William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
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London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2015
Copyright © Christina Lamb 2015
Christina Lamb asserts the moral right to
be identified as the author of this work
Cover photograph: Justin Sutcliffe
Maps by John Gilkes
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780007256921
Ebook Edition © April 2015 ISBN: 9780008171278
Version: 2016-03-18
In memory of all those who lost their lives to terrorism – or fighting it – from New York to London to Kandahar to Peshawar
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.
General Douglas MacArthur
Contents
3 Making – and Almost Killing – a President
5 Losing bin Laden – the Not So Great Escape
8 Merchants of Ruin – the Return of the Warlords
13 Bringing Dolphins to Helmand
15 The President in His Bloody Palace
25 Losing the Moral High Ground in Margaritaville
26 Chairman Mullen and the Cadillac of the Skies
Postscript: War Never Leaves You