First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11
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- Create Date：2021-09-17 17:21:10
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Toby Harnden
- ISBN：B09CZDMZF5
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Summary
This dramatic true story reveals the secret mission of the eight members of the CIA’s Team Alpha， the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11。
America is reeling; Al-Qaeda has struck and thousands are dead。 The country scrambles to respond， but the Pentagon has no plan for Afghanistan—where Osama bin Laden masterminded the attack and is protected by the Taliban。 Instead， the CIA steps forward to spearhead the war。 Eight CIA officers are dropped into the mountains of northern Afghanistan on October 17， 2001。 They are Team Alpha， an eclectic band of linguists， tribal experts， and elite warriors: the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory。 Their covert mission is to track down Al- Qaeda and stop the terrorists from infiltrating the United States again。
First Casualty places you with Team Alpha as the CIA rides into battle on horseback alongside the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum。 In Washington， DC， few trust that the CIA men， the Green Berets， and the Americans’ outnumbered Afghan allies can prevail before winter sets in。 On the ground， Team Alpha is undeterred。 The Taliban is routed but hatches a plot with Al-Qaeda to hit back。 Hundreds of suicidal fighters， many hiding weapons， fake a surrender and are transported to Qala-i Jangi—the “Fort of War。”
Team Alpha’s Mike Spann， an ex-Marine， and David Tyson， a polyglot former Central Asian studies academic， seize America’s initial opportunity to extract intelligence from men trained by bin Laden—among them a young Muslim convert from California。 The prisoners revolt and one CIA officer falls—the first casualty in America’s longest war， which will last two decades。 The other CIA man shoots dead the Al-Qaeda jihadists attacking his comrade。 To survive， he must fight his way out against overwhelming odds。
Award-winning author Toby Harnden gained unprecedented access to all living Team Alpha members and every level of the CIA。 Superbly researched， First Casualty draws on extensive interviews， secret documents， and deep reporting inside Afghanistan。 As gripping as any adventure novel， yet intimate and profoundly moving， it tells how America found a winning strategy only to abandon it。 Harnden reveals that the lessons of early victory and the haunting foretelling it contained—unreliable allies， ethnic rivalries， suicide attacks， and errant US bombs—were ignored， tragically fueling a twenty-year conflict。
America is reeling; Al-Qaeda has struck and thousands are dead。 The country scrambles to respond， but the Pentagon has no plan for Afghanistan—where Osama bin Laden masterminded the attack and is protected by the Taliban。 Instead， the CIA steps forward to spearhead the war。 Eight CIA officers are dropped into the mountains of northern Afghanistan on October 17， 2001。 They are Team Alpha， an eclectic band of linguists， tribal experts， and elite warriors: the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory。 Their covert mission is to track down Al- Qaeda and stop the terrorists from infiltrating the United States again。
First Casualty places you with Team Alpha as the CIA rides into battle on horseback alongside the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum。 In Washington， DC， few trust that the CIA men， the Green Berets， and the Americans’ outnumbered Afghan allies can prevail before winter sets in。 On the ground， Team Alpha is undeterred。 The Taliban is routed but hatches a plot with Al-Qaeda to hit back。 Hundreds of suicidal fighters， many hiding weapons， fake a surrender and are transported to Qala-i Jangi—the “Fort of War。”
Team Alpha’s Mike Spann， an ex-Marine， and David Tyson， a polyglot former Central Asian studies academic， seize America’s initial opportunity to extract intelligence from men trained by bin Laden—among them a young Muslim convert from California。 The prisoners revolt and one CIA officer falls—the first casualty in America’s longest war， which will last two decades。 The other CIA man shoots dead the Al-Qaeda jihadists attacking his comrade。 To survive， he must fight his way out against overwhelming odds。
Award-winning author Toby Harnden gained unprecedented access to all living Team Alpha members and every level of the CIA。 Superbly researched， First Casualty draws on extensive interviews， secret documents， and deep reporting inside Afghanistan。 As gripping as any adventure novel， yet intimate and profoundly moving， it tells how America found a winning strategy only to abandon it。 Harnden reveals that the lessons of early victory and the haunting foretelling it contained—unreliable allies， ethnic rivalries， suicide attacks， and errant US bombs—were ignored， tragically fueling a twenty-year conflict。
Reviews
Ryan
，
This book covers the most interesting period of the post-9/11 Afghan war: the first weeks， where CIA and Special Forces were on the ground， working with local allies， and rapidly taking territory from the Taliban and isolating Al Qaeda。 It was during this stage where we had many choices -- a quick and relatively low cost victory against Al Qaeda， imperfect but pro-American local allies with their own extensive military forces defeating the Taliban and ruling the country， vs。 nation-building， and This book covers the most interesting period of the post-9/11 Afghan war: the first weeks， where CIA and Special Forces were on the ground， working with local allies， and rapidly taking territory from the Taliban and isolating Al Qaeda。 It was during this stage where we had many choices -- a quick and relatively low cost victory against Al Qaeda， imperfect but pro-American local allies with their own extensive military forces defeating the Taliban and ruling the country， vs。 nation-building， and CIA vs。 DOD。 In retrospect， we seem to have largely made the wrong choices， and I think it was obvious even at the time how bad the paths we were taking were。Most of the focus of the book is the CIA/SF partnership with Dostum to fight to Mazar-i-Sharif and the prisoner revolt/false surrender at Qala-i-Jangi which led to the death of the first American combatant in the war， Mike Spann of CIA， and those around him， especially David Taylor， also of CIA。 The administrative and political issues （CIA vs。 DOD， how much to trust allies， human rights concerns， Rumsfeld， light vs。 heavy footprint， "combat zone tourists"。 etc。） all remained issues for the following 20 years， but they were very clear during this early stage。 。。。more
Joyce
，
A real eyeopener。Details， details details carefully researched and documented。This reader gained a much better understanding of the complexities of war。Our brave members of our defense teams are to be cherished for their service to our country。An intense and emotional read。A VERY GOOD READ。
Thomas Braden
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