Your Neighbor Went to War

The spearhead of the reconstruction effort had to be the U. S. Military. At the very cutting edge of this effort was a special forces Green Barret, Captain B. Diggs Brown. His efforts extended far beyond the operational and extended deep into the realm of personal nation-building.

In his book, "Your Neighbor Went to War: Reality and the War on Terror", Captain Brown relates his personal experiences as a reservist in Afghanistan. This book is a compilation of the e-mails he exchanged with friends and relatives back home. Their timeliness gives the book a sense of immediacy and visceral honesty that a more academic work can not.

As a primary resource "Your Neighbor Went to War", illustrates just how much U. S. involvement in Afghanistan and the Middle East is a battle not just in the military sense, but a battle to win the hearts and mins of the average Muslim. Captain Brown worked assiduously on a volunteer basis with local Afghans. He points out how the Afghanis were actually ruled by an almost foreign power in the guise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The people, themselves, suffered from backward over-management and an extreme implementation of religious dogma.

In the short year Captain Brown spent in Afghanistan great progress was made in advancing the nation's economy and quality of life as well as gaining the support of the people, who for the most part, longed for freedom from the onerous rule of the Taliban.

"Your Neighbor Went to War" is an excellent primary source on the War on Terror. It also is an uplifting insight into our involvement in Afghanistan.