Page 333:… would be a “disaster”: Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), p. 343.
Page 333:… Gates is the man Woodward talks to last: Transcript of CNN Newsroom, September 24, 2010.
Page 333: “A journalist did in one day” : Author interview with NATO official.
Page 333: Gates will bemoan: Department of Defense news transcript, Remarks by Secretary Gates, General Casey, and General McChrystal at Fort McNair, Washington, DC, July 23, 2010.
Page 334: . . . “the lightbulb went on”: Peter Baker, “For Obama, Steep Learning Curve as Chief of War,” The New York Times, August 28, 2010.
Page 334: One paper in the report provided to me: Draft paper obtained by author.
Page 334: He’s finishing up his DoD bucket list: Jim Garamone, “Gates Visits Littoral Combat Ship USS Independence,” American Forces Press Service, May 7, 2011.
Page 334: In December, he visits Afghanistan: James Kitfield, “Robert Gates, David Petraeus: Partners in War,” National Journal, December 9, 2010.
Page 335: “I’m actually the guy that signs the orders and sends you over here”: Ibid.
Page 335:… violence is at its worst: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 335: Secretary of War: Noah Shachtman, “Take Back the Pentagon,” Wired, October 2009.
Page 335:… “should have their head examined”: Remarks delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, West Point, NY, Friday, February 25, 2011.
CHAPTER 45. ONCE UPON A TIME IN KANDAHAR
Page 336: The motel in Kandahar was like a foreign language version of a Days Inn: Author’s notes, Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 337:… four billion dollars of opium a year: G. Peters, Seeds of Terror: How Heroin Is Bankrolling (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2009), pp. 11, 319.
Page 337: AWK was also on the CIA’s payroll: Dexter Filkins, Mark Mazzetti, and James Risen, “Brother of Afghan Leader Said to Be Paid by C.I.A.,” The New York Times, October 27, 2009.
Page 337:… “was really nervous, he thought he was going to get arrested”: Author interview with General Michael Flynn, ISAF Headquarters, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 30, 2011.
Page 338:… from eighteen districts to more than sixty: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 338:… “unscramble the egg”: Ibid.
Page 339: “It’s safe”: Author notes, Kabul, Afghanistan, December 2010.
CHAPTER 46. KING DAVID’S WAR
Page 344:… asks more questions: Author interview with senior military official, February 2011.
Page 344:… “makes him almost giggly”: Ibid.
Page 345: “If you say the wrong thing”: Ibid.
Page 345: “He brings up Iraq”: Author interview with Afghan official, Kabul, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 345:… “twenty-one times in fifteen minutes”: Author interview with senior U.S. administration official, Kabul, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 345: Petraeus was born in Cornwall, New York: Alexa James, “Gen. Petraeus Pays Visit to His Old High School in Cornwall,” Times Herald-Record, September 9, 2009.
Page 346:… “looked more concerned” : D. McGregor, Warrior’s Rage: The Great Tank Battle of ’73 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2009), p. 21.
Page 346:… senior advisor : L. Robinson, “How Afghanistan Ends,” Small Wars Journal, December 2, 2010.
Page 346: “Can you believe it took us thirty years to get our Combat Infantry Badges?”: Author interview with military official.
Page 347: Without Eaton’s permission… Petraeus sends his men in to move all of Eaton’s stuff : Ibid.
Page 347:… earned him the nickname General Betray-Us: Author interview with military officials.
Page 348: Petraeus writes an op-ed for The Washington Post: David Petraeus, “Battling for Iraq,” The Washington Post, September 26, 2004.
Page 348:… more than twenty thousand troops: President George W. Bush’s Address to the Nation, White House, January 10, 2007.
Page 348: A full-page advertisement in The New York Times calling him General Betray-Us: Clark Hoyt, “Betraying Its Own Best Interests,” The New York Times, September 23, 2007.
Page 349:… “the face of the war in Iraq” : Interview with a military official, Washington, DC, January 2011.
Page 349: PETRAEUS’S MIRACLE : David Ignatius, “Petraeus’s Miracle,” The Washington Post, September 17, 2008.
Page 349:… “near miracle worker” : John Berry and Evan Thomas, “Obama’s Vietnam,” Newsweek, February 9, 2009.
Page 349:… up to $825 on eBay: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 349:… seven thousand pizzas: Eileen O. Daday, “Soldiers to Get ‘a Slice of Home’ for Super Bowl,” Chicago Daily Herald, January 31, 2011.
CHAPTER 47. TOURISM, NOT TERRORISM
Page 350: “In November and October, I didn’t leave my house”: Author notes.
Page 350: . . . at least one high-level assassination: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 351: The Taliban admitted that the NATO offensive: Ibid.
Page 351: Sources in the Taliban told me that many insurgents had just left: Ibid.
