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The Afghanistan Papers

Page 36

by Craig Whitlock


  goals and objectives for War in Afghanistan, 8, 14

  on how long the war will last, 6–7, 14

  meeting with Robert Gates, 103–104

  misleading the public, 96–97, 108, 111–112

  Mission Accomplished speech, 43–44, 47

  nation-building under, 30–39, 31, 32

  on objectives and mission, 8, 14

  on opium production/trade, 129–133, 135–136, 256

  Pakistan and, 82

  public approval of, 4

  speech at USS Abraham Lincoln, 43–44

  troop surge under, 94, 104

  U.S. spending under, 30, 95, 137, 158

  at Virginia Military Institute, 3, 4, 14

  war strategy, 105–106, 108–109

  Callen, Michael, 31

  Campbell, John, 207, 227–228, 234, 236

  Camp David, 244, 272–273

  Canada/Canadians, 18, 105–106, 108, 168, 216, 283

  Capps, Michael, 221

  car bombs, 232

  Cariello, Dominic, 132

  Carter, Ashton, 231–232, 234

  Casey, George, 10

  casualties, xvi in 2007, 110

  in 2015, 232–233

  in 2017, 244

  by Afghan security forces, 213–218

  of Afghan security forces, 219, 247

  ambush near Shkin, 79, 81

  civilian, 110, 177–179, 208–209, 246

  in earlier part of the war, 4

  insider attacks, 213, 232–233

  Iraq War, 47

  under Obama administration (2010), 155

  during Operation Medusa (2006), 106

  summer 2003, 47

  total number of, xvi

  of U.S. Air Force security personnel, 234–235

  ceasefire, 248–249

  CERP (Commanders’ Emergency Response Program), 166, 167

  Champoux, Bernard, 96

  Chayes, Sarah, 117

  Chechens, 20

  Cheney, Dick, 34, 91–93, 174, 202

  Churchill, Winston, xi

  CIA and CIA operatives, 9, 21, 22, 80, 112, 261 alliance with mujahedin, 116

  corruption and, 123, 185, 187

  criticism of, 18, 22

  drone strike campaign, 200–201

  funneling weapons to Afghan rebels, 81–82, 116

  intelligence reports on war’s progress, 209

  Karzai, Ahmed Wali and, 176

  Karzai, Hamid and, 172

  Pakistan spy agency teaming up with, 81, 82

  Predator drone, 78

  Tora Bora campaign, 23–24

  warlords and, 116–117, 118, 121, 136

  CIA contractors, 81

  civilians. See also Afghans casualties, 110, 177–179, 208–209, 246

  distinguishing Taliban from, 18–19, 22

  massacred by Robert Bales, 203

  understanding of elections, 38–39

  Claburn, Joseph, 148

  Clapper, James, 209–210

  Cleveland, Charles, 235

  Clinton, Bill (Clinton administration), 31, 45–46, 97

  Clinton, Hillary, 151, 169, 181, 184, 203, 267

  Clinton, Thomas Jr., 22, 39, 72–73

  Collins, Susan, 206, 210

  Collins, Tom, 92

  Combat Outpost Mizan, 217

  Combat Studies Institute, xviii

  Combined Forces Command, 48

  comic books, 67–68

  Commander’s Guide to Money as a Weapons System (U.S. Army), 163

  congressional hearings, xviii, 56. See also Senate hearings

  Conservative Political Action Conference, 111–112

  constitution (Afghanistan), 26, 36, 50–51, 185, 265

  contractors, 159, 160, 186–188

  cooking, by Afghans, 63–64

  Copes, Brian, 164, 167

  corruption, xv, 183–195 Afghan government, 123–124, 175–176, 185–186, 189–190

  Afghan security forces, 209, 222–223

  Afghan warlords and, 122–123

  contractors, 186–188

  defense contractors and, 187–188

  drug-related, 137–138

  Kabul Bank scandal, 190–195

  Karzai, Hamid and, 12, 170, 189, 194

  New Ansari investigation, 188–189

  Obama administration on, 183–185, 190, 192

  opium production/trade and, 137–138

  police, 65

  U.S. responsibility, 185–186

  Costs of War Project, Brown University, 246

  counterinsurgency strategy, 49, 105 Biden on, 274

  under Bush, 105–106

  Kajaki Dam project and, 161

  McChrystal’s strategy and, 149, 150, 151, 152

  under Obama, 149–150, 158, 201

  public-works projects and, 163

  Creal, Thomas, 187–188

  Crocker, Ryan, 29–30, 31, 34–35, 86, 126–127, 162, 173–174, 184–185, 194, 223, 270

