War in Afghanistan- Resources

"The war in Afghanistan is among President Barack Obama's most important foreign policy challenges. Begun in 2001 to drive out al Qaeda and remove the Taliban from power, the war initially had a high rate of public support. But as Taliban forces regrouped and casualties escalated, attitudes toward the war in Afghanistan shifted. Drawing parallels to the Vietnam War, many analysts and voters argue that the war is unwinnable, and that U.S. forces should be withdrawn." Source

The most common current events question we get on the reference desk is research help with a paper responding to the war in Afghanistan. Especially since yesterday marked Nine years since the beginning of the war. Here are some resources for our students and those interested in following up on this topic.

How we missed the story: Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and the hijacking of Afghanistan by Roy Gutman. (327.73058 B612g 2008)

Age of fallibility : the consequences of the war on terror by George Soros. (973.931 S714a 2006)

Stones into schools: promoting peace with books, not bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson. (371.822 M887s 2009)

Afghanistan: graveyard of empires: a new history of the borderlands by David Isby. (958.1047 I76a 2010)

Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan by James Dobbins. A PDF report published by RAND, 2009.

Military Casualty Information can be found through the Department of Defense Website.

Students and community members can access more research materials via VU WebCat our online catalog.

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References - Access to these can be found on the Shake Library's Find Articles Page.

"Afghan War." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

CRS Report for Congress, R41084. Authored by Susan G. Chesser. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. 9/14/2010. (c) Public Domain. Retrieved from the Homeland Security Digital Library 10/8/2010