While there is a vast amount of literature available on Iraqi operations, until now little has been written about the counterinsurgency and stabilization operations in Afghanistan. With this book, a Canadian military historian, who has observed field operations in Afghanistan since 2003, offers a clear view of what is happening in that country. It is the first to look at units unknown to most Americans the provincial reconstruction teams, the embedded training teams, the strategic advisory team, among others--that helped the Afghan people establish a government. Working shoulder-to shoulder with Afghans at all levels of society and at great personal risk, these international teams, the author argues, helped stave off a civil war and prevented the insurgents from exploiting the chaos. The author observed the efforts of these teams as they unfolded in 2004 and 2005. His personal story takes readers on a journey from Badkashan province, the exotic and poppy-laden land in the north; to...