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    The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan
    The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan
    The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan

    Written by Michael Hastings

    Narrated by Lloyd James

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In June 2010, Michael Hastings published an article in Rolling Stone that made headlines around the world: In "The Runaway General," he reported on a week he spent in Europe with General Stanley McChrystal, the revered soldier in charge of the war in Afghanistan.McChrystal and his staff's unguarded remarks about the White House, our allies and the conduct of the war led President Obama to order McChrystal to the Oval Office, where he was fired unceremoniously. While Hastings' reporting won him a prestigious Polk award and led to two Pentagon investigations, there is much more to his story than the indiscretions of Stanley McChrystal.In The Operators, Hastings, formerly the Baghdad bureau chief for Newsweek, takes the listener behind the diplomatic facades to paint a picture of nation-building gone awry. Hastings also takes us on patrol missions in Afghanistan, where he is embedded with American troops, and witnesses firsthand the madness, horror, and existential contradictions of Afghanistan. The Operators combines the acute reportage of a Sebastian Junger with the mad energy of a Michael Herr-it is the painful, powerful tale of a war that can never and will never be won.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 23, 2012
    ISBN9781452676227
    The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan
    Author

    Michael Hastings

    Michael Hastings (1980-2013) was a contributing editor to Rolling Stone and a reporter for Buzzfeed. In 2008, he covered the US presidential election for Newsweek. His work appeared in GQ, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Salon, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, and a number of other publications. In 2011, he was awarded the George Polk Award for magazine reporting for his story in Rolling Stone, “The Runaway General.” He is the author of I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story (Scribner, 2008) and The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (Blue Rider, 2012).

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    • 4/5
      This book takes the "Almost Famous" approach to reporting on a general. Free-lance Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings used his groupie status in the McChrystal entourage into a revealing article that exposed the attitude and contempt Stanley McChrystal felt for his political superiors. Stanley McChrystal probably assumed to be untouchable, a "golden god", for the job he did keeping the war in Afghanistan out of the American public's mind. David Petraeus and Stanley McChrystal had become masters in the public relations department, selling and repackaging an unwinnable war inro signs of progress, making the Friedman units bearable.Among McChrystal's early PR works were declaring in 2003 that "I would anticipate that the major combat engagements are over" (in Iraq) and promoting the Pat Tillman hero story despite evidence to the his being killed by friendly fire McChrystal's Task Force 6-26 was heavily involved in torture and abuse of detainees. Copying the Petraeus play book, McChrystal asked for and received the means for a surge in Afghanistan. While Petraeus' surge succeeded in its main goal of prolonging Bush's war into Obama's, McChrystal lacked both such a military and political objective, thus its failure wasn't critical, the unnecessary blood shed apart. McChrystal stumbled not over his failed progress in Afghanistan but over ruffling the feathers of the bigwigs in Washington, DC.While the grievances revealed by Hastings' article were mostly petty, he showed the world an egomaniac general on an ascetic Schmerzensmann performance and an incredible tone-deafness towards non-Americans. The contempt and stupidity McChrystal's entourage engaged in in Paris and Berlin highlighted that they were incapable in understanding even close Western allies. If somebody is unable to close the cultural gap between the United States and Europe, it is unlikely that such a person would manage to handle a complex case like Afghanistan. It is one of Obama's main failures that he did not put a stop to the war in Afghanistan or at least replace most of the Bush generals.In sum, a good account of the life of Stanley McChrystal, interlaced with a rather tasteless account of the partying of the general and his entourage while soldiers and civilians were being killed in Afghanistan. An early warning sign should have been McChrystal's favorite beverage, Bud light lime.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      The War Machine movie got me here
    • 1/5
      Journalist Michael Hastings’ “The Operators” (2012) is billeted as the inside story of America’s war in Afghanistan. It isn’t. Instead, it tells about General McChrystal and his staff, a bunch of macho, unadjusted power brokers, fighting as much a war with the American political establishment as with Taliban forces. I don’t think Mr Hastings has actually been to Afghanistan. Disappointing, it never gets really interesting, and it is poorly written with frequent irrelevant distractions about Mr Hastings traveling to Europe to stay on the tail of the general.