The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan
Page 39
Page 267: Caldwell is a three-star general from a military family: Gregg K. Kalesako, “Caldwells and Army Go Back a Long Way,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 9, 2001.
Page 268:… “a nice guy”: Author interview with a military official, Washington, DC, February 2011.
Page 268:… “can really finance its own reconstruction”: Transcript of House Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense Hearing on FY 2004 Defense Appropriations, March 27, 2003.
Page 268:… he holds meetings with top columnists: Julie Bosman, “Secret Meeting Included Journalists,” The New York Times, October 9, 2006.
Page 268: “The lessons I’ve learned by just watching [Wolfowitz]”: American Forces Press Service, July 22, 2003.
Page 268: . . . commanders on the ground in Iraq tell Caldwell Iraq is in a “civil war”: Author interview with senior military official, February 2011.
Page 268: . . . says that the United States had no role in the execution: Press conference attended by author in Baghdad, Iraq, January 3, 2007.
Page 268: He renames press briefings “media roundtables”: Scott Johnson with Michael Hastings, “We’re Losing the Infowars,” Newsweek, January 14, 2007.
Page 269: . . . “information engagement”: Department of Defense Bloggers Roundtable with Lieutenant General William Caldwell, Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, February 26, 2008.
Page 269: In 2009, he also tried to rewrite: Michael Hastings, “Another Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, February 2010.
Page 269: “It eliminated the [media] gate keeper”: “Iraq Social Media Experience Sparks Training for Leaders,” U.S. Department of Defense, American Forces Press Service, July 30, 2009.
Page 269: “A You-who?” he asks the staffer who brings up the idea: Ibid.
Page 269: . . . “was in the top 10 of all YouTube sites”: Ibid.
Page 269: “Public affairs is there to inform”: Department of Defense Bloggers Roundtable with Lieutenant General William Caldwell, Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, February 26, 2008.
Page 270:… “just wasn’t working”: “Fixing the Unfixable,” The Economist, August 19, 2010.
Page 270: Only 20 percent of new recruits can read: Transcript of Lieutenant General William Caldwell, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan Commanding General, News Briefing, August 23, 2010.
Page 270: One out of four deserts: Gareth Porter, “Afghan Army Turnover Rate Threatens U.S. Plans,” IPS, November 24, 2009.
Page 270: It isn’t until January 2011: Rod Norland, “Afghans Plan to Stop Recruiting Children as Police,” The New York Times, January 29, 2011.
Page 270: . . . estimates that 54 percent of the Afghan army and police smoke hash regularly: “Afghan Army’s Hashish-Smoking Troops,” The Huffington Post, December 22, 2009.
Page 270: . . . at least 60 percent of police in Helmand province were users: Robert M. Perito, “United States Institute of Peace Special Report on Afghan Police,” August 2009.
Page 270: Almost every twelve days there is a murder: “A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility: A Red Team Study of Mutual Perceptions of Afghan National Security Force Personnel and U.S. Soldiers in Understanding and Mitigating the Phenomena of ANSF-Committed Fratricide Murders,” May 12, 2011, p. 4.
Page 270: In one five-and-a-half-month period: Ibid.
Page 270:… at least fifty-eight NATO soldiers have been killed: Ibid.
Page 270:… leaked to The Wall Street Journal: Dion Nissenbaum, “Report Sees Danger in Local Allies,” The Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2011.
Page 270–271: . . . a list of complaints about the Afghan soldiers: “A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility: A Red Team Study of Mutual Perceptions of Afghan National Security Force Personnel and U.S. Soldiers in Understanding and Mitigating the Phenomena of ANSF-Committed Fratricide Murders,” May 12, 2011, p. 3.
Page 271: The Afghan soldiers have a list of complaints: A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility: A Red Team Study of Mutual Perceptions of Afghan National Security Force Personnel and U.S. Soldiers in Understanding and Mitigating the Phenomena of ANSF-Committed Fratricide Murders, May 12, 2011, pp. 3 and 36.
Page 273: NATO has already spent more than $30 billion training the Afghan security forces: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Quarterly Report to Congress, April 30, 2011, p. 53.
Page 274:… “take the lead”: Transcript of Lieutenant General William Caldwell, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan Commanding General, Defense Department News Briefing Via Teleconference, September 26, 2011.
Page 274: “You can’t expect a soldier to account for his weapon”: Michael Evans, “Local Recruits Vanish,” The Australian, August 25, 2010.
Page 274:… “educate an entire generation of Afghans”: Transcript of Lieutenant General William Caldwell, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan Commanding General, News Briefing, August 23, 2010.
Page 274:… (nine hundred short): Transcript of Lieutenant General William Caldwell, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan Commanding General Teleconference from Afghanistan, November 9, 2010.
Page 274:… (he needs to add seventy thousand more): Michael Hastings, “Another Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, February 2010.
Page 274:… $2 billion extra: Michael Hastings, “Another Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, February 2010.
Page 274:… billions: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Quarterly Report to Congress, April 30, 2011, p. 53.
