Foreword If you want to make a difference, ask the USMC! I spent 26 great years in the U.S. Army infantry. I fought in Vietnam and became a Cold Warrior. Along the way I met Ali Jalali. Ali was a Colonel in the Afghanistan Army, a former Mujahideen commander. In 1992, I was visiting Moscow and received a copy of a Soviet military lessons-learned book from Afghanistan. I translated it and added commentary to produce The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan. It was only through the good graces of the Special Forces in Fort Bragg and the USMC in Quantico that I got the money to publish it. They saw the value of studying tactics in a counterinsurgency. The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan addressed the conflict from the Russian point of view, and Ali and I wanted to explore the insurgent side. I approached the U.S. Army about writing a book on Mujahideen tactics. They had no interest since it was about Afghanistan (“we’ll never go there”) and insurgency (“we’ll never do that”). The USMC had vision. It recognized the project was about tactics, something that the Corps does very well. The Corps funded the research. In 1996, we headed off to Pakistan and Afghanistan to interview over 100 Mujahideen commanders. We met with guerrilla commanders, guerrilla warriors, and some bearded newcomers called the Taliban. Ali knew everyone, and it was the only way the project could succeed. We came back and produced The Other Side of the Mountain. Since 9/11, The Other Side of the Mountain has been very popular with soldiers and Marines in Afghanistan. Over 100,000 copies have been printed. But there is a problem with The Other Side of the Mountain. It is over 400 pages long! If you are preparing for deployment, you don’t have a lot of time to put your nose in a book. MCIA has prepared this cut-down version that gives you examples of various types of guerrilla tactics and even adds three examples that were not in the original book. Ali went on to become the Interior Minister of Afghanistan. I am still trying to stay on the right side of the wall at Fort Leavenworth. We both wish you every success and thank you for what you are doing for the United States and Afghanistan. Semper Fidelis. Les Grau Fort Leavenworth, Kansas November 2008