BLUF: If you like Ghost Wars you'll love Directorate S. If you haven't read Ghost Wars, shame on you, read it, and then pick up Directorate S.
DS picks up where GW left off: 9/11. This time it focuses on our relationship with Pakistan, the Afghan war in general, Karzai, and the ISI.
The ISI and PK...you should know my thoughts and feelings on those...entities.
Coll is a fantatstic writer, the book contains a billion footnotes, including interviews with the participants, and goes into as much depth as he can muster. He manages to make clinical observations without passing judgement, conclusions without emotion. A few takeaways presented in the book:
- Karzai...a very complex relationship with the US, PK, and his perceived legacy. He was truly off the rails towards the end, even going so far as to create his own version of events that even the US or PK couldn't support.
- The war was horribly mismanaged. Iraq undercut the Afghan war, we spent too much time coddling PK (thanks to their nukes), and our constant rotation of military leaders created a bunch of different independent mini wars or campaigns.
- PK...the book leaves zero, and I do mean ZERO, doubt that PK supports the Taliban and Haqqanis.
Most of the above we've talked about before, but Coll lays it out in black and white, with sources. It is a great book and you should read it if you care anything about the Afghan war.
DS picks up where GW left off: 9/11. This time it focuses on our relationship with Pakistan, the Afghan war in general, Karzai, and the ISI.
The ISI and PK...you should know my thoughts and feelings on those...entities.
Coll is a fantatstic writer, the book contains a billion footnotes, including interviews with the participants, and goes into as much depth as he can muster. He manages to make clinical observations without passing judgement, conclusions without emotion. A few takeaways presented in the book:
- Karzai...a very complex relationship with the US, PK, and his perceived legacy. He was truly off the rails towards the end, even going so far as to create his own version of events that even the US or PK couldn't support.
- The war was horribly mismanaged. Iraq undercut the Afghan war, we spent too much time coddling PK (thanks to their nukes), and our constant rotation of military leaders created a bunch of different independent mini wars or campaigns.
- PK...the book leaves zero, and I do mean ZERO, doubt that PK supports the Taliban and Haqqanis.
Most of the above we've talked about before, but Coll lays it out in black and white, with sources. It is a great book and you should read it if you care anything about the Afghan war.