“I would not like to be in President Obama's position in making choices on Afghanistan.” ChoicesPresidentPositionAfghanistanPresident ObamaMaking Choices Author:Mark Danner
“One is the goals of 9/11 itself, of that attack was to draw the United States into Afghanistan to fight a counterinsurgency as the Soviets had done before them.” StatesDoneFightingGoalUnitedUnited StatesDrawsAfghanistanCounterinsurgency Author:Mark Danner
“I think that the first point to be made is there is no "solution" in Afghanistan. Solution I put in quotes. We live in an op-ed culture, which is to say, you always need to have a solution. The last third of that op-ed piece needs to say, "Do this, this, this and this." There is no this, this, this, and this, that will make Afghanistan right.” ThinkingNeedsFirstsMadeLastsCulturePiecesSolutionsThirdsAfghanistan Author:Mark Danner
“think that the external situation has also changed somewhat. The reduction of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan has, in a sense, reduced how inflamed the situation on the Pakistani border regions was and is.” ThinkingForceSituationChangedBordersRegionsAfghanistanReductionNato Author:Mohsin Hamid
“OK, so $1 trillion is what it costs to run the federal government for one year. So this money's going to run through September of 2016. Half of the trillion dollars goes to defense spending and the Pentagon. The other half goes to domestic spending - everything from prisons to parks. So there's also about 74 billion in there that goes to the military operations that we have ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria.” YearsGovernmentRunningHalfMilitaryCostDollarsPrisonIraqSpendingDefenseBillionsOperationsParksAfghanistanSeptemberSyriaFederal GovernmentOngoingOther HalfPentagonMilitary OperationsDefense Spending Author:Susan Davis
“It is clear that several countries, in the Balkans for example, need to be considered countries of safe origin. But others like, in my opinion, Eritrea, undoubtedly need to be considered a country of origin with a valid claim to asylum. And with a third group of states, like Nigeria for example, each individual case needs to be evaluated. Then there are also very controversial cases like Afghanistan. In any case, united European action is needed. This argument for Europeanization may sound utopian, but there is no alternative.” NeedsMayCountryStatesActionIndividualSoundUnitedOpinionCasesClearGroupsExampleNeededSafeArgumentThirdsClaimsAlternativesAfghanistanControversialNigeriaUtopianAsylumsBalkansEritrea Author:Paolo Gentiloni
“We have a strong military deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. In countries like Syria, we need a diplomatic breakthrough to end the war. In Libya, the country must first of all be stabilized to stop IS. This means supporting the Libyan government, including in terms of security. We don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past in that country. The situation is extremely dangerous and the next days could be decisive.” WantNeedsFirstsMeanWarEndsCountryGovernmentPastNextStrongTermMistakeSituationSecurityMilitaryDangerousIncludingIraqRepeatsAfghanistanSyriaNext DayBreakthroughDiplomaticLibyaDeployment Author:Paolo Gentiloni
“The president [Barack Obama] decided to leave more troops than he had originally planned in Afghanistan. We have a very cooperative government there, with Ashraf Ghani and his top - his top partner, Abdullah. And they are doing their very best. And the Afghan army is actually fighting. The Afghan army is taking heavy losses defending Afghan territory.” GovernmentFightingPresidentLossDecidedArmyHeavyPartnersBarackTerritoryAfghanistanTroopsPresident Barack ObamaCooperativesAfghan Author:Hillary Clinton
“We believe that introducing surface-to-air missiles in Syria is going to change the balance of power on the ground. It will allow the moderate opposition to be able to neutralize the helicopters and aircraft that are dropping chemicals and have been carpet-bombing them, just like surface-to-air missiles in Afghanistan were able to change the balance of power there.” BelieveHas BeensAbleAirBalanceSurfaceOppositionChemicalsAfghanistanIntroducingSyriaCarpetModeratesDroppingMissilesBombingAircraftHelicoptersBalance Of Power Author:Adel al-Jubeir
