As a former star reporter for NPR, Sarah Chayes developed a devoted listenership for her on-site reports on conflicts around the world. In The Punishment of Virtue, she reveals the misguided U.S. policy in Afghanistan in the wake of the defeat of the Taliban, which severely undermined the effort to build democracy allowed corrupt tribal warlords back into positions of power and the Taliban to re-infiltrate the country. This is an eye-opening chronicle that highlights the often-infuriating realities of a vital front in the war on terror, exposing deeper, fundamental problems with current U.S. strategy.
Reviews
Chayes...sticks to what she sees and hears from her perch living among Afghans in Kandahar, the deeply traditional city and former Taliban stronghold that is at the heart of the country's past, present and future.
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But what a perch it is...
Chayes gained an unparalleled understanding of southern Afghanistan, one of the most important yet least understood fronts in the war on terrorism. In elegant and incisive prose, she brings to life the region's rich history, complex politics and proud ethnic Pashtun tribesmen. Read...