The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock

Some of tidbits are just painfully comical:

> Afghans are the most hardcore libertarians on earth. Not only do they firmly believe that taxation is theft, the US couldn't even convince them that a central government was necessary. Some State Department officials couldn't help but agree.

> Afghans learned early on that the easiest way to eliminate a rival or to grab a piece of land was to tell the Americans that he was a member of the Taliban.

> Others learned how to make money exploiting US aid efforts. One guy had his brother blow up a bridge, the Americans rushed in to get it fixed, hiring a construction firm owned by the first guy to do the job.