Directorate S

The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan

By: Steve Coll

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Winner of the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction

Longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Nonfiction

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars, the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.

Prior to 9/11, the United States had been carrying out small-scale covert operations in Afghanistan, ostensibly in cooperation, although often in direct opposition, with I.S.I., the Pakistani intelligence agency. While the US was trying to quell extremists, a highly secretive and compartmentalized wing of I.S.I., known as "Directorate S", was covertly training, arming, and seeking to legitimize the Taliban, in order to enlarge Pakistan's sphere of influence. After 9/11, when 59 countries, led by the US, deployed troops or provided aid to Afghanistan in an effort to flush out the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the US was set on an invisible slow-motion collision course with Pakistan.

Today, we know that the war in Afghanistan would falter badly because of military hubris at the highest levels of the Pentagon, the drain on resources and provocation in the Muslim world caused by the US-led invasion of Iraq, and corruption. But, more than anything, as Coll makes painfully clear, the war in Afghanistan was doomed because of the failure of the United States to apprehend the motivations and intentions of I.S.I.'s "Directorate S". This was a swirling and shadowy struggle of historic proportions, which endured over a decade and across both the Bush and Obama administrations, involving multiple secret intelligence agencies, a litany of incongruous strategies and tactics, and dozens of players, including some of the most prominent military and political figures. A sprawling American tragedy, the war was an open clash of arms but also a covert melee of ideas, secrets, and subterranean violence.

Coll excavates this grand battle, which took place away from the gaze of the American public. With unsurpassed expertise, original research, and attention to detail, he brings to life a narrative at once vast and intricate, local and global, propulsive and painstaking. This is the definitive explanation of how America came to be so badly ensnared in an elaborate, factional, and seemingly interminable conflict in South Asia. Nothing less than a forensic examination of the personal and political forces that shape world history, Directorate S is a complete masterpiece of both investigative and narrative journalism.

©2017 Steve Coll (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"[A]journalistic masterpiece...Coll succeeds on all levels.... Coll is masterful at plumbing the depths of agencies and sects within both Afghanistan and Pakistan.... In this era of fake news, Coll remains above it all, this time delivering an impeccably researched history of diplomacy at the highest levels of government in Washington, Islamabad, and Kabul." (Kirkus Reviews, starred)

“With his evenhanded approach, gift for limning character, and dazzling reporting skills, he has created an essential work of contemporary history.” (Booklist, starred)

“The most comprehensive work to date on the US war in Afghanistan.... Coll’s vital work provides a factual and analytical foundation for all future work on the Afghan War and US policy in Central Asia.” (Publisher’s Weekly)

awesome read

very informative on what happened in Afghan prior and post 9.11. the interference from other countries

thrilling read, a bit general and brief

a great book.
I didn't appreciate how brief certain topics were. should be cheaper 😉.

Eye opening for sure!!

Super interesting and well researched and well read. Anyone even semi interested in our "arrangements" with the middle east countries will def dig this. 💯😎👍

Explains what a commitment of war is.

Loved it, modern day history explained as its best. Trump fired some great fighters. He for one should read or listen to this book.

The Definitive Story of the Afghan War

Amazing detail. Nails it. I have personally lived this war for 7 of the last 13 years and learned new things on every page. We really need to figure this war out.

Enthralling narrative of a bloody triangular mess

The book provided an enthralling detail of the bloody triangular mess otherwise known as the situation in Afghanistan!

the book is well written, authoritative, and it's multi angular perspective makes the book a must read for anyone willing to know how some of the mightiest powers of the world got bogged down in a land of sand stuck in medieval norms.

Great Story

Very interesting and highly detailed behind the news scenes review of the last 15 or so years.

Good,but

I would have enjoyed the book even more if I had a map of the areas discussed a sort of group family trees for the various organizations. This may be in hard copy. Otherwise, enjoyed the book.

OUR TANGLED WEB IN SOUTH ASIA POST 9/11

DIRECTIRATE S, by Steve Coll, is billed as a detailed association with the Pakistani Intelligence Service in the the 13 tears after 9/11. In fact, this comprehensive work goes well beyond this to paint a picture of our dealing with the post-Taliban government of Karzai, the Pakistan Intelligence Directorate (called the ISI), and the tribes of the Afghan Northern Alliance. The book strongly suggests that none of the US/NATO plans to end the fighting in Afghanistan have failed, largely because the critical piece of those plans meant staying in the country with a large (almost entirely US) occupying force.

This book is a mammoth well researched and extremely well written narrative of our messy attempts to modernize a medieval country.

Very comprehensive

Excellent narrative of this confusing conflict. It really shows the complexity of this type of war as well as the cost.