Prologue: mahogany row massacre -- Part I: The last diplomats -- American myths -- Lady Taliban -- Dick -- The mango case -- The other haqqani network -- Duplicity -- The frat house -- Mission: impossible -- Walking on glass -- Farmer Holbrooke -- A little less conversation -- A- rod -- Promise me you'll end the war -- The wheels come off the bus -- The memo -- The real thing -- Part II: Shoot first: ask questions never -- General rule -- Dostum, he is telling the truth and discouraging all lies -- White beast -- The shortest spring -- Midnight at the ranch -- Part III: Present at the destruction -- The state of the secretary -- The mosquito and the sword -- Meltdown -- Epilogue: the tool of first resort -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index