The Longest War

by Peter L. Bergen

  169 eighty executions: Michael Ware, “Papers give peek inside al-Qaeda in Iraq,” CNN.com, June 11, 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/

  11al.qaeda.iraq/index.html.

  169 AQI was well financed: Ayman al-Zawahiri, letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, July 9, 2005. www.rjchq.org/media/pdf/zawahiriletter.pdf.

  169 recorded income of $386,000: West Point, Combating Terrorism Center. Bombers, Bank Accounts, and Bleedout: Al-Qaida’s Road in and out of Iraq, ed. Brian Fish-man. http://ctc.usma.edu/harmony/pdf/

  CTCForeignFighter.19.Dec07.pdf.

  169 double suicide attacks: Edward Wong, “Mosque attacks kill 70 in Iraq; hotel is hit too,” New York Times, November 19, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/19/

  international/19iraq.html.

  169 Diyala: Martin Chulov, “Violent province’s 27 female suicide bombers who set out to destroy Iraqi hopes of peace,” The Guardian, November 12, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/12/

  iraq-gender-suicide-bombers-diyala.

  169 husband-wife suicide teams: BBC News, “Journey of a Belgian female ‘bomber.’” December 2, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/

  4491334.stm; baker’s assistant: Anthony Browne and Rory Watson, “The girl who went from baker’s assistant to Baghdad bomber,” Times of London, December 2, 2005. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/

  iraq/article744833.ece; “walked into a wedding reception”: “Jordan failed bomber confesses on TV,” CNN.com, November 14, 2005. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/11/13/

  jordan.blasts/index.html. Full confession available from The Independent, “Words of a would-be killer,” November 14, 2005. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/

  world/middle-east/sajidamubarak-

  atrous-alrishawi-words-of-a-

  wouldbe-killer-515256.html.

  169 Al-Qaeda also deployed children: Ben Morgan, “Iraq story: meeting the suicide bomber child.” Agence France Press blog, September 4, 2008. http://blogs.afp.com/?post/2008/09/04/Puzzling-over

  -the-motives-of-a-suicide

  -bomb-child.

  170 mentally unstable: David Leppard and Abul Taher, “MI5 fears jihadis will use mentally ill as suicide bombers,” The Times (London), May 25, 2008. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/

  uk/article3999058.ece; killed around 100: “U.S. raids Iraqi psychiatric hospital over attacks,” Reuters, February 10, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/

  idusL10400113.

  170 the use of chlorine in bombs: BBC News, “‘Chlorine bomb’ hits Iraq village.” May 16, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/

  6660585.stm. See also chapter 13 of this book for a more detailed account of the chlorine attacks.

  170 responded to an IED: Clarence Williams, “Life of normalcy rests in his palm,” Washington Post, November 28, 2005; Katherine Heerbrandt, “Soldier’s wife comforts wounded,” Gazette.net, October 13, 2005. http://www.gazette.net/stories/101305/

  frednew192331_31892.shtml and Brian Doyne, interview by author, Virginia 2007.

  170 wrapped in a steel case: Discovery Channel, “Mission Ops: Assignment IEDs.” Originally aired May 15, 2007. Directed by Carsten Oblaender and author interview with Sidney Alford, Somerset, England, September 5, 2007.

  170 3 percent: Robert Bryce, “Man vs. Mine,” The Atlantic, January/February 2006. http://www.theatlantic.com/

  doc/200601/explosives; “one in ten”: Rick Atkinson, “The IED problem is getting out of control. We’ve got to stop the bleeding,” Washington Post, September 30, 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/tent/article/

  2007/09/29/AR2007092900751.html.

  171 “an integral part”: United States Marines. State of the Insurgency in al-Anbar. August 17, 2006. http://media.washingtonpost.com

  /wp-srv/nation/documents/marines_

  iraq_document_020707.pdf.

  171 millions of dollars: John Burns and Kirk Semple, “U.S. finds Iraq insurgency has funds to sustain itself,” New York Times, November 26, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/

  world/middleeast/26insurgency.html?

  pagewanted=print.

  171 “I wouldn’t say”: John Negroponte. United States Senate. 2007, January 11. Select Committee on Intelligence. Current and projected national security threats. 110th Congress, 1st session. increased sevenfold: Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, “The Iraq Effect,” Mother Jones, March 1, 2007. http://www.motherjones.com/news/

  featurex/2007/03/iraq_

  effect_1.html.