“After the revolution of 1979, Iran embarked on a policy of sectarianism. Iran began a policy of expanding its revolution, of interfering with the affairs of its neighbors, a policy of assassinating diplomats and of attacking embassies. Iran is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in the Kingdom, it is responsible for smuggling explosives and drugs into Saudi Arabia. And Iran is responsible for setting up sectarian militias in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen, whose objective is to destabilize those countries.” CountryNumbersPolicyRevolutionDrugResponsibleAffairIraqNeighborTerroristSettingKingdomsObjectivesSettingsIranAfghanistanInterferePakistanExpandingAttackingArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisExplosivesDiplomatsMilitiaTerrorist AttacksSectarianismEmbassyYemenSmuggling Author:Adel al-Jubeir
“I mean, you can agree or disagree with Iraq or Afghanistan, but by the way, now the great campaigning cause out there is the absence of intervention in Syria. And then in Libya, it's partial intervention. And that doesn't really explain why some countries that have literally nothing to do with the interventions in the Middle East end up getting targeted.” WayMeanEndsCountryCausesMiddleAgreeIraqEastAbsenceDisagreeAfghanistanMiddle EastSyriaInterventionLibyaCampaigning Author:Tony Blair
“Ironically, many of these people, including Osama bin Laden and the mujahedeen, were, in fact, nourished by the United States in the early eighties in its efforts to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan.” PeopleStatesFactsUnitedEffortUnited StatesIncludingAfghanistanEightyBin LadenOsama Bin Laden Author:Edward Said
“As a critic, I try to stay neutral about movies before I see them, but I really wanted "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" to be great. It's based on a barbed memoir by Kim Barker called "The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days In Afghanistan And Pakistan." And its stars Tina Fey, out of her comfort zone, just as Barker was a fish out of water when, in 2004, she began covering the Afghanistan occupation for the Chicago Tribune.” TryingWantedStarsWaterStrangeComfortCriticsFishesMemoirZoneOccupationChicagoAfghanistanComfort ZonePakistanCoveringWhiskeyTalibanKimTangoShuffleFeyStrange Days Author:David Edelstein
“The movie's only serious criticism is reserved for Baker's television network, which doesn't think Americans care about Afghanistan - kind of hypocritical given this film's lack of substance.” ThinkingKindCareFilmGivenTelevisionSeriousCriticismSubstanceAfghanistanReservedBakersHypocritical Author:David Edelstein
“It's hard for comic actors used to pulling faces just to be on screen, but Tina Fey does a good job. I liked watching her. The part, though, isn't filled in. When Baker announces that she's gotten too used to the madness of Afghanistan, that she's worried she's thinking of it as normal, the sentiment comes out of nowhere. The dramatic arc in "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" is nonexistent. The movie evaporates in the mind like water in the Afghan desert.” ThinkingMindDoeHardJobsFacesUsedActorsWaterNormalMadnessFilledScreensComicDesertWorriedDramaticSentimentsAfghanistanPullingGood JobWhiskeyArcsBakersTangoAfghanFeyFilled In Author:David Edelstein
“It's what the Taliban does in Afghanistan, it's what gets done in the Middle East, and it's clearly something that certain mainly conservative groups in the United States would like to do. They miss the good old days, when men were men and women were nothing.” MenDoeStatesDoneCertainUnitedUnited StatesGroupsMiddleMissingMen And WomenConservativeEastAfghanistanMiddle EastOld DaysTalibanGood Old Days Author:Anna Quindlen
“If you look in the Muslim World right now, the Shia, the Sunni Muslims are standing at the brink of a pit of fire started by Western intervention and influence in pitting them against each other by exploiting their divisions. So the stage is set for war in that area of the world that would destroy that area as completely as what they are calling the failed state Libya making Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq failed states.” IfsWorldLooksWarStatesFireInfluenceStageCallingRight NowAreasStandingWesternIraqDivisionAfghanistanSyriaInterventionPitsLibyaMuslim WorldShia Author:Louis Farrakhan
“Iraq broke our back in terms of counterterrorism. There's no doubt about it. The first thing, though, that hurt us was the fact that the U.S. military was absolutely unprepared to do anything on 9/11 - or 9/12 or 9/13. And by the time we actually attacked Afghanistan, al Qaeda and the Taliban had dispersed.” FirstsFactsTermHurtDoubtMilitaryIraqBrokeNo DoubtAlsAfghanistanAl QaedaTalibanUnprepared Author:Michael Scheuer
