Pakistani Journalist Details A 'Descent Into Chaos'

Fresh Air

Published June 11, 2009 at 9:30 AM EDT

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid introduced American readers to the Taliban his May 2001 book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, which became a best-seller after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Now, in Descent into Chaos, Rashid examines the United States' failures in Central Asia, where, the author says, Washington has helped create an unstable Pakistan, a reinvigorated Taliban and an entrepreneurial al' Qaeda that is profiting off the opium trade.

Rashid writes for The Washington Post, El Mundo, and other international newspapers. In 2001 he was awarded the Nisar Osmani Award for courage in journalism.

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