The Outpost
An Untold Story of American Valor
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4.2 • 402 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The basis of the film starring Orlando Bloom and Scott Eastwood, The Outpost is the heartbreaking and inspiring story of one of America's deadliest battles during the war in Afghanistan, acclaimed by critics everywhere as a classic.
At 5:58 AM on October 3rd, 2009, Combat Outpost Keating, located in frighteningly vulnerable terrain in Afghanistan just 14 miles from the Pakistani border, was viciously attacked. Though the 53 Americans there prevailed against nearly 400 Taliban fighters, their casualties made it the deadliest fight of the war for the U.S. that year. Four months after the battle, a Pentagon review revealed that there was no reason for the troops at Keating to have been there in the first place.
In The Outpost, Jake Tapper gives us the powerful saga of COP Keating, from its establishment to eventual destruction, introducing us to an unforgettable cast of soldiers and their families, and to a place and war that has remained profoundly distant to most Americans. A runaway bestseller, it makes a savage war real, and American courage manifest.
"The Outpost is a mind-boggling, all-too-true story of heroism, hubris, failed strategy, and heartbreaking sacrifice. If you want to understand how the war in Afghanistan went off the rails, you need to read this book." -- Jon Krakauer
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Jake Tapper’s The Outpost ranks up there with Black Hawk Down and Band of Brothers as one of the most essential nonfiction war stories of the 21st century. In October 2009, eight years into the Afghan War, an isolated U.S. Army combat base near the Pakistan border was overrun by Taliban fighters. Outnumbered nearly eight to one, the Americans managed to keep the enemy at bay despite incurring massive losses. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and previously classified government files, Tapper writes about the battles—and their human costs—so vividly, it feels like he was embedded with the troops himself. For all of the soldiers’ determination, The Outpost is not a simple tale of rah-rah jingoism. Tapper investigates the war’s ever-changing rationales and objectives and shows how the infighting and bickering between the military and civilian commanders back home came at the soldiers’ expense. An inspiring story of bravery and loss, this book is also a damning indictment of how the war was fought.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
ABC senior White House correspondent Tapper (Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency) begins this fascinating history with the controversial 2006 decision to establish a military base in Nuristan, an "untamed," isolated Afghan province abutting Pakistan, home to a distinct ethnic group suspicious of strangers. Following the new counterinsurgency policy, U.S. forces would protect civilians while winning their hearts and minds by supporting economic development. The base, surrounded by mountains, was difficult to defend. From the beginning, insurgents sniped, launched rockets, ambushed supply convoys, and sabotaged aid projects. In October 2009, three years into the mission, hundreds of insurgents launched a coordinated attack. The 50 U.S. defenders fought heroically and prevailed; soon after, the base was evacuated; the subsequent official report concluded that the operation was deeply flawed. Aware of their fool's errand, the men did their best, and Tapper delivers a gripping, blow-by-blow account of their actions, their personal stories, and the tortured, often incomprehensible command decisions that kept them fighting despite inadequate support and an ally, Pakistan, that actively encouraged the enemy. 65 b&w photos, 4 maps.
Customer Reviews
The Outpost
Excellent book on the war tactics and strategy.
To understand why these brave soldiers were put in this horrendous position , read Tom Riecks "The Generals".
Tapper gives one of the best narratives of action of any of the many books on this war.
Great book
Well written it was a great read.
Interesting, but accurate?
There are two viewpoints of any event: one, of those who experienced it; and, two, of an outsider.
Those who experience such a chaotic event usually have only a personal perspective of the confusion, especially those under fire. Their recollection is usually foggy and limited to what actions they took as a result of a stimulus.
Barring video recording of the attack on COP Keating giving 360° coverage, no account can be very accurate; even with personal video cameras, assembling the sum total of coverage would still lack the detail of stimulus and response of each individual involved.
An external investigation would — and in this case, did — miss considerable detail, even when carefully interviewing all that experienced this attack: tragically, eight soldiers at COP Keating could never give their accounts and, thus, without those, the record is incomplete.
Unless this account was written by someone who experienced it, the best that can be said of it is that the account produced by the author is severely flawed.