Speaking of the bear trap. I am on page 67 or so. Just finished a
chapter called "The Infidels". Naturally, it describes the Soviet
strategy, troop location and supply lines. Yousaf goes by a standard
military playbook: his troops strengths and weaknesses, enemy's
strengths and weaknesses (supply lines), and then the plan of
battle. Everything is assessed from the military standpoint, no shades
of gray or compunctions: a village is a source of recruits and food, a
city is a target communists are the enemy, mujahedin are the troops. If
the enemy deserves a praise is because they fight well, not if they do
something good for the occupying country like supporting education for
girls or upholding land reform. Or that "the troops" are the worst
kind of religious fanatics. Some of the commanders are just labeled
"fundamentalist" and praised for their fighting spirit.  Politics are
important insofar as it concerns the troop disposition. Everything is
divided into competing spheres of interest.  The read makes me a bit
more squeamish as I might have been the target for one of Yousaf's
"trainees".

Also, Yousaf is a typical right-wing brass -- provides cheesy
inspirational quotes from the military leaders and "great men" like
Churchill. Hello-o-o. He is the guy who screwed your country over.

All that said, either Yousaf or his co-author has a good writing
style. The prose is not stilted or filled with military jargon and
cliches. Also, what Yousaf set out to do, he does clearly and, eghem,
professionally: the troop dispositions, the military provisions and
the organization of logistics of leading a guerrilla army.

A couple of interesting observations. Yousaf characterizes the
mujahedin war as essentially primitive raids: the objective is to
capture the supplies and weapons which are highly prized.

Also, Yousaf holds no illusions about the motivations for US help --
the US wanted to bleed the soviet union the way they bled in the Viet
Nam and they did not care much for either Afghanistan and the
Mujaheden. Oh and Yousaf was the guy who dealt with Charlie Wilson and
arranged his visit to Afghanistan.

--------- 

Allahu o Akbar. I finished the Bear book. The author is thoroughly
convinced that what he did was absolutely right including sending his
goons deep into Soviet territory to blow up factories. Despite obvious
moral issues, he is actually a decent writer. The book is engaging yet
simply written, a good study into the logistics, strengths and
limitations of guerrilla warfare

Interestingly, there not a peep about foreign Arab fighters in the book.