“The Only Thing Worth Dying For is not only brilliant, it’s the one book you must read if you have any hope of understanding what our fine American Soldiers are up against in Afghanistan.” ~Former Congressman Charlie Wilson, of Charlie Wilson’s War. Reader Reviews on The Only Thing Worth Dying This story of bravery and sacrifice continues to shape the future of the region today. With unprecedented access to surviving members of ODA 574, Special Operations Soldiers and Airmen, key commanders and war planners, and Karzai himself, Blehm narrates the muddy-boots effort that helped install Karzai as the leader of Afghanistan’s transitional government, the stepping stone from which he became the country’s first democratically elected president.

As ODA 574 contends with a patriot’s quixotic dream, a CIA case officer’s murky agenda, and a higher command that refuses to follow its own rules, Amerine and his men take up a position in a small town that has just hanged its Taliban provincial governor, ready to defend it against a thousand enemy fighters who are on their way to kill them. That respect will only come from defeating the Taliban in battle. They are in a land where respect is earned at gunpoint, and Karzai’s practiced diplomacy needs a warrior’s credibility to unite the Pashtun and build his army. While Karzai attempts to raise a militia, the men of ODA 574 find themselves outnumbered against a ruthless Taliban force. This lone team of Green Berets has just one ally: a little-known Pashtun statesman named Hamid Karzai, who has returned from exile and is being hunted by the Taliban. Armed only with the equipment they can carry on their backs, shockingly scant intelligence, and their mastery of unconventional warfare, ODA 574 must somehow foment a tribal revolt and force the Taliban to surrender. They must destroy the Taliban from within and prevent a civil war from consuming the country. However, here in the Pashtun tribal belt- the Taliban’s own backyard- Captain Jason Amerine and his ten Green Berets are on a seemingly impossible mission. military, aided by the Northern Alliance’s armies, is routing Taliban forces. On a moonless November night, in the aftermath of 9/11, five Blackhawk helicopters infiltrate southern Afghanistan, dropping Special Forces A-Team-ODA 574-deep behind enemy lines in the mountains of Uruzgan. How Eleven Green Berets Fought for a New Afghanistan ‘ The Only Thing Worth Dying For‘ is the harrowing true story of eleven Green Berets who fought alongside the future leader of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban in southern Afghanistan and bring hope to a nation during the early days of the Global War on Terror, or Operation Enduring Freedom- when the Soldiers on the ground knew little about the enemy, and their commanders in Washington knew even less.

The Last Season by Eric Blehm