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The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Fought for a New Afghanistan (P.S.) Paperback – January 4, 2011
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"The one book you must read if you have any hope of understanding what our fine American soldiers are up against in Afghanistan.” —Former Congressman Charlie Wilson
From the author of the award-winning THE LAST SEASON, the untold story of the U.S. Army Special Forces team that conquered the Taliban against overwhelming odds while protecting Hamid Karzai, viewed at the time as the country’s best hope for a successful, democratically-elected leader.
On a moonless night just weeks after September 11, 2001, a U.S. Special Forces team of Green Berets known as ODA 574 infiltrated the mountains of southern Afghanistan with a seemingly impossible mission: to foment a tribal revolt and force the Taliban to surrender. Armed solely with the equipment they could carry on their backs, shockingly scant intelligence, and their mastery of guerrilla warfare, Captain Jason Amerine and his ten men had no choice but to trust their only ally, a little-known Pashtun statesman named Hamid Karzai. Having returned from exile, Karzai—on the run from the Taliban—was traveling the countryside to raise a militia.
The Only Thing Worth Dying For chronicles the most important mission in the early days of the Global War on Terror, when the men on the ground knew little about the enemy—and their commanders in Washington knew even less. With unprecedented access to surviving members of ODA 574, key war planners, and Karzai himself, award-winning author Eric Blehm cuts through the noise of politicians and high-level military officials to narrate for the first time a story of uncommon bravery and terrible sacrifice, intimately exposing the realities of unconventional warfare and nation-building in Afghanistan that continue to shape the region today.
- Print length424 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateJanuary 4, 2011
- Dimensions5.31 x 0.95 x 8 inches
- ISBN-109780061661235
- ISBN-13978-0061661235
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“The Only Thing Worth Dying For is not only brilliant, it’s the one book you must read if you have any hope of understanding what our fine American soldiers are up against in Afghanistan.” — Former Congressman Charlie Wilson
“A skillfully reported and masterfully written account of one of the most crucial moments of the War Against Terror. Blehm reminds us of the perils, the triumphs and the sacrifices made in the name of freedom.” — Bob Woodruff, ABC News correspondent
“Through careful reporting and crisp narrative pacing, Eric Blehm has given us a thrilling, forgotten drama from the opening chapter of the war in Afghanistan. The Only Thing Worth Dying For will become an enduring classic of this extraordinary theater, where so much hangs in the balance.” — Hampton Sides, bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and Blood and Thunder
“Blehm provides powerful and unflinching insight into a real-life mission that ended in tragedy but left an indelible mark on history. From the comic moments to the bleakest hour, it’s a testament to how a small team of well-trained men can shape a nation’s destiny.” — Stephen Grey, award-winning author of Ghost Plane and Operation Snakebite
“Eric Blehm has written a literary masterpiece about modern war. The whole witches’ brew is here: valor, honor, heroism, cowardice, incompetence, stupidity, triumph, blood, death and despair. That America has soldiers like these should fill every American heart with pride. Read this book!” — Stephen Coonts, bestselling author of Flight of the Intruder and The Disciple
“No other book has gone to such depths in research, nor been so descriptive in recounting this critical mission during the earliest days after 9/11 when the US Army Special Forces successfully waged unconventional warfare in Afghanistan.” — Sergeant Major Billy Waugh, author of Hunting The Jackal and Isaac Camacho
“The greatest story of a small unit’s battle through an untamed land since Lawrence of Arabia.” — Adam Makos, editor of Valor Magazine
“A captivating account of our heroic warriors-a remarkable U.S. Army Special Forces unit’s hard-fought success against incredible odds. It reads with the thrill of fiction—but this is the damned deadly real deal.” — W.E.B. Griffin & William E. Butterworth IV, best-selling authors of The Traffickers and The Honor of Spies
“[A] stirring account of American Special Forces heroics… The author provides a minute-by-minute account of this dramatic campaign, and the page never flags… a gripping story of admirable men.” — Kirkus Reviews
From the Back Cover
On a moonless night just weeks after September 11, 2001, a U.S. Special Forces team of Green Berets known as ODA 574 infiltrated the mountains of southern Afghanistan with a seemingly impossible mission: to foment a tribal revolt and force the Taliban to surrender. Armed solely with the equipment they could carry on their backs, shockingly scant intelligence, and their mastery of guerrilla warfare, Captain Jason Amerine and his ten men had no choice but to trust their only ally, a little-known Pashtun statesman named Hamid Karzai. Having returned from exile, Karzai—on the run from the Taliban—was traveling the countryside to raise a militia.
The Only Thing Worth Dying For chronicles the most important mission in the early days of the Global War on Terror, when the men on the ground knew little about the enemy—and their commanders in Washington knew even less. With unprecedented access to surviving members of ODA 574, key war planners, and Karzai himself, award-winning author Eric Blehm cuts through the noise of politicians and high-level military officials to narrate for the first time a story of uncommon bravery and terrible sacrifice, intimately exposing the realities of unconventional warfare and nation-building in Afghanistan that continue to shape the region today.
About the Author
Eric Blehm is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestsellers Fearless and The Only Thing Worth Dying For. His first book, The Last Season, was the winner of the National Outdoor Book Award and was named by Outside magazine as one of the "greatest adventure biographies ever written." He has dedicated his life to telling the stories of those who serve.
Product details
- ASIN : 0061661236
- Publisher : Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (January 4, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 424 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780061661235
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061661235
- Item Weight : 11.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.95 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #364,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #204 in Afghan War Military History
- #246 in Iraq War History (Books)
- #503 in Intelligence & Espionage History
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