  Crowley, Bob, 204

  cultural awareness and training, 69–72

  cultural disconnect, between Afghans and U.S. troops, 73–74

  cultural ignorance and misunderstandings, 67–69, 168

  Cunningham, Scott, 224

  currency, 32, 185, 191

  Dalrymple, Shawn, 92, 93

  Dari language, 21, 57, 67, 68, 70, 120, 214

  Daud, Mohammed, 130

  Davis, John, 72

  Davis, Krissie, 232

  Dawson, John, 232

  defense contractors, 187–188

  Defense Department, xi, xvi, xvii, 17, 35, 76, 167, 178, 220, 231

  Defense Department contracts, 187

  Delta Force, U.S. Army, 24, 112

  democracy, 8, 36, 37, 38, 97, 109, 169, 176, 186

  Dennis, Jerod, 79

  diplomacy. See also U.S. embassy (Kabul) Bonn conference, 25–26, 27

  negotiations with Taliban, 235–236, 263–268, 269–270, 271–274

  under Obama, 147

  prisoner of war exchange, 270–271

  treatment of the Taliban and, 26–27

  Dobbins, James, 27, 35, 45–46, 83, 172, 208, 231, 270

  Doctors Without Borders, 233

  Dostum, Abdul Rashid, 115–122, 171

  Doucet, Lyse, 172–173

  Doyle, Brian, 57–58

  driving, by Afghan forces, 62–63

  drones, 78, 177–178, 199

  Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 129, 137, 256, 258, 259, 261

  drugs. See opium production/trade

  Dubai, 13, 124, 183, 188, 190, 193

  Dunford, Joseph Jr., 211, 242–244

  Dunn, Michael, 9

  Durbin, Robert, 94, 97

  Durkin, Keller, 73–74

  East Africa, bombing of U.S. embassies in, 19

  education, 57, 160, 168

  Eggers, Jeffrey, 20, 163, 202

  Eide, Kai, 171, 180

  Eikenberry, Karl, 55, 56, 60, 94, 95, 99, 152, 180, 181, 194

  election(s), in Afghanistan 2004, 54, 174, 265

  2005, 185

  2009, 170, 171, 180–181

  community council, in Marja, 207

  understanding of, by civilians, 38–39

  enemy. See also al-Qaeda; Taliban defining and identifying the, 22, 148, 151

  insider attacks, 213–218, 232–233

  U.S. military’s lack of understanding the, 20–21, 100, 101

  U.S. troops not understanding who was the, 23

  Engel, Eliot, xviii

  Escobar, Greg, 221

  exit strategy, lack of a clear and realistic, 4, 7

  Fahim, Haseen, 191

  Fahim Khan, Mohammed Qasim, 125–127, 171, 191

  Farnood, Sherkhan, 190–191, 192, 194

  Farris, Stuart, 22, 84–85

  Feith, Douglas, 9–10, 82, 137

  Finn, Robert, 14, 47, 122

  Firebase Shkin, 77–81, 99

  Firebase Tillman, 99

  Fitrat, Abdul Qadeer, 192, 193

 
Fitzherbert, Anthony, 136

  flag, Afghanistan, 173

  Flournoy, Michèle, 154–155, 206–207, 266

  Flynn, Michael, 188, 189, 205

  Force Reintegration Cell, 268–269

  Foreign Service, xvii, 21, 27, 29, 35, 73, 116, 176. See also oral-history interviews, Foreign Service officers/diplomatic

  Fort Myer, Virginia, 241, 243, 245

  Franks, Tommy, 10, 14–15, 119 overseeing wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq at the same time, 46

  on Rumsfeld, Donald, 52–53

  Tora Bora campaign (December 2001) and, 23, 24–25

  fratricidal (insider) attacks, 213–218, 232–233

  Freakley, Benjamin, 94, 97, 130

  Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), xiv, xvii, 217

  Frias, Louis, 67–68

  Fulbright Hearings, xiv

  funding. See U.S. spending

  Gannon, Kathy, 214

  Garey, Rich, 71

  Garofano, John, 204–205

  Gates, Robert, 19, 58, 103–104, 108, 113, 145–146, 147, 171, 179 meeting with George Bush, 103–104