  172 undermined America’s place in the world: Pew Global Attitudes Project, “A Year After Iraq War,” March 16, 2004. http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/

  206.pdf.p._1; “Pew Global Attitudes Project, “Views of a Changing World 2003: War with Iraq further divides global publics,” June 3, 2003. http://pewglobal.org/reports/

  pdf/185.pdf.

  172 On May 1, 2003: George W. Bush, Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003. http://www.cnn.com/2003/U.S./05/01/

  bush.transcript/.

  172 was not the case: See the January 2003 paper by the CIA that is referenced in chapter 9, and is described in George Tenet’s autobiography, At the Center of the Storm, on page 358.

  Chapter 11

  174 “It is very important”: Paul Wolfowitz, Department of Defense News Briefing, December 10, 2001. http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.

  aspx?transcriptid=2628.

  175 back into the Middle Ages: Author observations and interviews, Kabul, Afghanistan, December 1999.

  175 The moneychangers down by the Kabul River: These impressions are based on my visits to Kabul in 1999 and 2002.

  175 almost two million Afghans came home: United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, Operational Information—Monthly Summary Report, July 2008, p. ii. http://www.aims.org.af/services/sectoral/emergency_

  assistance/refugee/unhcr_summaries/jul_08/summary1.pdf.

  175 firmly in the grip of the United States: Author observations in Kandahar in 2004.

  175 forty-eight U.S. servicemen being killed: CNN.com, Enduring Freedom Casualties—Special Reports, 2003. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/

  oef.casualties/2003.12.html; “disarming almost all”: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Afghanistan: Where Rule by the Gun Continues,” IRIN News, May 2006. http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=8&ReportId=34289&Country=Yes. On this point also see page 297 of “A Different Kind of War,” The U.S. Army’s official history of the war in Afghanistan from October 2001 to September 2005.

  176 consolation prize: Amin Tarzi, “Karzai turns warlord into potential ally,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, January 19, 2005. http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1056955.html.

  176 fancy title but no real power: CanWest News Service, “Former Afghan warlord says he can defeat the Taliban,” May 10, 2007. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/

  story.html?id=1acb5330-dfe8-4f0e-8a1b-

  4f581478244f&k=44800&p=1.

  176 dropped Mohammad Fahim: Carlotta Gall, “Defense chief backs Karzai’s rival,” New York Times, August 5, 2004.

  176 “warlord-led militias,” The Economist, January 1, 2005.

  176 Ten million Afghans registered: BBC News, “Afghanistan’s election challenge,” September 6, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3631920.stm.

  176 turnout was heavy: Author observations in Gardez on the day of the election, October 9, 2004.

  176 Eight million Afghans voted: Kenneth Katzman, “Afghanistan: Elections, Constitution, and Government,” Congressional Research Service, August 8, 2006. http://fpc.state.gov/documents/

  organization/71864.pdf.

  176 70 percent: Carlotta Gall and Stephen Farrell, “Afghan election called a success despite attacks,” New York Times, August 20, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/

  world/asia/21afghan.html; “since 1900”: Peter F. Nardulli, Jon K. Dalager and Donald E. Greco, “Voter Turn
out in U.S. Presidential Elections: An Historical View and Some Speculation,” Political Science and Politics, September 1996.

  176 Eighty-three percent: “Afghans’ criticism of U.S. efforts rises; in the southwest, Taliban support grows,” BBC/ABC News Poll, December 3, 2007; “less than one in five Iraqis”: “Poll finds broad optimism in Iraq, but also deep divisions among groups,” ABC News poll, December 12, 2005.

  177 There were many grim statistics: World Health Organization, Afghanistan and Iran, 2006. http://www.who.int/countries/afg/en/ and http://www.who.int/coun tries/irn/en/.

  177 ubiquitous street kids: Author interview with Muzghan and her family, Kabul, Afghanistan September 2006.

  178 “Me no speak English”: Author reporting, Kabul Afghanistan, September 2006. Peter Bergen, “Waltzing with warlords,” Nation, January 1, 2007.

  179 shot the guards: Nick Meo, “Foreigners in Afghanistan now key targets for Tale-ban’s suicide bombers,” The Times (London), January 16, 2008 and author observations over the course of multiple trips to Afghanistan after 9/11.