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Eric Blehm is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestsellers Fearless and The Only Thing Worth Dying For. His first book, The Last Season, was the winner of the National Outdoor Book Award and was named by Outside magazine as one of the “greatest adventure biographies ever written.” He has dedicated his life to telling the stories of those who serve."
In 1999, Blehm became the first journalist to accompany and keep pace with an elite Army Ranger unit on a training mission. His access into the Special Operations community and reportage set an important milestone for American war journalism two years before reporters began to gain widespread embedded status with the U.S. military in the War Against Terror. Blehm’s immersion with the Rangers is what led him to the previously untold story of an elite team of eleven Green Berets who operated in the hinterland of Taliban-held Afghanistan just weeks after 9/11 (The Only Thing Worth Dying For), as well as to Fearless (Waterbrook/Multnomah; Random House), the heartrending and inspiring story of Naval Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Adam Brown, who overcame tremendous odds in his rise to the top tier of the U.S. military: SEAL Team Six. FEARLESS is currently being adapted for film by Relativity Media.
Blehm’s current book, Legend (Crown Books, Penguin RandomHouse), tells the unforgettable story of the U.S. Army’s 240th Assault Helicopter Company and Green Beret Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez, who risked everything to rescue a Special Forces team trapped behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War. Major General John K. “Jack” Singlaub, U.S. Army (ret.), commented on Legend: “I fought beside and led U.S. Special Operations soldiers, sailors, and airmen during three wars—WWII, Korea, and Vietnam—including the men [of SOG] depicted in LEGEND. Never have I read a more powerfully honest, realistic, or moving account of the war in Southeast Asia. Eric Blehm masterfully encapsulates the hearts of the men, their impossible mission, and the quagmire of politics of the era and wraps it up in a single bloody battle that portrays the American fighting man at his best.”
Blehm lives in Southern California with his wife and children.
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Things develop faster than anticipated and the unit finds itself fighting alongside locals to take over towns soon after their landing. Working closely with Hamid Karzai the group and Pashtun leader learn to respect each other. Against special operations doctrine, headquarters soon send more senior officers on site to "support" Amerine's and Karzai's efforts to oust the Taliban.
Tensions soon develop between ODA 574 and the newcomers, when superior officers start to mingle in the day to day operations. ODA 574's tour in Afghanistan ends in tragedy.
The book is well written and Blehm has managed to keep it interesting on two levels. On one hand, The Only Thing Worth Dying For is a traditional war hero story, packed with adrenalin filled descriptions of firefights and cool military technology. Reading about a massive air operation against a hundred Taliban trucks threatening to overrun the unit's and their guerillas' positions, kept me glued to the book. It also gives a look into the politics inside the military.
However, the book has another background story; that of Hamid Karzai and the political situation in Afghanistan. Karzai in 2001 was just one Pashtun leader among many warlords, unknown internationally. Blehm's book sets the stage for Karzai's ascent to spokesman of the interim government in Afghanistan, and ultimately presidency of the country, his current position. The author gives a exceedingly positive picture of the Pashtun leader (as does Rashid), who has come under heavy criticism in recent years. In these uncertain early months of the Afghan-American offensive against the Taliban, Karzai is portrayed as the only possible leader for the whole country.
Blehm's writing style is quite light and despite being documentary, the book relies much on dialogue. There must be quite a lot of the author's influence in the story, but it makes this shortish book immensely readable. If you like books filled with machismo and modern warfare action and want to learn something about recent Afghan history at the same time, I can recommend this one!
The narrative recounts the struggles of a small group of men who defeated the Taliban in their tribal heartland and brought Hamid Karzai to power in 2001. Despite our American fascination with technology and firepower, war remains a uniquely human endeavor. Blehm's characters are fully developed because he captures the human condition in extraordinary circumstances: valor and cowardice, the altruistic and the self-interested, skill and luck.
Those of us who directly participated in these events have praised this book as the first one to paint the full picture of what happened after 9/11. Accurately capturing every facet of this strategic turning point required exhaustive research. The author interviewed everyone from Special Forces teammates to Afghan President Karzai. He uses official documents, but steers clear of CIA or Department of Defense self-appraisals that paint an overly flattering picture. In total, this provides the reader with a visceral understanding of both modern combat and the timeless concepts of the fog and friction of war.
"The Only Thing Worth Dying For" is an engrossing read that is also enlightening. Eric Blehm provides a rare look at Hamid Karzai as our nation makes pivotal decisions on the way forward in Afghanistan. And as our nation grapples with terrorist threats in places like Yemen and Somalia, this book provides a lesson in succeeding on the ground without a large commitment of forces.
Top reviews from other countries

Eric Blehm's capture of the humility and professionalism of ODA 574, the team of Green Berets led by Captain Jason Amerine, is exceptional. There's just enough backstory on the strong characters of the team members to understand their personalities without delving into a portfolio of yawnsville biographies. This in turn really makes the guys real people to the reader, not just names on a page or possible characters in movie in the reader's mind.
I found the lack of swashbuckling contacts and firefights almost a relief, with the most interesting thing within the book being the forging of the relationships between the SF guys, Hamid Karzai and his Afghan fighters. Don't get me wrong, there is a good amount of detail on the contacts that happened but its not cover to cover fire and manoeuvre as some books rely on to sell. It highlights more of the patience and earning of trust that builds strong bonds exactly the way these elements should. When you stick to your trusted game plan, the results are what you strive for. If for whatever reason - or whoever's reason - you deviate from it, that's when things tend to start breaking down; as is painfully (and totally avoidably) illustrated in December 2001 when egos of certain bombastic higher ranks start throwing their weight around in environments they shouldn't even be in let alone giving commands in.
In short, a great piece of work detailing a true account of Special Forces soldiering on the highest level on a mission for all the right reasons. Its just unfortunate that as soon as the chest beating higher echelons get involved, it is as always, the lower ranks that come off worse.




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