Page 274: . . . to increase the forces by 56,000: Transcript of Lieutenant General William Caldwell, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan Commanding General, News Briefing, August 23, 2010.
Page 274: . . . he’ll assign a team: Michael Hastings, “Another Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, February 2010.
CHAPTER 38. IN THE ARENA
Page 276: Duncan’s office was on the second floor: Author notes, April–May 2010.
Page 278: “like Apollo 13, heading out to the moon, with a bloody great hole”: Author interview with Sir Graeme Lamb, May 2010.
Page 281: “You don’t mind if I eat this apple, do you?”: Author interview with General Michael Flynn.
CHAPTER 39. “I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WE WERE FIGHTING THERE”
Page 284: Karzai is staying at the Willard InterContinental Hotel: Author notes, May 2010.
Page 284: …“long-term partner”: Remarks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a moderated conversation, U.S. Institute of Peace, May 13, 2010.
Page 284: …“friend”: Remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at reception in honor of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, State Department, May 11, 2010.
Page 286: He’d come into the U.S. embassy: Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope (New York: Random House, 2006), p. 352.
Page 287: . . . he didn’t become president to have “civilian casualties”: White House Office of the Press Secretary, Remarks by President Obama and President Karzai of Afghanistan in Joint Press Availability, May 12, 2010.
Page 287: . . . as a writer from Harper’s Magazine: David Samuels, “Barack and Hamid’s Excellent Adventure,” Harper’s Magazine, August 2010.
Page 289: . . . “hit every talking point they had given him”: Author notes from W Hotel, May 12, 2010.
CHAPTER 40. THE CONCLUDING CONVERSATIONS WITH DUNCAN BOOTHBY, GENERAL PETRAEUS FACE-PLANTS IN CONGRESS, AND THE STORY BREAKS WHILE I WATCH AMERICAN HELICOPTER PILOTS KILL INSURGENTS
Page 291: I’d spent the week in Washington: Author notes, May 2010.
Page 294: Jerome Starkey, a reporter for The Times of London: Author interview with Jerome Starkey.
Page 295: “No one wants to be sitting there
with a full bladder”: Author interview with senior military official, February 2011.
Page 295: “Do you believe that we will begin a drawdown?”: Senate testimony of Senator John McCain, June 15, 2010.
Page 297: The Kiowas were small, two-seat scout helicopters: Author notes, June 2010.
Page 299: “Michael, read your story”: Author e-mail from Duncan Boothby.
Page 302: Irving, a father of two, thirty-four years old: Author interview with Captain Stephen Irving, June 2010.
CHAPTER 41. “VERY, VERY BAD”
Page 313: At two thirty A.M. on June 22, 2010, a close aide to General Stanley McChrystal: Karen DeYoung and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Gen. McChrystal Allies, Rolling Stone Disagree over Article’s Ground Rules,” The Washington Post, June 26, 2010.
Page 313: “It’s very, very bad”: Ibid.
Page 313: He did have that fucking tape recorder running all the time: Author interview with U.S. officials, June 2010.
Page 314: Holbrooke’s phone rings: Author interview with senior State Department officials, November 2010.
Page 314:… his helicopter had been fired upon: Miguel Marquez, “Taliban Attack Ambassador Richard Holbrooke’s Plane in Marja,” ABC News, June 21, 2010.
Page 314: They can’t read it on their BlackBerrys, so he prints out copies: Mike Allen, “The Tick-Tock: How President Obama Took Command of the McChrystal Situation,” Politico, June 24, 2010.
Page 315: “Joe Biden called me”: Jann S.Wenner, “Obama in Command: The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone, September 28, 2010.
Page 315: Obama spends five minutes on the phone: Author interview with U.S. officials, January 2011.
Page 315: You’ve done enough damage: Author interview with Pentagon and State Department officials, June 2010.
Page 315: Another U.S. State Department official asks the Flynns: Author interview with U.S. State Department official, June 2010.
Page 315: “I extend my sincerest apology for this profile”: Noah Shachtman, “McChrystal Apologizes for Incendiary Article,” Danger Room blog, Wired.com, June 21, 2010.
Page 316: Holbrooke has dinner with Eikenberry that night at the embassy: Author interview with UN and U.S. officials, February 2011.
Page 316: Biden will consult with six four-star generals: Transcript of This Week, ABC News, July 11, 2010.
Page 316–317: He offers his resignation—McChrystal accepts: “Top Aide to General McChrystal Resigns,” Reuters, June 22, 2010.
Page 317: Filkins tells Charlie Rose: Transcript of “A Look at Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Afghanistan,” The Charlie Rose Show, June 23, 2010.
Page 317:“To what extent can we change the way we behave in such a way that this sort of thing doesn’t happen again?”: Transcript of John Burns, the New York Times London bureau chief, PBS News Hour, July 8, 2010.
Page 317:… “will impact so adversely”: Transcript of John Burns speaking about the McChrystal/Petraeus change in Afghanistan, The Hugh Hewitt Show, July 6, 2010.
Page 317: On Fox News, Geraldo Rivera takes the same tack: Colby Hall, “Geraldo Rivera Likens Rolling Stone Writer to Al Qaeda. Seriously,” Mediaite, June 25, 2010.
