreign relations—United States. 3. Espionage, American—Afghanistan—History—20th century. 4. United States. Central Intelligence Agency—History—20th century. 5. National security—United States—History—20th century. 6. United States—Military policy. 7. Afghani- stan—History—Soviet occupation, 1979–1989. 8. United States—Foreign relations—Soviet Union. 9. Soviet Union—Foreign relations—United States. I. Title. E183.8.A3R54 2014 327.730581—dc23 2014011190 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed on acid-free paper Typeset in Sabon Composition by Cynthia Stock Silver Spring, Maryland 00-2595-4 fm.indd 4 4/30/14 2:14 PM In loving memory of Milton and Ruth Signe Riedel 00-2595-4 fm.indd 5 4/30/14 2:14 PM 00-2595-4 fm.indd 6 4/30/14 2:14 PM contents Introduction and Acknowledgments ix PArt 1: the PlAyers 1 The Afghan Communists 3 2 The Main Enemy: The Soviets 20 3 The Afghan Mujahedin 40 4 The Pakistanis: Zia’s War 56 5 The Saudis: Financiers and Volunteers 74 PArt 2: the u.s. WAr 6 Jimmy Carter’s War 93 7 Reagan and Casey 110 8 Endgames without End 128 9 Lessons of the Secret War 141 Notes 157 Index 177 vii 00-2595-4 fm.indd 7 4/30/14 2:14 PM

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In February 1989, the CIA's chief in Islamabad famously cabled headquarters a simple message: "We Won." It was an understated coda to the most successful covert intelligence operation in American history.In What We Won, CIA and National Security Council veteran Bruce Riedel tells the story of Americ