Plot Summary
The year was 2009, the month and day, October 3. Taliban fighters, almost 400 in number, attacked 53 U.S. troops stationed at Combat Outpost Keating, a small, dangerously located outpost lying at the base of three mountains a few miles from the Pakistan border.
In “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor Audiobook,” journalist Jake Tapper presents the tragic stories of these American fighting men, including many who lost their lives for no clear reason. Victims of the Taliban, they were also victims of the whims of leaders in our nation’s capital.
Why were they there? Why did The Outpost exist in that location for that amount of time in the first place? Even the Pentagon agreed they should never have been located there from the start.
Still, overrun by enemy forces who outnumbered them eight times over, these brave men stood up against the forces of evil and once again, defined the meaning of American courage, American heroism, and American valor.
Many will never know home again, nor will their families hug or hold them once more; however, because of Tapper’s important investigative work, their story will be told, and their memories will live on. Maybe, too, some future repetition of needless, senseless slaughter can be avoided.
Despite his telling his superior that the location where a base camp is to be built, the observations of one young intelligence officer are ignored as officers continue to build a camp where no camp should be built.
The Outpost itself becomes the chief protagonist in the story. The audiobook follows the lives of people who try to exist and survive there from 2006-2009. Story lines jump from heavy description of battles and attacks, interactions among leaders and the men they direct, and insights into the soldiers, their families and their lives back home.
The work gives an inside look into the workings of the military, up close and personal, without sugar coating. It exposes faults in the way military intelligence is gathered, interpreted, and acted upon. Sometimes, the blind do lead the blind; higher-ups do not stop and think; rules and procedures exist that do little more than set our soldiers up for failure — failure that comes with a hefty price tag. Lives are lost for no reason, but generals keep their upper hand and go about the business of being generals.
About the author:
ABC News’ senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper has led Emmy Award-winning news shows since being in that position. He has widely covered the elections of President Obama.
His work appears on “Good Morning, America,” “Nightline” and “World News with Diane Sawyer” on a regular basis.
“This book has opened my eyes wider to the horrors of war. Americans need to have a better understanding of our role in Afghanistan and realize the sacrifices our troops are facing. Jake Tapper gives the opportunity for just that in this book. When Bush and Rumsfeld cut the number of troops in Afghanistan in order to crush Iraq, our troops were left with less air support which in actuality means less medivac flights for our wounded and with too few troops to defend our outposts. This is a tribute to not only the fallen but to those humble souls who came out of COP Keating forever changed.”
—
Eraach (5 out of 5 stars)
Publisher Summary
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
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