Horse Soldiers

American author Doug Stanton’s non-fiction book Horse Soldiers (2009) recounts the true story of the U.S. Army Special Forces group that spearheaded the American invasion of Afghanistan, working closely with local fighters to defeat the Taliban. The historical narrative is dramatized with invented dialogue and interior monologues. Although reviews were not especially favorable—“Dumbed-down history delivered in purple prose” (Kirkus Reviews)—the book was adapted as a movie starring Chris Hemsworth, under the title 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers (Stanton’s book was later re-published under this title). Stanton is best known for his 2001 New York Times bestseller, In Harm’s Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors.

The book’s story opens in the shocked aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Enraged by the Taliban’s refusal to cooperate in the capture of Osama bin Laden, the U.S. government resolves to invade Afghanistan immediately. There is no time to assemble a large invasion force. Instead, a small team of Special Forces soldiers is deployed to organize local Afghan resistance to the Taliban regime. The deployment is arranged so quickly that there is no time even to requisition Army equipment: the troops buy their tents and hiking gear at commercial stores.

Afghan resistance to the Taliban centers on the Northern Alliance, a loose-knit group of Afghan warlords with relatively liberal values. However, the group is fractured by political and personal rivalries. The CIA funds three of these warlords in an effort to help them achieve unity: Abdul Rashid Dostum, Atta Mohammed Noor, and Naji Mohammed Mohaqeq. When the Special Forces group arrives, under commanding officer Captain Mitch Nelson, they are embedded with Dostum’s fighters. The plan is for Nelson’s men to follow Dostum into combat, using their expertise to support him and calling in precision airstrikes by the U.S. Air Force. However, right away there is a problem: Dostum’s people fight on horseback.



Nelson climbs into the saddle: “‘Listen up,’ Nelson croaked. ‘Here’s how you make this thing go.’ He heeled the horse in the ribs and it walked a few steps. ‘And here’s how you turn,’ he said, pulling a rein and drawing the narrow muzzle around. ‘And here’s how you stop.’ He pulled back the reins and sat looking at the guys. ‘Got it?’”

Nelson’s men and the Afghans wade straight into tough fighting. The Americans are deeply impressed by the courage of their Afghan colleagues. They witness a man fighting without shoes; another riding with prosthetic legs. Afghans and Americans alike suffer from a shortage of food and ammunition. They fight some battles with as few as ten bullets each. The American soldiers are especially moved by the care and respect the Afghans show their horses, tending to them after battle before they have seen to their own needs, or going thirsty in order to water their horses.

For their part, the Afghans are impressed by the precision and power of the Americans’ airstrikes. When the Americans see the awe on their colleagues’ faces, they reflect that it’s “like the Flintstones meeting the Jetsons.” At first, the Taliban are overwhelmed by the bombing: they can’t even tell where it’s coming from. Dostum communicates with Taliban emplacements on his radio, taunting them with the news that the plane bombing them is being flown by a woman.



The combined U.S. and Afghan force slowly pushes the Taliban back towards their base in Mazar-i-Sharif. The final showdown takes place in Mazar. The Afghans again demonstrate extreme courage. Dostum personally leads a charge into massed gunfire. When the Taliban are forced to abandon Mazar, the Americans realize that they have accomplished their mission.

Victory immediately brews trouble between the Afghans and their U.S. allies. Six hundred Taliban fighters surrender, and Dostum’s men decide to imprison them in Qala-i-Janghi, a fortress in the city of the Mazar. The Americans question this decision: they are suspicious of the mass surrender, and they worry that there may be an undiscovered cache of weapons in the fortress. However, Dostum’s men insist on their plan and the Americans are unable to oppose them.

Two CIA officers—Mike Spann and Dave Olson—arrive to question the prisoners. During the questioning, it turns out that the prisoners have indeed seized a cache of weapons. They kill Spann and attempt to retake the city, now thinly garrisoned. For a while, it seems as if the Americans’ victory is about to be lost at the last minute, but the Taliban are ultimately defeated. Eighty-six Taliban fighters survive, including the American John Walker Lindh.



The book’s final pages emphasize the extraordinary military achievement of Nelson and Dostum’s fighters. However, Stanton concedes that the U.S. military squandered this achievement by turning too quickly to the next invasion, of Iraq. Left undermanned and disorganized, Afghanistan would soon collapse into a chaotic maelstrom, in which the Taliban would again be empowered to take control of the country.