Afghanistan Kabul Kurier: One Soldier's Story of the Taliban, Tribes & Ethnicities, Opium Trade, & Burqas

An intimate and unvarnished portrait of a war-weary nation penned by a senior intelligence officer who spent a year on the ground in Kabul.

From 2008-2009, then Colonel Zwack kept an intimate journal of his experiences as a soldier serving in complex and dangerous Afghanistan when the success and failure of the international mission still hung in the balance. During that time, he was the Director of the Joint Intelligence and Operations Center located at the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Afghanistan Kabul Kurier addresses the multiple challenges that plagued the mission and overall region, which were not fundamentally different from those that led to the recent Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Colorfully written, the Afghanistan Kabul Kurier offers compelling vignettes and stories, as well as rare insights into Afghan society and culture, including the traditional division and tension between urban and rural communities; its diverse tribes and ethnicities; the plight of women and girls; governance during endemic corruption; the corrosive opium trade; difficult regional neighbors; and much more. Readers will feel as if they are alongside Zwack in a helicopter as he flies through the vast Hindu Kush mountains and navigates hazardous roads along the harsh Afghanistan terrain.

Zwack's forthright and respectful observations provide a refreshing counterpoint to accounts that will be heavy on politics and light on the human dimension of Afghanistan's painful struggles to forge its future.

Deployed to Afghanistan 2008-2009, then Colonel Zwack served as:

- Director of the Joint Intelligence Operations Center - Afghanistan (JIOC/A) conducting intelligence and situational awareness in and around Afghanistan

- J2 (Senior Intelligence Officer), for U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR/A)

- Deputy CJ2 (intelligence officer) for the NATO international security assistance force (ISAF) in Afghanistan

Brigadier General Peter B. Zwack {Ret.}.

U.S. Army Attaché to Moscow (2012-2014)

Wilson Center Global Fellow

Author: Brigadier General Peter Zwack (Ret)
Publisher: Zwack Eurasia Consultancy LLC
Published: 09/27/2021
Pages: 266
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781734006032

About the Author
Zwack (Ret), Brigadier General Peter: - "Russia and Eurasia / Researcher - Speaker - WriterFrom 2012 - 2014, BG Zwack served as the United States Senior Defense Official and Attaché to the Russian Federation. By interacting with Russians at multiple levels since 1989, including defense, security, academia, policy, veterans, and private citizens, BG Zwack developed a unique hands-on perspective on Russia and Eurasian security affairs during a turbulent period that included the recent strife in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.Brigadier General Peter B. Zwack enlisted in the US Army in 1980 and received his commission via Officer Candidate School (OCS). He subsequently served 34 years as a Military Intelligence and Eurasian Foreign Area Officer serving in diverse and challenging duty locations including West Germany, South Korea, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Russia.Inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame in 2015, BG Zwack is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Superior Service Medal, the Bronze Star, and many other awards and citations including the Afghan Service Medal and NATO/Kosovo Medal. He was also honored as the Joint Chiefs of Staff Action Officer of the Year for 1999. He proudly wears the Ranger Tab and Airborne Wings.Former Senior Russia-Eurasia Research Fellow at National Defense University (Institute for National Strategic Studies) at the National Defense University.Senior Global Fellow The Kennan Institute, the premier U.S. center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.BG Zwack regularly consults and lectures within the defense department, private industry, think tanks, and academic institutions on contemporary Russian and Eurasian security issues, and leadership lessons.BG Zwack speaks Russian, German, Italian, and some French."Brown, Kathi Ann: - Kathi Ann Brown (Milestones Historical Consultants, LLC) has been a consultant to industry, government and association clients since 1987. A specialist in corporate and association history, Brown is the author or co-author of more than twenty books, including The Spirit to Serve: Marriott's Way with Marriott International, Inc. Chairman and CEO J. W. Bill Marriott, Jr. (HarperCollins, 1997). A follow-up memoir with Bill Marriott was published in 2012: Without Reservations: How a Family Root Beer Stand Grew into a Global Hotel Company. Other clients include Brig. General (Ret.) Peter B. Zwack (Afghanistan Kabul Kurier, 2021), NCARB, Motorola, Comcast, Northern Trust Bank, Smithsonian, U.S. Steel, Shell Oil and the Library of Congress. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College (A.B.) and George Mason University (M.A.), Brown is a longtime member of the Society of American Archivists and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. She founded Milestones Historical Consultants, LLC in 1987. Website: Milestonespast.comBeavers, Terri: - "2015 - PresentBook Design for the Former Attaché to Moscow and Brigadier General Peter B. Zwack {Ret.}. Developed and manage his website - PeterBZwack.net.2019 - 2020Illustration & Book Design children's books: Laffe - Friends Don't Bully FriendsLaffe - Kindness Begins with You2011 - 2013Assisted Harvard academic neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, author of Proof of Heaven, with all aspects of his rise from creating his web presence, SEO, organizing data, arranging speaking engagements, giving encouragement, making introductions until it became a New York Times #1 Best Seller. 1986 - 2006Terri Beavers Designs. Graphic design. Licensed my designer label to fine china tabletop manufacturers that manufactured, nationally advertised, and distributed my products worldwide. Clients include Bernardaud Limoges (Grenadiers by Bernardaud, a holiday pattern, was a best seller in the tabletop industry for over 33 years.), Fitz and Floyd, the Zrike Company, Lady Clare, Caspari, Abercrombie & Fitch. Website: Marsten-beavers.com."