Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul “Wolfowitz, the architect of the warlord policy [in Afghanistan], was in a state of denial about the U.S. role in supporting the warlords. ‘I don’t think in most parts of the country that the power of the warlords is a function of any support they get from us,’ he said [in an interview with journalist Ahmed Rashid on August 21, 2002]. ‘The real strength of the warlords comes from their local roots.’ ”
– Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos, Page 136