“In February [9] 2011, I [counterterrorism expert Daveed Gartenstein-Ross] spoke with Andrew Exum, an Arabic-speaking counterinsurgency expert at the Center for a New American Security who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army Ranger officer. When I asked him why U.S. efforts in Afghanistan have been so uneven, he replied without hesitation, ‘One word: Iraq. I remember in 2002 coming back from Afghanistan and being immediately forgotten. We had just fought the largest set-piece battle since the Persian Gulf War Operation Anaconda, and it was the first time our regiment had been in battle since Vietnam. But the focus was on Iraq.’ …’The vast majority of our efforts and our resources–not just military but also intelligence assets–have been focused on Iraq.’ ”
– Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Bin Laden’s Legacy, Page 106-107