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The Mujaheddin story |
April 9, 2020 |
Reviewer:
Rick Cook (Amazon Review)
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Grau is best noted for "The Bear Went Over The Mountain", a series of Russian tactical studies of incidents in their war in Afghanistan. This is his attempt to tell the story from the Afghan side. Together they are must reading for anyone interested in the Afghan wars.
The Russians don't come out well in either book. They were slow, inflexible, tied to the roads and their armored vehicles and unable to cope with the Afghan style of war. On the other hand, as this book makes clear, the Afghans were not supermen. In addition to the limits put on them by their logistics and lack of unified organization, they were generally inept soldiers, if very strong fighters.
The Afghans had more success against the Russians than the Taliban have had against the Coalition troops, yet much of their methods have remained fundamentally the same. The major exception is the increased use of IEDs in this war compared to the last.
The book is rich in tactical lessons for modern combat in Afghanistan. For example, both books make clear the importance of controlling the heights above the valleys where the main action is. The role of helicopters comes out very clearly, although the Russian use was hesitant and not always effective.
One of the strengths of both these books is the unconsciousness of the people telling the story. In neither case to they come out and say "this worked" or "we made a mistake here". Instead the narrators tell their stories and leave Grau -- and the readers to draw their own conclusions.
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