Swimming with Warlords: A Dozen-Year Journey Across the Afghan War

American Legacy Book Awards Finalist

The veteran journalist and author of In the Hot Zone and The Things They Cannot Say explores the impact of more than a decade of war on Afghanistan, from the American invasion after 9/11 to today, and offers insights into its future and the possible consequences for the U.S.

Kevin Sites made his first trip to Afghanistan in October 2001, staying 100 days to cover the U.S. invasion for NBC News. On his fifth trip to the country in June 2013, Sites retraced that first odyssey, contemplating the significant events of his original trip to explore what, if anything, has changed. He interviewed warlords, ex-Taliban fighters, politicians, women cops and dentists, farmers, drug addicts, international aid workers, diplomats, and military personnel.

In Swimming with Warlords, Sites examines Afghanistan today through the prism of those two parallel journeys, exploring that nation’s past and considering its future in light of the drawdown of U.S. troops. As he tells the stories of the people he met—how they have been affected by this conflict that has cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives—Sites provides a fresh perspective on Afghanistan and America’s role there.

Swimming with Warlords contains 30 black-and-white photos throughout.

This unflinching account goes beyond the headlines to reveal the human cost of a decade-long war.

• War Correspondent’s Perspective: Go beyond the headlines with the veteran journalist who covered the initial 2001 invasion and returned a decade later to document its consequences.
• Interviews with Warlords: Sit face-to-face with the power brokers of Afghanistan—from infamous warlords and ex-Taliban fighters to politicians and women cops—and hear their stories in their own words.
• Two Parallel Journeys: Retrace Sites’s original 100-day odyssey from 2001, comparing the Afghanistan of yesterday with the realities on the ground in 2013.
• The Future of Afghanistan: Gain crucial insights into the nation’s path forward as U.S. troops draw down, and understand the potential consequences for both Central Asia and America.

In this electrifying first-person account, journalist and author Kevin Sites goes deep into the geopolitical morass of Afghanistan to emerge with critical insights into both a people and a war that few truly comprehend.

As a journalist for NBC News, Kevin Sites made his first trip to Afghanistan in October 2001, crossing the Amu Darya River at night, traveling with Northern Alliance fighters as they toppled the Taliban regime with the help of American forces. In that first hundred days, he lost seven colleagues and nearly his own life. Since then, Sites has returned five more times. On his last trip in summer 2013, on the eve of America's planned withdrawal, he retraced the steps of his first original odyssey to examine what, if anything, has changed.

Using his trademark immersive style, Sites uncovered surprising stories with unexpected truths. He swam in the Kunduz River with an infamous warlord named Nabi Gechi, who demonstrated his fearsome killing skills as well as a genius for peaceful invention. Sites talked with ex-Taliban fighters, politicians, female cops, farmers, drug addicts, and diplomats, and patrolled with American and Afghan soldiers. In Swimming with Warlords he helps us understand this country of primitive beauty, dark mysteries, and savage violence, as well as the conflict that has cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives—and what we might expect tomorrow and in the years to come.

“As gripping as his on the spot accounts are, however, Sites’ personal disclosures of doubt, anger, fear and remorse elevates this chronicle to an unaccustomed and singular level of soulfulness and honesty.” - Booklist

“Gripping and poignant...” - Kirkus Reviews

“Kevin Sites is one of our national treasures...a fearless correspondent who has devoted himself to documenting not just the facts of war, but also its deepest emotional textures.” - Hampton Sides, bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice

“Kevin Sites is one of our national treasures-a fearless correspondent who has devoted himself to documenting not just the facts of war, but also its deepest emotional textures. Here is a thinking, feeling eyewitness to history who knows the perverse excitement of battle, but who questions every raw experience with plangent curiosity. Read Swimming With Warlords and you will never think of Afghanistan, or America’s ragged entanglements there, in the same way again.” - Hampton Sides, bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice

“While offering a sober look at the state of Afghanistan, the book yields interesting perspectives from not only the many subjects interviewed but also the world of Sites himself, a journalist who has been in-and-out of conflict zones for more than 28 years. As he tries to follow along the path that took him to Afghanistan more than a decade before, he brings the reader back to entries in his 2001 journal, which offers perspective, wonderful reporting - and at times - sheer terror.” - Business Insider

“While offering a sober look at the state of Afghanistan, the book yields interesting perspectives from not only the many subjects interviewed but also the world of Sites himself, a journalist who has been in-and-out of conflict zones for more than 28 years.” - Business Insider

“The harrowing accounts detail the experiences of 11 US soldiers and Marines who have been ravaged by modern warfare and its psychological aftermath. What makes Kevin’s reporting unique and essential is that it didn’t stop on the battlefield-he followed his subjects home.” - Vice

“Riveting and emotionally raw...These gripping stories...are evidence of a profound desire to heal.” - Publishers Weekly

Praise for In the Hot Zone “Story upon story forces readers to examine their own values systems, question everything the media exposes them to, view a number of complex political situations with new eyes, and attach human faces to the tragedies that used to be worlds away but have now come too close for comfort. An essential read, especially for those who believe themselves to be world-wise or politically savvy.” - Library Journal (starred review)

“Instead of telling us what we already know, [Sites] has done something remarkable, delivering the sort of fresh and insightful human stories...that we seldom hear.” - Columbia Journalism Review

“These images and dispatches form the numberless rooms of hell have an undeniable cumulative power.” - Kirkus Reviews

Praise for The Things They Cannot Say: “The book largely does what good books should: whisper secrets to the world. . . . There are, of course, no easy answers, but Sites highlights the importance of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and sharing stories. Most importantly, he forces readers, those average civilians, to look at what war does to people and think about whether it’s always worth it.” - San Francisco Chronicle