Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great Insight
Comment: "The Punishment of Virtue" gives the reader great insight into the political conflicts that went on in Afghanistan during the early years of US occupation. It has much relevence to what is going on today. The book also provides a brief history of the country as well as some cultural background, good book!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pulitzer!
Comment: Starting and ending with the death of an honest Afgan, his friend Sarah Chayes, NPR reporter-turned Afgan activist, gives a well written, often warm, and often shocking account of the warlords, friends of Pakistan, and some-time friends of the US that made up Afganistan after the Taliban fled and before they had fully returned. The fact that a woman reporter could become friend and advisor to so many people in power in Afganistan - including, the president, several governors, several warlords, a chief of police (the murdered one), AND US Military Officers-helped to show the depth of leadership vacuum that existed. Nobody knew what to do, really, except the Warlords, and their occupation was making themselves rich and getting rid of their enemies, often with the help of the conned US Military, and usually with the help of Pakistan, who played both ends against the middle - the most shocking revelation. Well worth reading, and if as true and well-supported as it seems, worth a Pulitzer!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating insights
Comment: Sarah Chayes, an NPR journalist and an historical scholar in her own right, provides an insider's look at Afghanistan before, during, and after the Taliban regime. Many provocative parallels can be drawn by the reader to the foreign policy problems facing the U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan today, for example: the primacy of tribal loyalties which supercede any national political identity, the misuse of American power to prop up questionable puppet governments, humanitarian aid which gets diverted by tribal elders to form their own militias, and the desperate economic instability which makes plundering and subsidy a way of life. In short, there appears to be an almost complete lack of cultural and anthropological understanding of the Middle East by U.S. policy makers. Whether you support or oppose the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, this treatise provides many fascinating insights into the Middle Eastern mind-set which could and should be applied by our government to the current conflicts. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting but poorly written
Comment: An utterly confusing account of the war in Afghanistan. Its merit is that it gives the reader a probably realistic impression of the complexity and intransparency of Afghan politics and history...nothing is what it seems. Its flaws are chronological disorder, personal grudges and reporter-centrism...("look at me getting the real dope against all odds" and "look at me, the only sensitive observer").
Customer Rating:
Summary: A gripping narrative of intrigue, assassination, personal dedication and courage
Comment: Sarah Chayes' instinctive compassion builds friendships in Afghanistan that take her on a remarkable journey. Her insights illuminate the political currents affecting Afghanistan with exceptional clarity. This book is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the region.
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