“The whole importance of Iraq is that we have now created two things. One, Iraq is in the Arab heartland in terms of an attraction for people who want to fight the Americans and their allies. It's far greater than anything Afghanistan was aftertheSoviets invaded. It's easy to get to, there's no trouble with languages.” PeopleWantTwoWholeFightingLanguageEasyTermGreaterTroubleImportanceIraqAttractionTwo ThingsAlliesAfghanistanEasy To Get Author:Michael Scheuer
“One of the problems of not allowing the American people to read what bin Laden has said is that in October 2001 just after the war began in Afghanistan, he gave a speech that had two parts to it.” PeopleSaidTwoWarProblemSpeechAllowingAfghanistanBin LadenOctober Author:Michael Scheuer
“The major problem for America is we're losing two wars. We're losing in Afghanistan, we're losing in Iraq. And there seems very little likelihood that we're going to increase the number of troops we have in either place to the point that we can prevail.” LittlesTwoWarProblemSeemsAmericaNumbersMajorsLosingIncreaseIraqAfghanistanTroopsLikelihoodMajor Problems Author:Michael Scheuer
“The Western world doesn't really give enough credit to the importance in history of the Soviet invasion and the subsequent war in Afghanistan. For us it was a sideshow of the Cold War. For the Islamic world it was an unprovoked infidel invasion of a Muslim country not unlike Iraq.” WorldGivingWarCountryEnoughColdImportanceWesternIraqCreditIslamicAfghanistanSovietCold WarInvasionWestern WorldInfidelSideshows Author:Michael Scheuer
“The best way to get Americans to focus on what's happening in Afghanistan is by using the example of their own.” WayFocusExampleHappeningsBest WayAfghanistan Author:Tim Hetherington
“Liberia is not at the center of a massive geopolitical game. Afghanistan is and has always been. The history is dramatic, the politics are dramatic, the landscape is incredibly dramatic.” GamesLandscapeDramaticMassiveAfghanistanGeopolitical Author:Tim Hetherington
“We are not going to be able to rebuild Afghanistan into a Jeffersonian democracy.” AbleDemocracyAfghanistan Author:Barack Obama
“What we can do is make sure that Afghanistan is not a safe haven for Al Qaeda. What we can do it make sure that it is not destabilizing neighboring Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons. The key is we’ve got to have a clear objective...” Can DoClearHavensKeysSafeWeaponsNuclearObjectivesAlsAfghanistanNuclear WeaponsPakistanSafe Haven Author:Barack Obama
“And there’s been drift in Afghanistan over the last couple of years. That’s something that we intend to fix this.” YearsLastsCoupleAfghanistan Author:Barack Obama
“When you go and you tour Europe, or you go and you tour Egypt, or you go and you tour Iraq, or you go and you tour Afghanistan, or India, or whatever. Governments get to a point where they're illegitimate because people just give up on them as far as being leaders who have their country's interests at heart.” PeopleGivingHeartCountryGovernmentInterestLeaderGiving UpEuropeIndiaIraqAfghanistanEgyptBeing A LeaderJust Give Up Author:Juan Enriquez
“I know my dear brother, President [Barack] Obama, has a bust of Martin King right there in the Oval Office, but the question is are is he going to be true to who that Martin Luther King, Jr., actually is? King was concerned about what? The poor. He was concerned about working people. He was concerned about quality jobs. He was concerned about quality housing. He was concerned about precious babies in Vietnam, the way we ought to be concerned about precious babies in Afghanistan and precious babies in Tel Aviv and precious babies in Gaza.” PeopleKnowsWayJobsPresidentPoorQualityBrotherBabyOughtKingsOfficeConcernedDearBeing TrueBarackAfghanistanVietnamHousingLutherPresident Barack ObamaGazaOvalDear Brother Author:Cornel West
“Afghanistan is just one of those countries that no group can conquer. It's so challenging to live, and the people are so close among their own tribes, their own groups, that you can't rule them all, you can't get an accord from all of them.” PeopleCountryChallengesGroupsConquerJust OneAfghanistanTribesAccord Author:Bill Murray
“By releasing these five top Taliban commanders, the U.S. is demonstrating that it is throwing in the towel in the long struggle against the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan.” LongStruggleFiveAlsAlliesThrowingAfghanistanCommandersAl QaedaTalibanDemonstratingTowelsThrowing In The Towel Author:Jonathan S. Tobin