  priority of Iraq, 108

  replacing Rumsfeld as defense secretary, 104

  Germany/Germans, ix, 13, 25–26, 33, 56, 65, 106, 121, 172, 185, 191

  Ghani, Ashraf, 194, 231, 248, 271, 272

  Gilchrist, Peter, 53, 136–137, 265

  Glaspell, Mark, 221–222

  “Global War on Terror,” xviii. See also War in Afghanistan

  government. See Afghan government; U.S. government

  Graczewski, Tim, 160–161

  Graham, Lindsey, 236, 271

  Green Berets, 17, 59, 67, 232

  Greentree, Todd, 27, 176, 258

  Grossman, Marc, 181

  Guantánamo Bay, 82, 264, 270, 271

  Guggisberg, Todd, 39

  Haass, Richard, 34

  Hadley, Stephen, 14, 33, 36, 110, 176

  Haiti, 31, 45, 120

  Harun, Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan, 80–81

  Hazara warlords, 83

  Helberg, Glen, 13

  Helmand province, 105, 124–125, 129, 130, 131–132, 133, 139, 148, 155, 162, 202, 232, 236, 254, 255, 256–257, 261, 268–269

  Herat, Afghanistan, 10, 39, 177–178

  HESCO barriers, 78

  Hindu Kush mountains, 80

  Hoekstra, Peter, 139

  Holbrooke, Richard, 140–141, 152, 153, 156, 170, 171, 180, 256, 259, 267

  Hollis, Andre, 117

  homosexuality, 75

  House Armed Services Committee, 154–155, 163, 207, 245

  humanitarian assistance/groups, 13, 74, 233

  human rights Afghan constitution and, 185

  Afghan police and, 224

  warlords and, 117

  Human Rights Watch, 115, 116

  Hussein, Saddam, 47

  Hutson, Thomas, 51, 120

  hydroelectric power station, 161–162

  India, 26, 83, 171

  industrial park project, 160–161

  INL, 136, 137, 139

  intelligence officials/reports from Afghanistan/Pakistan border, 80

  assessment on war’s progress, 111, 209–210

  on bin Laden, 23, 25

  Kabul Bank scandal and, 192

  on strength of the Taliban, 94–95

  International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), 107

  interviews. See Lessons Learned interviews; oral-history interviews

  Iran, xii, 20, 21, 25, 26, 51, 134, 172

  Iraq and Iraq War Bush and Robert Gates discussing, 104

  CERP projects cut-and-pasted from, 166

  fighting war in Afghanistan during the, 45–47

  Islamic State, 229, 235

  Khalilzad as ambassador to, 175

  Mission Accomplished speech (USS Abraham Lincoln), 43–44

  Obama’s approach to ending, 228–229

  prioritizing over Afghanistan, 15, 45, 47, 108, 109, 110, 112–113

  training Afghan army and, 60, 69, 70

  U.S. troops for, 45, 94

  Iraqi army, 229

  ISAF (International Security Assistance Force), 107

  Ishaqzai, Haji Lal Jan, 260

  ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), 81–82, 86

  Islam poppy cultivation and, 134

  views by U.S. soldiers on, 72–73

  Islamabad, 77, 82, 83, 85, 86

  Islam for Dummies, 67

  Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, 270

  Islamic State, 229, 235, 236, 247

  Jalalabad, Afghanistan, 10, 23, 123, 232, 234

  James, Randy, 76

  Jang-Ho, Yoon, 91

  Janke, Jeff, 62

  Johnson, Thomas, 168, 223

  Jordanian embassy, 48

  Kabul, Afghanistan, 10, 32, 36. See also Afghan government; U.S. embassy (Kabul) bombing of, 236

  nation-building and, 29–30

  suicide bombings in, 202

  U.S. and NATO ceremony in (2014), 227–228, 229

  U.S. dignitaries visiting in 2001, 30

  Kabul Bank scandal, 190–195

  Kabul Military Training Center, 55–56, 60–61

  Kajaki Dam project, 161–162

  Kamiya, Jason, 68–69

  Kandahar (city), Afghanistan, 17, 25, 26, 101–102, 106, 112, 117, 123, 148, 160–162, 174, 250, 260, 263

  Kandahar Air Field, 12, 13–14, 17–18, 160, 232

  Kandahar province, 22, 27, 61, 73, 100, 105, 135, 147, 148, 155, 162, 165, 168, 171, 172, 203, 215, 223, 260, 261, 273