  179 Graeme Smith: Graeme Smith, “Talking to the Taliban,” Globe and Mail, 2008. http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/talkingtothetaliban/. Pashtun Ghilzai tribes played a prominent role in the leadership of the Taliban, in particular Mullah Omar’s Hotaki sub-branch of the Ghilzai. This was an undervalued point in helping to understand the Taliban insurgency, which could, at least in part, be understood as a movement of Ghilzai Pashtuns, rural tribes long on the outs in Afghanistan, fighting for power against the Durrani Pashtuns who have traditionally ruled the country since the mid-18th century. See Thomas Johnson and M. Chris Mason, “Understanding the Taliban and insurgency in Afghanistan,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, winter 2007. A survey commissioned by the British government of some two hundred members of the Taliban and others who supported them found a range of reasons for joining or supporting the insurgency, including the perception that the central government was corrupt, the failure of the state to provide security and justice, and the behavior of foreign forces, particularly house searches at night. Sarah Ladbury, “Testing hypotheses of radicalization in Afghanistan: why do men join the Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami? How much do local communities support them?” Department of International Development, August 14, 2009.

  179 The Taliban also benefited: Michael R. Gordon, “Bush would stop U.S. peacekeeping in Balkan fights,” New York Times, October 21, 2000; “a disagreement”: George W. Bush, Boston, Massachusetts, October 4, 2000; “not our key strategic goal”: Memo from Douglas J. Feith to Donald Rumsfeld, October 11, 2001. Originally from www.dougfeith.com. It was removed from the site at some point in 2009.

  180 “We don’t want to repeat the Soviets’ mistakes”: Franks op. cit., p. 324.

  180 Marshall Plan to Afghanistan: George W. Bush, Lexington, VA, April 17, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/

  2002/04/20020417-1.html and David Rohde and David Sanger, “How a ‘good war’ in Afghanistan went bad,” New York Times, August 12, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/world/

  asia/12afghan.html; “low input”: James Dobbins, After the Taliban: Nation-Building in Afghanistan (Dulles, VA: Potomac Books Inc, 2008), pp. 144–145.

  180 Aid per capita to Bosnians: James Dobbins, John G. McGinn, Keith Crane, Seth G. Jones, Rollie Lal, Andrew Rathmell, Rachel M. Swanger, Anga R. Timilsina, America’s Role in Nation Building From Germany to Iraq (RAND,: Santa Monica, 2003), p. 146.

  180 “low levels of security”: James Dobbins quoted in Elizabeth Rubin, “Taking the fight to the Taliban,” New York Times Magazine, October 29, 2006.

  180 “economy of force”: Michael Mullen, Washington, D.C., July 2, 2008 http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4256; “least amount of resources”: James Dobbins, Testimony before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, March 8, 2007. foreign.senate.gov/

  testimony/2007/DobbinsTestimony070308.pdf, p. 3.

  181 meeting in the White House Situation Room: James Dobbins, After the Taliban: Nation-Building in Afghanistan (Dulles, VA: Potomac Books Inc, 2008), pp. 114– 116. “the strong antipathy”: “A Different Kind of War” op. cit., p. 327. “under enormous pressure”: “A Different Kind of War” op. cit., p. 246.

  181 slowed the formation: Pamela Constable, “Key security initiatives founder in Afghanistan; Taliban resurgent in as development, reforms lag,” Washington Post, September 19, 2003. four times more soldiers and policemen: Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann, “Obama’s War,” Washington Post, February 15, 2009.

  181 couldn’t hold many of: Sean Rayment, “British troops hunt the Taliban in Afghanistan,” The Daily Telegraph, September 4, 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/

  uknews/1561956/British-troops-hunt-

  the-Taliban-in-Afghanistan.html.

  181 “mowing the lawn”: author interview with western diplomat, Kabul, Afghanistan, July 2008.

  182 traveled to Kuwait City: Author interview with Robert Grenier, Washington, D.C., February 18, 2009.

  182 five times more U.S. funding: Amy Belasco, “The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and other global war on terror operations since 9/11,” Congressional Research Service, May 15, 2009. www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf.

  182 “way too committed to Iraq”: David Gordon, interview by author, Washington, D.C. October 15, 2009.

  182 Rumsfeld ordered: Rashid op. cit., p. 353.

  182 “Tragically, I believe that”: David Barno, Testimony before the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, February 15, 2007. foreign affairs.house.gov/110/33319.pdf.

