In the last weeks, I’ve dedicated a couple of posts to the topic of Afghanistan and its importance in the conformation of the current world (dis)order. This weekend, as I strolled around Parque Rivadavia, in Buenos Aires, I stumbled across John Lee Anderson’s The Lion’s Grave: Dispatches from Afghanistan. The book has a completely different narrative style than Rashir Ahmed’s Taliban: Islam, Oil, and the New Great Game in Central Asia. While this last one rebuilds the history of Afghanistan since the appearing of the taliban (1994) to beginnings of 2000 -when it seemed this political force would take over the entire country-, Lee Anderson’s book is a series of journalistic chronicles made during the american invasion to Afghanistan after the september 11 2001 attacks. This time cut is interesting, since it finely complements Ahmed’s book. Although, I recommend reading this last book first not only for a chronological issue, but also because The Lion’s Grave takes for granted a series of knowledge about Afghanistan and the different political features in struggle.

Update: as far as this years goes, 64 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan during confrontations with the taliban. This number marks a growing tendency. In 2004, 52 soldiers died; while in 2003, 47 and in 2002, 43. More at this AFP note.