“Those organisations, al-Qaeda being the first one, have all settled in areas full of mining and oil resources or in geostrategic zones. They settled in Afghanistan which underground is filled with oil and lithium. North Mali is filled with mining resources (uranium). It is essential to question the impact and role of some international players that create or let those organisations settle there.” FirstsRolesPlayerEssentialsResourcesAreasImpactFilledInternationalOilSettlingZoneAlsAfghanistanOrganisationAl QaedaMiningUraniumMaliLithium Author:Tariq Ramadan
“The question about the Salafi is an important question as I say in Arab Awakening, and have often repeated since. I am really underlining the importance of this, because we really don't have very good memories. Remember - the Taliban in Afghanistan were not at all politicised in the beginning. They were just on about education. And then they were pushed by the Saudi and the Americans to be against the Russian colonisation, and as a result they came to be politicised.” ImportantRememberMemoriesResultsImportanceVery GoodAwakeningAfghanistanTalibanSaudisGood MemoriesImportant Questions Author:Tariq Ramadan
“Obviously what I think Senator [John] Kerry was pointing to, which is absolutely correct, which is the essential part of the strategy or a key component or a leg on the stool, is an Afghan partner that is ready to take control of both the security situation in Afghanistan, and the civilian side of that.” ThinkingSidesSituationSecurityReadyKeysEssentialsStrategyLegsPartnersAfghanistanSenatorsComponentsPointingCiviliansJohn KerryTake ControlStoolsAfghan Author:Rahm Emanuel
“I've not been to Afghanistan or - but what people are clearly pointing to is that it becomes more difficult to have it. You could do it. I think weather is a factor. The most important factor though is credibility and legitimacy. What I wanted earlier to say is what I think Senator [John] Kerry is pointing to, which is important, is the strategic review on whether to send more troops is only one piece of the puzzle, important piece.” PeopleThinkingImportantWantedDifficultPiecesWeatherFactorsReviewsAfghanistanTroopsSenatorsPuzzlesPointingCredibilityStrategicOne PieceLegitimacyJohn Kerry Author:Rahm Emanuel
“The Afghan - obviously the parties will decide which course of action. The most important there, get a government that is seen as legitimate to the people and has the credibility to be a partner in the effort to secure Afghanistan so it's not a haven for al Qaeda or other type of terrorists or international terrorist organizations.” PeopleImportantGovernmentActionCoursesPartyEffortHavensTypeOrganizationInternationalPartnersTerroristSecureAlsAfghanistanCredibilityAl QaedaAfghan Author:Rahm Emanuel
“We've been at war for many years in Afghanistan following 9/11. We know that we've got young men and women on the ground now. We've got our blood and treasure at stake there already.” KnowsMenYearsWarYoungBloodMen And WomenFollowingTreasureYoung ManAfghanistanStakes Author:Rahm Emanuel
“At some point, deliberation begins to look more like indecisiveness which then becomes a way of emboldening our enemies and allies and causing our allies to question our resolve. So we shouldn't let one component of this determine our national security here which depends on providing an Afghanistan which denies a safe haven to terrorists as well as stabilizing Pakistan. Those are our two national security interests at stake in Afghanistan.” WayWellsLooksTwoInterestEnemySecurityHavensDependsSafeDetermineDenyTerroristResolveAlliesAfghanistanStakesProvidingNational SecurityPakistanComponentsDeliberationSafe HavenIndecisiveness Author:Rahm Emanuel
“The problem is, you have to look at Afghanistan also in a global context where we've canceled basically our missile defense system undercutting the Czech Republic in Poland. We've I think not dealt with Iran with the kind of resolve that would show that we understand the nature of that threat.” ThinkingLooksKindShowsProblemThreatDefenseIranResolveRepublicAfghanistanMissilesPolandCzechCzech RepublicMissile Defense Author:Rahm Emanuel
“We need to deal with the problem of al Qaeda, make sure that they can't have a sanctuary in Afghanistan and guarantee that we have regional stabilization and particularly focused on Pakistan.” NeedsProblemDealsFocusedGuaranteesAlsAfghanistanPakistanSanctuaryAl QaedaGuarantees That Author:Rahm Emanuel
“And the last thing that I want to see us do is ask more and more of our troops [in Afghanistan ] without guaranteeing that we're providing more and more of what's necessary to make the mission successful.” WantLastsAsksSuccessfulMissionsAfghanistanProvidingTroopsOur TroopsTroops In Afghanistan Author:Rahm Emanuel