  182 “Where the road ends”: Karl Eikenberry interview by author, Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2006.

  183 Afghans hadn’t seen much: Yuma Turabi and Lorenzo Delegates, “Afghanistan: Bringing Accountability Back In From Subjects of Aid to Citizens of the State,” Integrity Watch Afghanistan Report, June 2008. http://www.iwaweb.org/Bringing Accountabilitybackin.pdf.

  183 funneled back: Matt Waldman, “Falling Short: Aid Effectiveness in Afghanistan,” Oxfam Research Report, May 2008. http://www.oxfamamerica.org/files/

  ACBARAidEffectivenessPaper.pd]; Jon Hemming, “Afghan Aid ineffective, Inefficient, Watchdog Says,” Reuters, June 9, 2008. http://uk.reuters.com/article/id UKISL1120120080609; “local Afghan projects”: A report by the Peace Dividend Trust in 2007 states only 15% of aid used Afghan resources.

  183 Too often: Oxfam International, “Falling Short: Aid Effectiveness in Afghanistan,” by Matt Waldman. March 2008. http://www.oxfam.org/files/ACBAR_aid

  _effectiveness_paper_0803.pdf.

  183 typical of suicide bombers in Afghanistan: Christine Fair, “Suicide attacks in Afghanistan, 2001–2007,” United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, September 9, 2007.

  184 chat with a failed suicide bomber: Author interview with Imdadullah, April 2007, Kabul, Afghanistan.

  184 Eight of every ten: Human Rights Watch, “The Human Cost,” April 15, 2007. http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2007/04/15/human-cost-0.

  184 Taliban were back with a vengeance: Christine Fair op. cit.; “IED attacks doubled”: “IED attacks up in Afghanistan, down in Iraq,” November 15, 2007. http://www.armytimes.com/news/

  2007/11/gns_ied_071115/; highest levels: CNN OEF casualties database op. cit.

  185 brought more attacks into Afghanistan: Jason Dye, Anderson Cooper 360, CNN, July 5, 2007. http://transcripts.cnn.com/

  TRANSCRIPTS/0707/05/acd.02.html. and author’s observations at the Bermel base in eastern Afghanistan, September 11–14 2006; “signed a peace deal”: BBC News, “Pakistan Taleban in peace deal,” September 5, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5315564.stm.

  185 unwilling or incapable: Author interview with U.S. military officials Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2006. Amir Haqqani: Frank Sturek, interview by author, Zabul, Afghanistan, July 2006.

  185 “generally accepted”: James Jones, testimony before the U
nited States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, D.C., September 21, 2006.

  185 “down to a particular section of Quetta”: Peter Bergen and Charlie Moore, “Source: Mullah Omar in Pakistan,” CNN.com, September 9, 2006. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/09/

  pakistan.mullahomar/index.html.

  186 “They were calling from Pakistan”: Author interview, Abdul Haq Hanif, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 2007.

  186 “We would not have got him”: Author interview, U.S. military official, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 2007.

  186 at some 40 million: CIA World Factbook, Afghanistan and Pakistan, February 10, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html; BBC/ABC/ARD, “their view of the Taliban”: Afghanistan poll by BBC/ABC, January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/

  bsp/hi/pdfs/05_02_09afghan_poll_2009.pdf, p. 20; high as 27%: International Council on Security and Development, “On a knife edge: southern and eastern Afghanistan,” May 2007. http://icosgroup.net/modules/

  reports/Knife_Edge_Report.

  187 between 7,000 and 10,000: Author interview U.S. military official, Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2006.

  187 some 12,000 fighters: BBC News, “Afghanistan: Taleban second coming,” June 2, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5029190.stm; “in contact with his top aides”: CBS News, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, December 29, 2006.

  187 “They won’t be taken”: Author interview with U.S. military official, Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2006.

  187 “The Arabs taught us”: Sami Yousafzai and Ron Moreau, “The Taliban in their own words,” Newsweek, September 26, 2009, http://www.newsweek.com/id/216235/page/1. This section draws on Peter Bergen, “The Front,” The New Republic, October 19, 2009.

  187 bin Laden himself had supervised: Carlotta Gall, “A mile from Cheney, Afghan bomber kills at least 23,” New York Times, February 28, 2007; “Al Libi was behind the operation”: Alisa Tang, “Libyan blamed for bomb at Cheney visit,” Associated Press, May 3, 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050300963.html.