  Kapusta, Philip, 8, 10

  Karimi, Barna, 165

  Karzai, Ahmed Wali, 123, 175, 176, 260

  Karzai, Hamid assassination attempts, 174

  B-52 bomb dropped on camp of, 172

  Cheney’s visit and, 91, 93

  corruption and, 123, 170, 189, 194

  Dostum, Abdul Rashid and, 119–120

  election of 2004, 54, 265

  election of 2009, 170, 171, 180–181

  handing out posters of, 38

  inauguration of (2009), 169

  as interim leader, 13, 26, 30, 172–173

  Kabul Bank scandal and, 191, 192–193

  as leader of new government, 13, 37

  lunch with U.S. diplomats (2002), 32

  negotiation efforts with Taliban, 265, 269, 270

  poppy cultivation and, 125, 138, 140

  relationship with U.S., 170–172, 173–181, 231

  Rumsfeld’s press conference with, 44–45

  at State of the Union Address to Congress, 32–33

  taking responsibility for country’s security, 230–231

  Taliban and, 172, 174

  U.S.-Afghan security agreement, 231

  warlords and, 120–121, 122, 125–126, 171, 176

  on war strategy, 151

  Karzai, Mahmoud, 191

  Kayani, Ashfaq, 86–87

  Kem, Jack, 219

  Khalilzad, Zalmay, 27–28, 50–51, 59, 73, 138–139, 174–175, 272, 273

  Khan, Haji Juma, 261

  Khost province, 164, 167, 179, 214

  King, David, 12

  King, Larry, 96

  Kite Runner, 258–259

  kleptocracy, 185–186

  Known and Unknown (Rumsfeld), xvii

  Kolenda, Christopher, 186, 190

  Koran, 69, 80–81, 215

  Kosovo, 25, 38, 45, 110

  Kunar province, 235

  Kunduz, Afghanistan, 118, 233, 236

  Kunduz hospital, 233

  Lachicotte, George, 148

  Lamm, David, 121

  language(s) Afghan army and, 57

  CIA operatives and Afghan, 22

  cultural training for U.S. military, 67, 69, 70

  Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, 133, 139

  law enforcement. See Afghan police force

  Leonnig, Carol, 243

  Lessons Learned interviews on Afghan security forces, 57, 59, 63, 219–220, 223, 224–225

  on Afghan warlords, 117, 122, 126–127<
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  on bin Laden, 202

  on Bonn Agreement, 26, 27

  on civilian casualties, 179, 208

  on corruption, 123, 124, 125, 184–185, 186, 187–188, 189

  on diplomacy with Taliban, 27, 28

  on identifying the enemy, 20, 23

  on Iraq War, 45, 47

  on Kabul Bank scandal, 191, 192, 193, 194

  on Karzai, 170, 175, 176

  on lack of campaign plan, 15

  McChrystal’s review, 150, 151, 152

  on misleading the public, 204–206

  on mission/objectives of the war, xv, 7–8, 14, 20, 110, 150

  on nation-building, 14, 30–37, 159, 160–161, 162, 163, 164–165, 166–168, 230

  on NATO-led coalition, 107, 108, 109

  on negotiating with the Taliban, 267, 270

  on Obama’s timeline, 153

  on Pakistan, 82, 83, 86

  Pentagon Papers compared with, xvi

  on poppy production/trade, 135, 136, 137, 138–139, 140, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262

  request for transcripts and audio recordings, xiv

  on Rumsfeld, 106

  by soldiers serving more than one combat tour, 148

  on suicide attacks and roadside bombs, 95

  on treating Taliban the same as al-Qaeda, 26

  views by U.S. officials in, xiv–xvi

  on war strategy, 105, 108, 110, 152, 230

  Liddell, Jason, 154

  life expectancy statistics, 204, 227–228

  literacy, 31, 57, 65, 219

  Little, Matthew, 63–64

  Losano, Raymond, 79

  Lovell, Kevin, 63

  Lovett, Daniel, 70

  loya jirga, 36, 50–51

  Lute, Douglas, xv–xvi, 52, 57, 110, 112, 159, 160, 220, 255

  Mann, Scott, 225

  Mansager, Tucker, 45, 53, 54

  Marines. See U.S. Marines

  Marja, Afghanistan, 155, 207, 257

  Marquez, Geraldine, 91

  Marsden, David, 159

  Marshall Plan, 30

  Martin, John, 207–208

  Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), 247

  Matakaiongo, David, 217

  Mattis, James, 242–244, 245, 250, 266

  Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, 10, 27, 39, 50, 118, 120, 121, 217

  McCaffrey, Barry, 85–86, 97–98

  McCain, John, 155, 271

  McChrystal, Stanley, 146, 149–150, 151–152, 153–154, 155–156, 184, 218

  McKenna, Andrew, 232

  McKiernan, David, 113–114, 145, 146–147

 

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