The Other Side of the Mountain

by Lester Grau, Ali Ahmad Jalali

Overview

An in-depth analysis of Afghan guerrilla tactics

After a 10-year manhunt, the mastermind of one of the deadliest attacks in U.S. History, Osama bin Laden, has been eliminated. While this may be a significant victory for America, the war on terror is far from over. But this war is no stranger to history. Over 20 years have passed since the Soviet-Afghan War, yet American war fighters are still suffering from the same strategic faults of the Soviets. With history staring us in the face, we must ensure we don't make the same mistakes as those who came before us. This book was designed as the companion to Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan. The after action reports contained in The Other Side of the Mountain focus on the Mujahideen tactics that made these commanders, mostly made up of civilians, such a force to be reckoned with.

The tools you need to fight an insurgency

Most of the tactical reviews included are coupled with a color full-page map complete with topography, movements of forces, fields of fire and more. Each event describes in detail what caused the mission to succeed or fail, and what should have been done differently.

"This book provides a detailed look into how our enemy fights and thinks. Little has changed since the Soviets fought the Mujahideen. Learn from their mistakes. A must read for anyone deploying to Afghanistan. Reading this book could save your life or the lives of your team members."
—CSM (Ret) Mark Gerecht, U.S. Army

Product Details

BN ID:	2940161475294
Publisher:	Mentor Enterprises, Inc.
Publication date:	05/12/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Ali Ahmad Jalali is a former Afghan Army Colonel. A distinguished graduate of the Military University in Kabul, he has also attended the Infantry Officers Advanced Course in Fort Benning, Georgia; the British Army Staff College in Camberley; the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California; the Frunze Academy in Moscow and the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC. He taught in the Military Academy and advanced military schools in Kabul. He joined the Mujahideen in 1980 and served as the top military planner on the directing staff of the Islamic Unity of Afghan Mujahideen (an alliance of three moderate Mujahideen factions) during the early 1980s before he joined Voice of America (VOA). As a journalist, he covered Central Asia and Afghanistan for 18 years. Since the publication of this book in 1998, Ali served as the Interior Minister of Afghanistan during 2003-2005. He is now on the National Defense University Faculty as a Distinguished Professor at the Near East South Asia Center and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies. He is the author of several books, including works on the Soviet military, works on Central Asia and a three-volume Military History of Afghanistan.

Lester W. Grau is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. He served as an infantry officer and a Soviet Foreign Area Officer throughout his career. He fought in Vietnam. In 1981, he completed one year of Russian language training at the Defense Language Institute at Monterey, California and then graduated from the U.S. Army Russian Institute in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany in 1983. USARI was a two-year post-graduate school which dealt with all aspects of the then Soviet Union and all classes were taught in Russian. He has served in Moscow and traveled extensively in the former Warsaw Pact and former Soviet Union. He has published The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan and The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost. He is finishing a Doctorate in Military History at the University of Kansas while working at the Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is completing a fourth book on the American effort in Afghanistan.