Eagle Down

In 2013, President Obama began the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan. But only a year into the withdrawal, Obama began allowing the U.S. military to resume combat operations, relying almost entirely on U.S. Special Operations forces. It was the beginning of a new, covert war.

Reporter Jessica Donati shows how policy shifted, and argues that the war is undermining American interests both at home and abroad. It is eroding morale among America's most elite and most important forces and widening the disconnect between the military and the general public. This covert war fought by U.S. Special Forces is not fought as a nation, but as a secretive tool of policy.

With big picture insight and on-the-ground grit, Donati argues that U.S. foreign policy and reliance upon covert warfare is allowing Afghanistan to continue as a safe-haven for extremist groups, and become more susceptible to foreign powers like China and Russia. As Afghanistan becomes more unstable, America will continue to fight a full-blown war with no end in sight.

“"This book takes you from the Special Forces soldiers on the front lines in Afghanistan to the corridors of power in Washington D.C. where politicians and military leaders far removed from the battlefield make decisions impacting the fate of a nation and the lives of those who step up to wear the uniform. In a powerful book that is equally inspiring and tragic, Eagle Down reminds us that the true cost of war is always paid, not just by those who raise their right hands to defend the nation, but by their families whose resilience in the face of overwhelming adversity is a true testament to the American spirit." -- Jack Carr, Former Navy Seal and New York Times-bestselling author of The Terminal List and Savage Son”

"Donati's on-the-ground account-and it's clear that she put herself in constant danger to tell the soldiers' stories even as American officials dithered about how to deploy those troops-is sometimes as hallucinatory as Dispatches and as taut and well written as Mark Bowden's now-classic book...Exemplary journalism and a powerful argument for not putting soldiers in harm's way unless we're sure we know why."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Donati, a veteran Wall Street Journal correspondent, writes a gripping and gut-wrenching account of the battle-weary special forces on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan's final stages. I couldn't put it down.--Foreign Policy
"Donati's book has a particular resonance. Her closely reported story of US special forces operations in Afghanistan captures much of the chaos and tragedy of the conflict and the human costs involved."--Financial Times, Best Books of 2021: Politics
"Jessica Donati's excellent but tragic book... Eagle Down will rank among the most impactful books I have read about military affairs. A terrific book, written by an engaging author."--BookMarc
"Jessica Donati deserves a Pulitzer Prize for this extraordinary book about America's continued behind the scenes fighting in Afghanistan's "Forever War."--The San Francisco Book Review
"[Donati's] vivid, uncompromising reporting presents U.S. politicians and senior military commanders as disconnected from the reality of the war as they flounder in search of a satisfactory way out of it."--Foreign Affairs
"A memorable portrait of Americans fighting in Afghanistan over the last six years. Donati does an especially good job at portraying the combat in Kunduz in October 2015...an important story about limited warfare."--The New York Times Book Review
"Ultimately this book is about tragedy, the tragedy of loss, the tragedy of bad decisions, and the tragedy of futility. But it is also a book of survival, perseverance and personal strength. More importantly it's a book that doesn't pull any punches. If you are looking for a story that depicts Green Berets as comic book super heroes then you came to the wrong place. If, however, you are looking for an unvarnished depiction of the successes, failures, and losses of men who have put everything on the line for the things they believe in then Eagle Down is for you."--Small Wars Journal
"Highly enlightening.. [an] incisive and brutally frank account."--The New York Journal of Books
"Eagle Down is a gripping story of a war most Americans had thought was over or had wrongly forgotten about entirely."--The Diplomatic Courier
"The book's interweaving narrative style paired with Donati's meticulous reporting makes Eagle Down as engaging and touching as it is insightful."--Stars and Stripes
"Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and U.S. Special Forces are one of the most secretive groups in America's military. That Jessica Donati managed to crack both and write a book that is both brutally honest and deeply compassionate about this elite group is a journalistic triumph. It is beautifully written, impossible to put down and deeply terrifying for anyone who has worked in that country. She's one of those writers who makes me deeply proud of my profession."--Sebastian Junger, New York Times best-selling author
"Skillfully interweaving big-picture policy analysis with frontline reporting, Donati shines a stark light on this shadowy conflict. The result is a distressing yet vital update on America's longest war."--Publishers Weekly
"The book hits its mark in its sympathetic portrayal of the boots on the ground, in particular the Special Forces and Green Berets of Operational Detachment Alpha. Their frustrations at the human costs, from deaths to homesickness to mission futility, will resonate with readers."--Booklist

Jessica Donati covers foreign affairs for The Wall Street Journal in Washington DC, and has reported from over a dozen countries in the role. She joined the paper as the bureau chief in Kabul in 2015, and lived in Afghanistan for over four years. Previously, she worked for Reuters in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, covering both the conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan. Her work on a series on the war in Libya was chosen as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2012. She is British-Italian, and grew up in Italy. She lives with her husband and son in Washington DC.

In 2013, President Obama began the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan. But only a year into the withdrawal, Obama began allowing the U.S. military to resume combat operations, relying almost entirely on U.S. Special Operations forces. It was the beginning of a new, covert war.Reporter Jessica Donati shows how policy shifted, and argues that the war is undermining American interests both at home and abroad. It is eroding morale among America's most elite and most important forces and widening the disconnect between the military and the general public. This covert war fought by U.S. Special Forces is not fought as a nation, but as a secretive tool of policy.With big picture insight and on-the-ground grit, Donati argues that U.S. foreign policy and reliance upon covert warfare is allowing Afghanistan to continue as a safe-haven for extremist groups, and become more susceptible to foreign powers like China and Russia. As Afghanistan becomes more unstable, America will continue to fight a full-blown war with no end in sight.

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