After announcing the end of Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq on August 31, 2010, President Barack Obama said: ” ‘Going forward, a transitional force of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq with a different mission: advising and assisting Iraq’s Security Forces, supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counterterrorism missions, and protecting our civilians. Consistent with our […]
Category: quotes
8/31/2010
Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s “self-penned volume ‘A Journey’ was published on [August 31, 2010] the day the United States formally ended combat operations in Iraq after a conflict that claimed more than 100,000 deaths, most of them civilians. Blair, 57, said he felt ‘desperately sorry’ for the lives cut short, but said the […]
8/27/2010
“Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, has criticised the US military’s plans to begin withdrawing troops from the country in July 2011. Mr Karzai said that announcing a date for the withdrawal had given the Taliban insurgency ‘a morale boost.’ He also said the war could not be won as long as the Taliban were able to […]
8/27/2010
“In an interview with the BBC, [Afghan President] Mr [Hamid] Karzai’s national security adviser, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, said fighting the war on Afghan soil was not enough. ‘Even if we defeat the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups within Afghanistan, [if] we don’t destroy the recruitment centre and we don’t destroy the causes, it is […]
8/19/2010
On August 19, 2010, after embedding with troops in Afghanistan, journalist Bing West wrote a list of observations in a memo to General James Mattis, the head of Central Command. One note read: ” ‘Defeating an insurgency requires three tasks: 1) destroy the insurgent forces; 2) win over the people to the side of a […]
8/15/2010
“[A]s long ago as last August [2010], President Obama was told in an intelligence briefing that there was a possible lead that Bin Laden was hiding in plain sight in Abbottabad [Pakistan]. It took eight months for U.S. and Pakistani agents to confirm for certain that the information was accurate.” [The 15th of the month […]
8/15/2010
Following Osama bin Laden’s assassination on May 2, 2011, “President Obama said he was first briefed that bin Laden had been traced last August [2010]. The crucial information was gleaned from a detainee who had been tortured at Guantanamo Bay.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – “Incredible Pictures Show […]
8/15/2010
“In August 2010, the courier [for bin Laden] unknowingly led authorities to a compound in the northeast Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where [senior al Qaeda member Abu Faraj] al-Libi had once lived. The walls surrounding the property were as high as 18 feet and topped with barbed wire. Intelligence officials had known about the house […]
7/27/2010
“A U.S. audit has found that the Pentagon cannot account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money, spotlighting Iraqi complaints that there is little to show for the massive funds pumped into their cash-strapped, war-ravaged nation. The $8.7 billion in question was Iraqi money managed by the Pentagon, not part of […]
7/25/2010
Following WikiLeaks’ publication of 77,000 classified military documents on the war in Afghanistan, National Security Advisor General James Jones made a statement from the White House on July 25, 2010. ” ‘The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners […]