Directorate S

-The National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction winner • Nominated for the National Book Award for Nonfiction From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars and The Achilles Trap, discover the compelling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to take down Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11. Before the attacks, the United States was conducting small-scale covert operations in Afghanistan, supposedly with the support of Pakistan's intelligence agency, I.S.I., but often in direct opposition. However, while the US fought against extremists, a secretive wing of I.S.I., known as "Directorate S," was secretly training and supporting the Taliban to gain control in Pakistan. After 9/11, when fifty-nine countries, led by the U.S., intervened in Afghanistan to eradicate the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the U.S. found itself on a slow and invisible collision course with Pakistan. We now know that the war in Afghanistan was doomed due to military arrogance at the