Page 317: “Michael Hastings never served his country”: Transcript of interview with Lara Logan, Reliable Sources, CNN, June 27, 2010.
Page 317: In Washington, Bob Gates calls National Security advisor Jim Jones: Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), pp. 371–372.
Page 317: One is from Greg Mortenson: Elisabeth Bumiller, “Unlikely Tutor Giving Military Afghan Advice,” The New York Times, July 17, 2010.
Page 318: “Have you already submitted your resignation?”: Mike Allen, “The Tick-Tock: How President Obama Took Command of the McChrystal Situation,” Politico, June 24, 2010.
Page 318: They do not see remorse in that clip: Ibid.
Page 318: Geoff Morrell, viewed as particularly untrustworthy: Author interview with White House officials, November 2010.
Page 319: “You’ve done a good job, but—”: Author interview with U.S. officials, November 2010.
Page 319: Petraeus is waiting down in the White House basement: John Barry, “Petraeus’s Next Battle,” Newsweek, July 17, 2011.
Page 320: It was like the Baghdad job: Thomas Ricks, The Gamble (New York: Penguin, 2006), p. 127.
Page 320: “Before we announce this,” Petraeus tells the president: Author interviews with White House and military officials, January 2011.
Page 320: “Today I accepted General Stanley McChrystal’s resignation”: White House Office of the Press Secretary, Statement by the President in the Rose Garden, June 23, 2010.
Page 321: “It was incredible seeing Obama like that”: Author interview with senior U.S. official, January 2011.
Page 321: “We have a lot of kids on the ground”: Peter Baker, “For Obama, Steep Learning Curve as Chief in War,” The New York Times, August 28, 2010.
Page 321:… “design and lead our new strategy”: White House Office of the Press Secretary, Statement by the President in the Rose Garden, June 23, 2010.
Page 322: . . . “head for the exits and turn off the lights”: Jen Dimascio, “Gen. David Petraeus Defends Afghan Exit Date,” Politico, June 30, 2010.
Page 322: “He sounds psyched, looks like a man on a mission”: Author interview with U.S. official, January 2011.
Page 322: It’s Biden, Petraeus’s wife, Holly: Josh Rogin, “Inside the Biden–Petraeus Dinner.” The Cable blog, Foreign Policy online, June 30, 2010. http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/30/inside_the_biden_petraeus_dinner).
Page 322: “I mean, it was clear that I was the only guy”: Mark Bowden, “The Salesman,” The Atlantic, October 2010.
Page 322: Petraeus arrives in Kabul: Laura King, “Petraeus Stresses Unity in First Appearance in Kabul,” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2010.
Page 322:… with tears in their eyes and “heartbroken”: Karen DeYoung and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Gen. McChrystal Allies, Rolling Stone Disagree over Article’s Ground Rules,” The Washington Post, June 26, 2010.
Page 322: Petraeus gives his welcoming address: U.S. Embassy Kabul Public Diplomacy Flickr account, photographs of July 3 Independence Day event.
Page 323: “There is no difference to us between General McChrystal and General Petraeus”: “General David Petraeus Takes Command,” NATOChannel123, YouTube video, July 4, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3bFnBfxTA8.
CHAPTER 42. THE PENTAGON INVESTIGATES MCCHRYSTAL
Page 325: On July 13, I received an e-mail from the army inspector general’s office: Author e-mail.
Page 326:… the “political fallout” of the story: Letter to the author from Colonel Wayne Shanks, July 30, 2010.
Page 327:… for publishing “embarrassing” information: International Security Assistance Force media regulations.
CHAPTER 43. THE MEDIA-MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Page 328: I walked into Café Milano in Georgetown: Author notes, October 2010.
CHAPTER 44. I’D RATHER BE EATING A BURGER
Page 331: Lately, Gates has been silently resisting, dragging his feet at these visits: Author interview with Pentagon officials, March 2011.
Page 332: Tired of Washington, mainly: Noah Shachtman, “Take Back the Pentagon,” Wired, October 2009.
Page 332: He’s living alone in Washington, in a military-supplied house: John Barry and Evan Thomas, “A War Within,” Newsweek, September 20, 2010.
Page 332: He relaxes drinking Belvedere martinis and smoking cigars: Noah Shachtman, “Take Back the Pentagon,” Wired, October 2009.
Page 332: The jokes are sometimes so bad: Greg Jaffe, “Defense Secretary Robert Gates Leaves ’Em Laughing—as His Staff Cringes,” The Washington Post, September 18, 2010.
Page 332: His joke about DC: Gordon Lubold, “Afghanistan War Decision: How Robert Gates Thinks,” The Christian Science Monitor, November 8, 2009.
Page 333: Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia:
Ibid.
Page 333: WANTED: ROBERT GATES: Bob Gates, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996).
Page 333:… “brass creep,” he calls it: John Barry and Evan Thomas, “A War Within,” Newsweek, September 20, 2010.
Page 333:… what he did as a Soviet analyst: Ibid.