Reviews for Directorate S
by Steve Coll
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
The acclaimed journalist delivers "a second volume" of the history he recounted in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars (2004).Based on hundreds of interviews and thousands of pages of documents, New Yorker staff writer Coll's (Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, 2012, etc.) latest journalistic masterpiece "seeks to provide a thorough, reliable history of how the C.I.A., I.S.I., and Afghan intelligence agencies influenced the rise of a new war in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, and how that war fostered a revival of Al Qaeda, allied terrorist networks, and eventually, branches of the Islamic state." Coll succeeds on all levels, and his prodigious research leads to only one conclusion: while the United States has won some battles in the so-called war on terror, it has unquestionably lost the war while feeding the radical fires of countless terrorists. The author demonstrates what he has suggested previously and what dozens of other authors have learned: that the U.S. has largely destroyed Afghanistan while trying to save it, similar to what occurred during the Vietnam War. The most prominent actor in this second volume is Pakistan. There are numerous examples of Pakistani factions promising to assist the American-led war on terror only to break promises while raking in billions of dollars in foreign aid. Whether the administration is that of George W. Bush or Barack Obama, the author's reporting demonstrates countless foolish decisions by the CIA, the Pentagon, and the White House. The State Department comes across as slightly less foolish but not devoid of criticism. Coll is masterful at plumbing the depths of agencies and sects within both Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the murderous groups that have become the main targets of the war on terror. The cast of characters at the beginning of the book will help readers keep track of all the players.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." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
*Starred Review* Coll's (Private Empire, 2012) investigation into the U.S.' entanglement with Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2001 to 2016 chronicles the American campaign to oust al-Qaeda and the Taliban from Afghanistan after 9/11. Despite assistance from 59 countries, thousands of lives lost, and billions of dollars spent, the effort failed. Strategic bungling and distraction from the war in Iraq helped sink the effort, but the shadow opponent was the Pakistani secret service, the I.S.I., and its covert support of the Taliban through its secretive wing, Directorate S. The sequel to Coll's Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars (2004) details the monstrous costs in battlefield casualties, civilian deaths from military action and CIA drone attacks, and murders of American and NATO troops by Afghan soldiers recruited by the Taliban. To staunch the carnage, America negotiated with both the I.S.I. and, in secret, the Taliban. Believing America would eventually abandon Afghanistan, the I.S.I. never withdrew support of Afghanistan's Taliban, even as the terrorists mounted bloody attacks in Pakistan itself. Coll has interviewed players in the Bush and Obama administrations, Afghan and Pakistani officials, spies, diplomats, and soldiers on the ground. With his evenhanded approach, gift for limning character, and dazzling reporting skills, he has created an essential work of contemporary history.--Gwinn, Mary Ann Copyright 2018 Booklist
