000 03821cam a22005054a 4500
001 muse55434
003 MdBmJHUP
005 20161111135921.0
006 m o d
007 cr||||||||nn|n
008 160810r20162016inu o 00 0 eng d
020 _a9780253023339
020 _a0253023335
020 _z9780253022851
035 _a(OCoLC)954000373
040 _aMdBmJHUP
_cMdBmJHUP
043 _aa-af---
_an-us---
050 4 _aDS371.412
_b.W57 2016
082 0 4 _a958.104/7
_223
100 1 _aWissing, Douglas A.,
_eauthor.
245 1 0 _aHopeless but optimistic
_h[electronic resource] :
_bjourneying through America's endless war in Afghanistan /
_cDouglas A. Wissing.
260 _aBaltimore, Maryland :
_bProject Muse,
_c2016
_e(Baltimore, Md. :
_fProject MUSE,
_g2015)
260 _aBloomington, Indiana :
_bIndiana University Press,
_c[2016]
_e(Baltimore, Md. :
_fProject MUSE,
_g2015)
300 _a1 online resource (1 PDF (xv, 172 pages) :)
_billustrations, map
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
500 _aIncludes index.
500 _aIssued as part of UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.
520 _aAward-winning journalist Douglas A. Wissing's poignant and eye-opening journey across insurgency-wracked Afghanistan casts an unyielding spotlight on greed, dysfunction, and predictable disaster while celebrating the everyday courage and wisdom of frontline soldiers, idealistic humanitarians, and resilient Afghans. As Wissing hauls a hundred pounds of body armor and pack across the Afghan warzone in search of the ground truth, US officials frantically spin a spurious victory narrative, American soldiers try to keep their body parts together, and Afghans try to stay positive and strain to figure out their next move after the US eventually leaves. As one technocrat confided to Wissing, "I am hopeless--but optimistic." Wissing is everywhere in Afghanistan, sharing an impressionistic view from little white taxis coursing across one of the world's most mine-ridden places; a perilous view from outside the great walls surrounding America's largest base, sequestered Bagram Air Field; and compelling inside views from within embattled frontline combat outposts, lumbering armored gun trucks and flitting helicopters, brain trauma clinics, and Kabul's Oz-like American embassy. It's Afghan life on the streets; the culture and institutions that anneal them; the poetry that enriches them. It includes the perspectives of cynical military lifers and frightened short-timers; true believers and amoral grabbers; Americans and Afghans trying to make sense of two countries surreally contorted by war-birthed extractive commerce. Along with a deep inquiry into the 21st-century American way of war and an unforgettable glimpse of the enduring culture and legacy of Afghanistan, Hopeless but Optimistic includes the real stuff of life: the austere grandeur of Afghanistan and its remarkable people; warzone dining, defecation, and sex; as well as the remarkable shopping opportunities for men whose job is to kill.
588 _aDescription based on print version record.
650 0 _aAfghan War, 2001-
651 0 _aUnited States
_xForeign relations
_y21st century.
651 0 _aUnited States
_xMilitary policy.
655 0 _aElectronic books.
655 7 _aElectronic books.
_2local
710 2 _aProject Muse,
_edistributor.
776 0 8 _iPrint version:
_z9780253022851
710 2 _aProject Muse.
830 0 _aUPCC book collections on Project MUSE.
830 0 _aUPCC book collections on Project MUSE.
856 4 0 _zFull text available:
_uhttps://muse.jhu.edu/book/47092/
945 _aProject MUSE - UPCC 2016 History
945 _aProject MUSE - UPCC 2016 Complete
999 _c2592
_d2592