The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban4.056
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From a beloved former NPR reporter comes a news-breaking eyewitness account of how the U.S. government and armed forces allowed, and even abetted, the tragic ...Show synopsisFrom a beloved former NPR reporter comes a news-breaking eyewitness account of how the U.S. government and armed forces allowed, and even abetted, the tragic return to violent warlordism in Afghanistan following the defeat of the Taliban.Hide synopsis
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The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban
Reviewed by Shelley on
2009-10-29 00:00:00.0.
This should be mandatory reading for politicians and NATO military command. Excellent background to recent history in Afghanistan--and how not to win hearts and minds.
Rating: 4
This should be mandatory reading for politicians and NATO military command. Excellent background to recent history in Afghanistan--and how not to win hearts and minds.
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The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban
Reviewed by Gaijinmama on
2009-07-15 00:00:00.0.
This is a heart-wrenching first-person account of an NPR journalist who ends up quitting her job and basing herself in Kandahar to run a nonprofit organization and try to do some real good for the people of Afghanistan. This is not an objective account. She makes it clear right from the start that she is VERY angry about the way things in Afghanistan have been handled on all sides. She has an agenda and is absolutely certain of the rightness of her cause and methods. Also, this cause is most definitely personal for Chayes. The book is dedicated to a good friend of hers who was assassinated by a suicide bomber, and it begins and ends with his funeral.
If someone blew up my friend, I'd take it personally, too. Good on Chayes for actually doing something with her anger. Righteous anger, properly channeled, is an effective tool for change.
I was particularly impressed that she took the time to go to the Kandahar public library for historical research (is that amazing or what? Kandahar still has a public library!) , and took this research seriously enough to give the librarian her passport so she could take out some books!!
Rating: 4
This is a heart-wrenching first-person account of an NPR journalist who ends up quitting her job and basing herself in Kandahar to run a nonprofit organization and try to do some real good for the people of Afghanistan. This is not an objective account. She makes it clear right from the start that she is VERY angry about the way things in Afghanistan have been handled on all sides. She has an agenda and is absolutely certain of the rightness of her cause and methods. Also, this cause is most definitely personal for Chayes. The book is dedicated to a good friend of hers who was assassinated by a suicide bomber, and it begins and ends with his funeral.
If someone blew up my friend, I'd take it personally, too. Good on Chayes for actually doing something with her anger. Righteous anger, properly channeled, is an effective tool for change.
I was particularly impressed that she took the time to go to the Kandahar public library for historical research (is that amazing or what? Kandahar still has a public library!) , and took this research seriously enough to give the librarian her passport so she could take out some books!!
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The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban
Reviewed by Elizabeth S. Q. on
2009-07-01 00:00:00.0.
I rate this with 5 stars primarily because I think everyone should read it. There are a lot of books that give shockingly different perspectives on countries than those Americans get from the usual media...but this one also points out the differences. It's a little too emotional at points to be taken as seriously as it should be, but I believe what the author writes and she should be taken seriously.
Rating: 5
I rate this with 5 stars primarily because I think everyone should read it. There are a lot of books that give shockingly different perspectives on countries than those Americans get from the usual media...but this one also points out the differences. It's a little too emotional at points to be taken as seriously as it should be, but I believe what the author writes and she should be taken seriously.
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The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban
Reviewed by Dennis on
2009-04-06 00:00:00.0.
This book is a very mixed bag. The historical chapters make me want to go and read the Shahnameh and to find some good sources on the Mughal empire. The contemporary chapters are exciting and informative. I have to admire Sarah Chayes' honesty: when she realizes she's made a mistake or she has been too naive or trusting, she lets you see exactly how. Yet somehow, she still seems confident in her own judgment. I can forgive that: I used to say, "I'd rather be self-righteous than not be righteous at all." But as Anand says, the facts as she lays them out should dispel the notion that the U.S. can ever play a constructive role as long as it occupies Afghanistan, and should cast doubt that the U.S. even knows what a constructive role might be. Somehow, she never reaches waht seems to be the obvious conclusion.
Rating: 3
This book is a very mixed bag. The historical chapters make me want to go and read the Shahnameh and to find some good sources on the Mughal empire. The contemporary chapters are exciting and informative. I have to admire Sarah Chayes' honesty: when she realizes she's made a mistake or she has been too naive or trusting, she lets you see exactly how. Yet somehow, she still seems confident in her own judgment. I can forgive that: I used to say, "I'd rather be self-righteous than not be righteous at all." But as Anand says, the facts as she lays them out should dispel the notion that the U.S. can ever play a constructive role as long as it occupies Afghanistan, and should cast doubt that the U.S. even knows what a constructive role might be. Somehow, she never reaches waht seems to be the obvious conclusion.
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