15 THE FIVE FINGERS
“This morning, my younger brother”: Joshua Partlow and Kevin Sieff, “Karzai Brother Killed by Gunman,” The Washington Post, July 13, 2011, p. 1.
16 I HATE POLITICS
“an ostentatious Karzai property”: U.S. Department of State confidential cable, “Kandahar Politics Complicate U.S. Objectives in Afghanistan,” December 6, 2009.
17 EVERYBODY IN A CORNER
“Afghanistan is a country built on legends”: Habib Zahori, “Tales of ‘White Taliban’ Sketch a New Legend,” At War (New York Times blog), July 23, 2013.
“police had to fire back”: Hamid Shalizi, “Four Killed in Anti-NATO Protests,” Reuters, in the Montreal Gazette, August 6, 2011.
“under assault”: U.S. Department of State confidential cable, “Iran and Former-Soviet States Vie for Influence in Afghan Media,” April 10, 2007.
“stubborn ideologue”: U.S. Department of State confidential cable, “Pressing Afghans on VOA Medium-Wave Transmitting Station in Khost,” October 27, 2009.
18 NOT RELIGION BUT HISTORY
riots erupted in several cities: Carlotta Gall, “Demonstration by Afghans Turns Violent,” The New York Times, May 12, 2005.
“They killed a young boy”: Laura King, “Karzai Denounces Alleged ‘Kill Team’; Afghan President Says Photos of U.S. Soldiers Posing with Bodies of Civilians Should Stir Global Indignation,” Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2011, p. 3.
“Let these jackals leave this country”: Joshua Partlow, “With Sermons Often Decrying U.S., Afghan Clerics Wage Political Battle,” The Washington Post, February 18, 2011.
“turning their guns”: Alissa J. Rubin, “2 G.I.’s Killed Amid Protests Over Burning of Holy Book,” The New York Times, February 24, 2012.
first found the study: Dion Nissenbaum, “The Afghan War: Report Sees Danger in Local Allies—Study Says Killings of Americans by Afghan Security Forces Represent a ‘Systemic Threat’ to the U.S. War Effort,” The Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2011.
“My reasons for going to Afghanistan”: Micah Garen, “Call Me Ehsaan,” documentary movie, The New York Times, Op-Docs, March 23, 2012.
19 THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF ITS EXISTENCE
“Sherkhan is not only unreliable”: Letter from Mahmood Karzai to Drago Kos, March 24, 2013.
“It has come to my attention”: Ibid.
The closest anyone would come to the truth: “Final Audit Report for Kabul Bank,” Kroll, March 14, 2012.
$5.2 billion of international transfers: Kroll asset tracing report for Kabul Bank, November 22, 2012.
“a piece of puke”: Matthew Rosenberg, “Audit Says Kabul Bank Began as ‘Ponzi Scheme,’ ” The New York Times, November 27, 2012, p. 9.
In his decree: Hamid Karzai, Presidential Decree No. 281, April 4, 2012.
20 EVIL IN HEAVEN
“Enmity in Heaven”: Abdul Bari Jahani, Pand Aw Ebrat (Lessons and Advice) (Kandahar: Alama Reshad Publishing Association, 2011), pp. 376−381. Translation of the poem by Habib Zahori.
“Just like all other Afghans”: Amir Shah, “Suicide Bomber Kills Afghan President’s Cousin,” Associated Press Online, July 29, 2014.
21 THE ZERO OPTION
“troublesome ally in war”: Gates, Duty.
“So this election means a lot”: Joshua Partlow and Kevin Sieff, “Defying Taliban, Afghans Go to the Polls,” The Washington Post, April 6, 2014.
“The story is over”: Alissa J. Rubin, “Afghan Contenders Accept Results and Move On,” The New York Times, May 16, 2014, p. 14.
“We want the Americans to respect our sovereignty”: Azam Ahmed, “Karzai Says He’ll Wait to Sign Security Pact with U.S. Until Next Year,” The New York Times, November 22, 2013, p. 4.
“If there is no agreement”: Helene Cooper, “Hard Talk Aside, Little Desire by the West to Leave Afghanistan,” The New York Times, February 27, 2014, p. 10.
“The reason we intervened”: Carlotta Gall and Matthew Rosenberg, “Anxious Moments for an Afghanistan on the Brink,” The New York Times, July 15, 2014, p. 10.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
1.1 Joshua Partlow
2.1 Kate Brooks/Redux
2.2 Sergeant Heidi Agostini, DVIDS
2.3 Captain Lindy I. White, DVIDS
3.1 Kate Brooks/Redux
6.1 Glenn Fawcett, DVIDS
6.2 Joshua Partlow
8.1 Sergeant Rebecca Linder, DVIDS
8.2 Sergeant Tamika Dillard, DVIDS
8.3 Joshua Partlow
9.1 Joshua Partlow
9.2 Joshua Partlow
9.3 Karzai family
9.4 Joshua Partlow
11.1 Joshua Partlow
12.1 Sergeant Brian Tuthill, DVIDS
12.2 Joshua Partlow
12.3 Joshua Partlow
13.1 Lorenzo Tugnoli
13.2 Lorenzo Tugnoli
14.1 Joshua Partlow
14.2 Joshua Partlow
16.1 Lorenzo Tugnoli
17.1 Staff Sergeant Faiza Evans, DVIDS
17.2 Master Sergeant Kap Kim, DVIDS
19.1 Sam Kittner
20.1 Joshua Partlow
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joshua Partlow is a foreign correspondent for The Washington Post. Since 2006, he has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; he has also been the paper’s bureau chief in Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City. His reporting from Afghanistan won an Overseas Press Club award. He is from Olympia, Washington, and lives in Mexico City.
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