The idea for this book dates back, both temporally and spatially, to the final days of the Taliban in Afghanistan; specifically, to the spring and summer of 2001, when I first began thinking about the themes and issues of this book.

I had traveled to Kosovo in 1999 and worked in other troubled places in the post-2001 decade, such as Pakistan, India, Egypt, and the southern Philippines, mostly with Human Rights Watch. However, the realities of Afghanistan under Taliban rule were unique, and the experience was, in a word, provocative. That provocation was the embryo from which this book emerged.

Much of this book focuses on the events I witnessed firsthand in 2001 and what I learned from my role as a Human Rights Watch staff member during the long, horrific, and ongoing journey following the September 11 attacks.

John Sifton

Obeikan 2017