On August 29, 2009, Commander of U.S. and NATO Forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal delivered a confidential Initial Assessment on the situation in Afghanistan. It read: ” ‘Pre-occupied with the protection of our own forces, we have operated in a manner that distances us–physically and psychologically–from the people we seek to protect.’ It baldly […]
Category: quotes
8/29/2009
On August 29, 2009, Commander of U.S. and NATO Forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal delivered a confidential Initial Assessment on the situation in Afghanistan. It read: ” ‘Almost every aspect of our collective effort and associated resourcing has lagged a growing insurgency–historically a recipe for failure’ in counterinsurgency. …the Afghan security force ‘will not […]
8/29/2009
On August 29, 2009, Commander of U.S. and NATO Forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal delivered a confidential Initial Assessment on the situation in Afghanistan. It read: ” ‘We cannot succeed simply by trying harder… The entire culture–how ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] understands the environment and defined the fight, how it interacts with the […]
8/29/2009
On August 29, 2009, Commander of U.S. and NATO Forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal delivered a confidential Initial Assessment on the situation in Afghanistan. It claimed “Insurgents had ‘a Taliban *shadow government* that actively seeks to control the population and displace the national government and traditional power structures.’ ” – Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars, […]
8/29/2009
On August 29, 2009, Commander of U.S. and NATO Forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal delivered a confidential Initial Assessment on the situation in Afghanistan. He concluded: ” ‘Failure to provide adequate resources also risks a longer conflict, greater casualties, higher overall costs, and ultimately, a critical loss of political support. Any of these risks, […]
8/29/2009
“One former U.S. official with detailed knowledge of how the [CIA’s enhanced] interrogations were carried out said [9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh] Mohammed, like several other detainees, seemed to have decided that it was okay to stop resisting after he had endured a certain amount of pressure. ‘Once the harsher techniques were used on [detainees], they […]
8/28/2009
“On August 28 [2009], the Saudi deputy minister of interior, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, survived a bombing attack launched by an al-Qaeda cell based in Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbor. Because he leads Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism efforts against al-Qaeda, the prince is a key target for the terrorist group. …Abdullah Hassan al-Asiri, the would-be assassin, […]
8/23/2009
” ‘…The Taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated in their tactics,’ Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced on CNN’s ‘State of the Nation’ on 23 August [2009].” – Ahmed Rashid, Taliban, Page 234 […]
8/20/2009
On August 20, 2009, “Afghans had gone to the polls for the first time in five years to elect their new president. The election was marred not so much by predictable Taliban violence, but rather by low turnout and by multiple and credible allegations of serious election day fraud, in particular by supporters of the […]
8/20/2009
“A third European country has been identified to ABC News as providing the CIA with facilities for a secret prison for high-value al Qaeda suspects: Lithuania, the former Soviet state. Former CIA officials directly involved or briefed on the highly classified program tell ABC News that Lithuanian officials provided the CIA with a building on […]