The Operators (book)


The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan is a non-fiction book by an American journalist Michael Hastings published in January 2012. The book has been adapted into the fictionalized 2017 film titled War Machine.

Plot

The Operators is a book that details the author's travels with General Stanley McChrystal and his team in April 2010. It includes extensive quotations from over 20 hours of audio recordings of McChrystal and his inner circle.

Critical reception

The Daily Beast called it a "book of great consequence...The Operators seems destined to join the pantheon of Global War on Terror literature". Conversely, in The Wall Street Journal, reviewer Mark Moyar slammed the book, stating: "In contrast to many of the other correspondents covering Afghanistan, Mr. Hastings has not invested the effort required to comprehend the war's complexities." But Mark Moyar is a consultant for the U.S. military, who's worked for General Petraeus and worked for General Caldwell. The book became a New York Times bestseller.

Film adaptation

On 14 April 2014, it was announced that David Michôd would write and direct The Operators, which was subsequently retitled War Machine. The 2017 film was jointly produced by Plan B Entertainment, New Regency, Netflix, and RatPac Entertainment, and starred Brad Pitt.