Page 351: “This has been the worst year”: Author interview with Ghulam Hayder Hamidi, Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 352: “There’s talk of transition”: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 352: “Gul Agha Sherzai, why are you not writing that he is corrupt?”: Author interview with Ghulam Hayder Hamidi, Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 352: “People involved in drugs and drug dealing”: Author interview with Hajji Agha Lalai, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 352: . . . “hasn’t lost their power”: Author interview with Ghulam Hayder Hamidi, Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 353: “Better? I didn’t say better”: Author interview with Ahmad Berkazai, Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 2010.
CHAPTER 48. PETRAEUS DOES BODY COUNTS
Page 354: In late October, Petraeus meets with President Karzai: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “As U.S. Assesses Mission, Karzai Is a Question Mark,” The Washington Post, December 13, 2010.
Page 354: “The time has come”: Excerpts from Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s interview with The Washington Post, November 14, 2011.
Page 355: “Karzai pushes, he pushes back”: Author interview with White House official.
Page 355: Karzai refuses to go on the plane with him: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 355: In February, there’s a civilian casualty incident: Joshua Partlow, “Petraeus’s Comments on Coalition Attack Reportedly Offend Karzai Government,” The Washington Post, February 22, 2011.
Page 355: NATO pushes back: Joshua Partlow and Habib Zahori, “Afghan Officials Allege That 65 Civilians Were Killed in U.S. Military Operation,” The Washington Post, February 20, 2011.
Page 355: “I was dizzy”: Joshua Partlow, “Petraeus’s Comments on Coalition Attack Reportedly Offend Karzai Government,” The Washington Post, February 22, 2011.
Page 356: Petraeus says it’s not a “sure thing”: Kate McCarty, “Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not ‘Sure’ Victory in Afghanistan by 2014,” ABC News, December 6, 2010.
Page 356: He drastically ups the number of airstrikes: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 356: He… triples the number of night raids: Ibid.
Page 357: Petraeus signs off on the total leveling: Tom Ricks, “Travels with Paula (I): A Time to Build,” Foreign Policy’s The Best Defense blog, January 13, 2011.
Page 357: “Taliban infested”: Ibid.
Page 357:… “fit of theatrics”: Ibid.
Page 358:… a for
mer U.S. ambassador came just short: Joshua Miller, “Former Top Diplomat Says Eikenberry Must Go,” ABC News, December 5, 2010.
Page 358: “Since when did a diplomat”: Jonathan Alter and Christopher Dickey, “Richard Holbrooke’s Lonely Mission: The Late Diplomat Never Lost His Passion for Peacemaking, But It Turned Out That Some of His Toughest Adversaries Were on His Own Side,” Newsweek, January 24, 2011.
Page 358: On December 16, President Obama gives a speech: Statement by President Barack Obama on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Annual Review, White House, December 16, 2010.
Page 358: We aren’t “nation-building”: Ibid.
Page 358: . . . “a graceful exit”: Dexter Filkins, “Petraeus Opposes a Rapid Pullout in Afghanistan,” The New York Times, August 15, 2010.
Page 358:… “criminal oligarchy of politically connected businessman”: International Crisis Group Report, The Insurgency in Afghanistan’s Heartland, June 27, 2011, p. 1.
Page 359: Petraeus explains that violence: Matthew Green, interview transcript: “Gen. David Petraeus,” Financial Times, February 7, 2011.
CHAPTER 49. THE NEW AFGHANISTAN
Page 360: “The Americans built this road”: Author notes, December 9, 2010.
Page 360: An American spy balloon: Ibid.
Page 361: “General Petraeus and I have very similar opinions”: Author interview with Abdul Razzik, Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, December 9, 2010.
Page 361: “We don’t take prisoners”: Ibid.
Page 362: “How can we have peace talks: Ibid.
Page 362: . . . “just a three-star” : Ibid.
Page 362: In 1995, his uncle was killed: Ibid.
Page 362: “Iran and Pakistan are our enemies”: Ibid.
Page 363: In 2002, he was named chief of the border police: Ibid.
Page 363: “People began to say he was here to kill”: Anand Gopal, New America Foundation Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative Policy Paper, The Battle for Afghanistan: Militancy and Conflict in Kandahar, November 2010.
Page 363: Razzik’s men stopped sixteen civilians: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 363: Razzik was briefly suspended: Ibid.
Page 363: “In Afghanistan an ordinary person”: Human Rights Watch, “NATO/Afghanistan: Abusive Partners Undermine Transition Plan,” November 18, 2010.
Page 364: On February 4, 2010: Wikileaks State Department cable, “New Civ-Mil Effort to Influence Behavior of Criminal and Corrupt Afghan Officials,” February 17, 2010.
Page 364–365: “Americans are always choosing stupid friends here”: Author interview with Izzatullah Wasifi, Kabul, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 365: Ambassador Eikenberry posed for a photo op: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 365: In August, Razzik received even more funding: Ibid.
Page 365: “Sometimes I travel in the American helicopters”: Author interview with Abdul Razzik, Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, December 9, 2010.