“I think indeed our response on counterinsurgency needs to be finely tuned to the needs of Afghanistan. This is not Iraq. We don't have a Sons of Iraq here. We don't have the same divisions here that we had between Sunni and Shia.” ThinkingNeedsSonResponseIraqDivisionAfghanistanShiaCounterinsurgency Author:Rahm Emanuel
“Counting the numbers of troops is not going to define our success here.There is no military success, ultimately, to Afghanistan. The Afghans themselves are going to define what happens here. And we have to convince ourselves that we have a strategy in place that empowers them to do that and that is realistic in what our expectations are from them and on what schedule.” HappensNumbersMilitaryExpectationsStrategyEmpoweringConvinceRealisticAfghanistanTroopsSchedulesCounting Author:Rahm Emanuel
“The chaotic situation in Libya is definitely creating a threat. Libya now connects the jihadists in Africa with those in the Middle East and in Afghanistan. This could have been avoided.” Has BeensSituationMiddleCreatingThreatEastAfghanistanMiddle EastCould Have BeenAvoidedChaoticLibya Author:Yoweri Museveni
“The Islamists had control over territory that was about half the size of the Federal Republic of Germany. For years, we have been putting the lives of our troops on the line, we have taken huge losses and the Europeans cut the budget? If money is more important than the lives of our children, what else is this than the usual arrogance and superficiality? And where is all this terror coming from? It is a result of mistakes the West committed in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 1980s, when they armed the Islamic rebels against the Soviet troops.” IfsYearsChildrenHas BeensImportantLinesLossResultsMistakeHalfTakenCuttingHugeOur ChildrenWestSizeTerrorCommittedBudgetsArroganceGermanyIslamicRepublicTerritoryRebelAfghanistanUsualSovietTroopsPakistanOur TroopsSuperficialityIslamists Author:Yoweri Museveni
“You don't bargain with terrorists. You don't appease terrorists. And anybody who believes that this is about something we've done has to ask themselves why it is, on September 11, 2001, before we were in Afghanistan, before we were in Iraq, he committed a dastardly attack killing over 3,000 people. I mean, this is not a matter of negotiation; it's a matter of victory.” PeopleBelieveMeanMatterDoneAsksVictoryKillingIraqCommittedTerroristAfghanistanSeptemberNegotiationBargainsSeptember 11AppeaseSeptember 11 2001 Author:Michael Chertoff
“Gary Berntsen, head of the CIA in Afghanistan there, he was a field commander. And he has a book out called "Jawbreaker." And he says we missed an opportunity at Tora Bora to get him. We put resources elsewhere. That's been a critique of the administration. Did we miss opportunities?” BookOpportunityMissingFieldsResourcesAdministrationAfghanistanElsewhereCommandersCiaCritiqueGaryMissing Opportunity Author:Alan Colmes
“If you look at Iraq and Afghanistan's situations, they are quickly becoming much like our reservations. They will have puppet governments funded and controlled by a U.S. Government that siphoned off their resources. You don't have to be an English major to read the writing on the wall; I am in here as a warning to others, just like those men who are in Guantanamo are a warning to others - if you stand up to us you face these same consequences.” IfsMenWritingLooksGovernmentFacesSituationWallBecomingMajorsConsequenceResourcesIraqControlledWarningAfghanistanPuppetsReservationsGuantanamoEnglish MajorWriting On The Wall Author:Leonard Peltier
“We think that Hillary [Clinton] will be a symbol and a reality for the women of the world, and it's very important because so many - so many underdeveloped countries, not the least of which is Afghanistan, the women of the world need help, and she understands those issues and is a lightning rod for them.” ThinkingWorldNeedsImportantCountryHelpingRealityIssuesClintonSymbolsAfghanistanLightningNeed HelpUnderdeveloped Countries Author:Eleanor Smeal
“Sometimes people say to me, 'Well, what was the difference between Kosovo, which was a successful intervention, and Iraq and Afghanistan that have been so difficult?' And the answer is perfectly simple. In Kosovo, you have, after the removal of the loss of its regime, you had a process of political and economic reconstruction that took its part without the intervention of terrorism. If you had the intervention of terrorism, by the way, it would have been extremely difficult there - but we didn't.” PeopleIfsWayWellsHas BeensSometimesPoliticalProcessDifficultDifferencesLossSimpleAnswersSuccessfulEconomicIraqTerrorismAfghanistanRegimesInterventionReconstructionRemovalKosovo Author:Tony Blair