Welcome to Litsy!

A brilliantly written and comprehensive account of America‘s wars in Pakistan and Afghanistan (as it says in the title). I bought this when America pulled out of Afghanistan & it‘s taken me this long to pick it up - part of reading my TBR this year. It‘s a great insight into the different arms of govt, their struggles with other cultures, arrogance at times, the complex relationship with Pakistan as a nuclear state & the need for a clear purpose.

Director S provides a comprehensive look at the war in Afghanistan from 2001 through the late 2000s, revealing a world of intrigues, frustrations, personalities, and confusion surrounding this long war that never had the visibility of the Iraq war. You will understand a great deal more about the war, the US military and intelligence establishment, and South Asia after Directorate S.

A well-researched and thorough look at US machinations in Pakistan and Afghanistan since just before 9/11. Amazing how much we‘ve bungled things, but it‘s also hard to see how different approaches may have been any better. Just do yourself a favor and don‘t listen to/read this one while grouchy—it won‘t help your mood.

Steve Coll‘s books are always interesting and thoroughly researched. This one is no different. I was only disappointed that I learned less about Pakistan‘s ISI than I expected from the title. The subtitle more accurately describes the book.

Steve Coll is a staff writer on The New Yorker who has previously written about Al Qaeda and the CIA‘s activities in Afghanistan and in this insightful, gripping and horrifying read (a companion book to the earlier GHOST WARS), he aims to give a history of the relationship between the CIA, ISI and Afghan intelligence agencies and their respective governmental foreign policy and how their collective failures led to the rise of jihadi terrorism.

#TBRtemptation post 2! Coming in 2018 Edition! Scheduled for a February release. The blurb does the title more justice than I could do, lol. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