History Begins Today!: The Rise and Fall of the U.S.-Pakistan Relationship After 9/11

This book describes the rise and fall of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship from 9/11 until its ultimate collapse in 2012. Colonel (U.S. Army retired) David O. Smith watched the process unfold from four inside perspectives-as the U.S. Army Attaché in Islamabad at 9/11, as a defense contractor making numerous trips to Pakistan at the behest of the Defense Intelligence Agency, as the Senior Director for Pakistan in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy), and finally as the Senior Defense Intelligence Analyst for Pakistan in DIA. Combining four decades of firsthand knowledge about Pakistan, several equally-long relationships with senior officers of the Pakistan Army, and access to many senior American policy and intelligence community officials, Smith describes how shifting geopolitical priorities after 9/11 briefly revived, then ultimately unraveled a strategic relationship with Pakistan. U.S. policymakers in two administrations ignored the historical and cultural animosity between Pakistan and Afghanistan, made a series of disastrous judgments that enabled the Taliban to recover and ultimately return to power, and blamed the outcome on Pakistan. Spanning two decades and culminating in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the book offers a rare insider perspective shaped by direct access to key decisionmakers and deep regional expertise. Smith explains not just what happened, but why the collapse of the renewed strategic partnership was inevitable almost from the beginning. The final chapter identifies key mistakes the U.S. government made in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and recommends the form a more durable relationship with Pakistan might take.