Penguin Press. Perhaps one of the most interesting characters introduced is Zalmay Khalilzad, who grew up in Afghanistan and knew Karzai from his early career. Maybe call it a shadow war, following Ghost wars?
In Bush’s mind, the Taliban were merely the promoters of “a fanatical, barbaric brand of Islam” characterized by the oppression of women and the denial of “the simplest pleasures—singing, clapping, and flying kites.”- The Haqqanis were part of the Taliban—both they and the Taliban leadership said so—- The Taliban were embedded. or was too naïve to see that it was being had “is a major factor driving the Afghan government’s precipitous efforts” to find a line to talk with the Taliban or a separate deal with Pasha and Kayani.- Karzai, however, interpreted the continuing American intervention in his country as evidence of the latest imperial landgrab in Central Asia.- The measure of success, Kayani reiterated, could not be how many guerrilla commanders were captured or killed or how much territory the Karzai government or the Taliban controlled at any one time.
Yet when Kilcullen first voiced concerns similar to Saleh’s inside the administration, “People laughed at me.” They thought he had gone native during his visits to Afghanistan- Biden instinctively resisted the counterinsurgency doctrine General David Petraeus promoted around Washington that winter. Review from Major Amin: Directorate S –The CIA and Americas Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016-Steve Coll -Allen Lane- Penguin Books-2018-ISBN-978-1-846-14660-2 ISBN-13: 978-1987659184 ISBN-10: 198765918X I also feel more concerned about the objectivity of books as their topics become more recent. Coll’s first book, in what will be a trilogy, called Ghost Wars, was also excellent and a great precursor to this book. This Book is one of most comprehensive and exhaustive study of the war in Afghanistan from late 1990s through to 2017.
DIRECTORATE S: The C.I.A. There are far better books on ISI available in the market (the one by Owen L Sirrs is superior to the one by Hein G Kessling).
I wanted to like this book.
With no concrete plan for Afghanistan once the Taliban was removed, only a weak, corrupt government under Hamid Karzai would evolve. I also wanted to know about Daesh phenomenon that started there after 2013 or 2014. Five US soldiers were charged with killing Afghans for fun, keeping their fingers as mementoes. So many PowerPoint presentations were mentioned in the book that I made it a water drinking game. I had no idea the extent of that struggle. I was disappointed.The problem I had with this book is that it is not a book that presents a whole picture of the War on Terror. Obama had now endorsed a counterinsurgency strategy, however undefined.LACK OF UNITY IN EFFORTS- He created a PowerPoint deck with a slide titled “Ten Wars,” referring to what his final count had determined were ten distinctly commanded military forces in Afghanistan.- A theme of the review, at least for some of the analysts involved, was the “need to re-Americanize the effort,” as Eliot Cohen put it.
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.
(Penguin, $18.) He has a five-page reference section at the front, listing the names of all the protagonists in the book. They mentioned that the dog might also die. Unfortunately the advance copy that I got was missing footnotes for some of the chapters so I was unable to see what his research was based on at some points.Although the narrative could have tied up better at times and there were not many huge scoops in the book (although there were a couple eyebrow raising passages), I would classify this as a must-read of War on Terror reportage. Sometimes, yes; sometimes, no. It’s the most comprehensive read I’ve found on the ISI/US/Afghan relationship, and walks you through a *lot* of semi-forgotten examples of how dysfunctional the relationship was (I’d completely forgotten about the initial abortive talks with the Taliban).
All the kudos in the world to Obama for making the call to conduct the raid, even though positive identification of Bin Laden’s presence had not been confirmed. He had been warning the CIA of an imminent attack on the U.S. and killed before This is a review of the audiobook. Not only did Americans not know the culture or languages of the area, the most up to date map they owned was drawn during the British Colonial era. The other day I was watching a film, Rupture starring one of my favorite actresses Noomi Rapace, and when she was strapped down to a table, made helpless, I had to turn the TV off. 2 stars feels too harsh for such an epic effort but I also don't think it really deserves 3 full stars. The other clear conclusion is that Pakistan is not an ally but a competitor at best and an adversary at worst. There was a cast list, which was helpful for the most important characters. Though it was redeemed by including so many tragic anecdotes of American losses, disappointing agreement attempt results, and huge follies, it was difficult to stay focused.
Coll spends quite a time there. A typical windbag general.On page 107 Steve Coll fallaciously places Tora Bora in the Hindu Kush mountain range whereas Tora Bora has absolutely no connection with Hindu Kush mountain range.Dick Cheneys assessments as discussed on page-110 that the war in Afghanistan may spill out to Pakistan and endanger Pakistans nuclear arsenal may be endangered , stands out as a case of how unrealistic US judgements could be . Coll is speaking about his book in D.C. today and I hope to get a chance to ask him about this, because in my view the U.S. invasion could only have ended in failure -- if it ever ends there.The first half of 'Directorate S' is a thrilling ride as the CIA regained its swashbuckling moxy. This book Phew, that was one difficult book to read! Afghanistan shares a mountainous, ungoverned border which the Pakistani government doesn’t fully control and which is impossible to seal. Overall, it was underwhelming.George Orwell's collection of essays title is called "All art is propaganda." Although the role of Pakistan is prominent in author Steve Coll’s examination of America’s struggle in Afghanistan, this is a larger and more complex analysis of what has become a war without end.If you’re not winning, you’re losing.