Page 365: “On one side, you have State, DEA, FBI”: Author interview with U.S. official, Kabul, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 365: A condition in the supplemental bill passed last year: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 365:… a journalist for The Atlantic: M. Aikins, “Our Man in Kandahar,” The Atlantic, November 2011.
Page 366: Another State Department cable suggested: Wikileaks State Department cable, “Kandahar: Corruption Reforms by the Master of Spin?” February 17, 2010.
Page 366:… like “Robin Hood”: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “The Afghan Robin Hood,” The Washington Post, October 4, 2010.
Page 366: “Afghan good enough”: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 366:… “folk hero” : Yaroslav Trofimov and Matthew Rosenberg, “In Afghanistan, U.S. Turns ‘Malignant Actor’ Into Ally,” The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2011.
Page 366: “The difference between Abdul Razzik”: Author interview with Afghan contractor, Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 366: “It’s a democracy”: Author interview with Abdul Razzik, Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, December 9, 2010.
Page 367:… “small but capable Afghan army”: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,” Rolling Stone, February 2, 2011.
Page 367: “The world promised us”: Author interview with Ahmad Berkazai, Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 2010.
Page 367: “That’s an old British castle”: Author interview with Abdul Razzik, Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, December 9, 2010.
CHAPTER 50. JOE BIDEN IS RIGHT
Page 368: On December 10, 2010, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke walks into: Jonathan Alter and Christoper Dickey, “Richard Holbrooke’s Lonely Mission: The Late Diplomat Never Lost His Passion for Peacemaking, But It Turned Out That Some of His Toughest Adversaries Were on His Own Side,” Newsweek, January 24, 2011.
Page 370:… “strangling” the position that Holbrooke held: Author interview with State Department official, February 2011.
Page 370: “It’s a little uncomfortable with those two”: Ibid.
Page 370: “He could tell they were going to try”: Ibid.
Page 370: “Why do they need a well?”: Mark Landler, “Obama’s Growing Trust in Biden Is Reflected in His Call on Troops,” The New York Times, June 25, 2011.
Page 371: They help to rehabilitate Stanley McChrystal’s image: Thom Shanker, “McChrystal to Lead Program for Military Families,” The New York Times, April 10, 2011.
Page 371: There is a controversy when a screening of a documentary: Esther Zuckerman, “Yale Dems Pull Support for War Documentary,” Yale Daily News, September 2, 2010.
Page 371: He starts up a consulting company: Katherine Skiba, “Ex-General Joins First Lady’s Effort to Assist Troops: Stanley McChrystal Will Be an Unpaid Advisor to Her New National Campaign,” Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2011.
Page 371: He signs up with a speaker’s bureau: PR Newswire, “General Stanley McChrystal Signs With Leading Authorities, Inc., for Exclusive Lecture Representation,” August 18, 2010.
Page 371: $60,000 a speaking engagement: Ben Smith, “McChrystal’s Fee,” Politico, August 30, 2010.
Page 371: He gets a slot on the board of JetBlue: PR Newswire, “JetBlue Airways Names General Stanley McChrystal to Its Board of Directors,” November 9, 2010.
Page 371: He allows another profile: Emily Foxhall, “Professor McChrystal,” Yale Daily News, January 18, 2011.
Page 371: In February, he gives a speech with Greg Mortenson: “McChrystal, Mortenson Talk Leadership,” Yale Daily News, February 17, 2011.
Page 371: In March, he gives another speech: “Listen, Learn… Then Lead: Stanley McChrystal on TED.com,” TED2011, March 2011.
Page 371: On April 8, the Defense Department investigation: Memorandum for the Inspector General, Department of the Army Subject; Review of Army Inspector General Agency Report of Investigation (Case 10-024), stamped April 8, 2011.
Page 372: “In some instances”: Ibid., p. 2.
Page 372:… the “bite me” response: Ibid., p. 3.
Page 372: Witnesses deny: Ibid., p. 4.
Page 372:… “it would not have been a failure”: Ibid., pp. 1–2.
Page 372:… “witnesses testified the comment”: Ibid., p. 4.
Page 372: The report found “insufficient evidence”: Ibid.
Page 372: “Our analysis of witness testimony”: Ibid., pp. 4–5.
Page 372: Two days after the report is finished: Thom Shanker, “McChrystal to Lead Program for Military Families,” The New York Times, April 10, 2011.
Page 372: “It’s a slap in the face”: “Army Mom Takes on White House; Wants General Removed from Post,” ABC News, April 14, 2011.
Page 373:… give off-the-record interviews: Steve Clemons, “Biden’s Burden: Last One Standing in Afghanistan Policy Wars,” Atlantic.com, July 21,
2011.
Page 373: “a little better than 50 percent” done: Federal News Service, Council on Foreign Relations HBO History Makers Series Speaker: Stanley McChrystal, New York, NY, October 6, 2011.
Page 373: General Michael Flynn takes a job in intelligence analysis: Kimberly Dozier, “Officer Who Vowed to Fix Intel Now Troubleshooter,” Associated Press, October 7, 2011.
The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan Page 40