“An idea is growing in foreign policy circles in Washington ... that there is no turning back. We are stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan for 25 to 40 years, we are embedded in our prideful unilateralism, and nothing can return us to more traditional American values and principles of action. The hubristic creators of this "inevitability" planned it this way. ... Their failures in Iraq have not stopped the fanatic, power-hungry neoconservatives. ... The hard-liners who dominate this administration ... have led us to eternal conflict with Muslims.” WayYearsIdeasWarHardActionReligionValuesPrinciplesPowerGrowingPolicyReturnConflictEternalIraqCreatorCirclesStuckHungryTraditionalAdministrationAfghanistanForeign PolicyFanaticsEmbeddedInevitabilityAmerican ValuesNo Turning BackPower HungryUnilateralism Author:Georgie Anne Geyer
“The world starts to exist, for Americans, when we are in conflict with a place. And then all of a sudden, Afghanistan pops up on the TV screen and it becomes a place. And it exists for three weeks and then it disappears into thin air.” WorldThreeAirWeekTvsConflictPopsDisappearScreensAfghanistanThin Air Author:Isabel Allende
“Every time we have come to the end of a conflict, somehow we have persuaded ourselves that the nature of mankind and the nature of the world have changed on an enduring basis and so we have dismantle our military and intelligence capabilities. My hope is that as we wind down in Iraq and whatever the level of our commitment in Afghanistan, that we not forget the basic nature of humankind has not changed.” WorldEndsForgetLevelsMankindMilitaryChangedWindConflictCommitmentBasesEndureIraqAfghanistanCapabilityHumankindNature Of Man Author:Robert M. Gates
“It might sound crazy, but filming in a conflict zone, in Afghanistan, and being a female filmmaker was the easy part. I found people open and understanding of the importance and beauty of filmic storytelling. I never had to explain why Jake Bryant, my Director of Photography, and I were climbing up a ladder to get a high shot, or running ahead to get an arrival shot, or filming weeks after weeks, months after months, collecting so much material. The process was respected and honored.” PeopleMightRunningFoundEasyProcessUnderstandingSoundWeekCrazyMaterialsMonthsDirectorsConflictPhotographyShotsFemaleImportanceStorytellingFilmmakerZoneClimbingAfghanistanHonoredLaddersCollectingArrivalsJakeClimbing Up Author:Pietra Brettkelly
“The blow back from the cold war is that a weakened Russia allowed Afghanistan to become a failed state, and then all this weaponry to flow into all these other conflicts. Our greatest triumph has almost fueled our most intractable battle now.” WarStatesColdBattleConflictFlowBlowRussiaTriumphAfghanistanCold WarWeaponry Author:Jon Stewart
“I think the scale of the conflict [in Afghanistan] has dramatically changed in 2003. You're now facing a much more motivated, well-supported enemy. I don't see any quick end to this thing.” ThinkingWellsEndsEnemyChangedConflictScalesMotivatedAfghanistan Author:Khaled Hosseini
“Karzai is Afghanistan's first democratically elected president. He brought the international community into partnership on an unprecedented level, and he championed a new constitution that is liberal, democratic and still very Afghan. All of that does reflect a vision. But he's presided over a country that is still in conflict, and he hasn't taken some of the difficult decisions his own government wanted him to take. On corruption, he hasn't been as decisive as he should've been. There are legitimate questions about him.” ShouldFirstsDoeStillsCountryGovernmentWantedDifficultPresidentCommunityDecisionLevelsVisionTakenConflictConstitutionDemocraticInternationalCorruptionAfghanistanPartnershipUnprecedentedInternational CommunityAfghanDifficult Decisions Author:Chris Alexander
“The story of Taliban recovery and resurgence begins in the places where they took refuge after 2001. And as long as those leadership structures and training structures operate outside of Afghanistan with relative impunity, the conflict will continue.” LongStoriesConflictTrainingStructureRecoveryAfghanistanRelativeRefugeTalibanImpunityResurgence Author:Chris Alexander
“The humanitarian argument is so selective I find it difficult to swallow. It's not even so much about the choice as to where we should get involved and where we shouldn't. The minute you start arming people in these conflict zones, like Iraq and Afghanistan, things don't go as expected.” PeopleChoicesDifficultConflictArgumentHumanitarianZoneAfghanistanGet Involved Author:Michael Hastings
“Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war in Afghanistan, unsupportable by the government, a conflict that brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.” WarConflictBreakupAfghanistanSoviet Author:Zbigniew Brzezinski
“There are many difficult challenges in Afghanistan. And we still have Taliban. We still have terrorist organizations there, and we will see violence and we will see conflict there also in the coming years,.” DifficultChallengesViolenceConflictTerroristAfghanistanTaliban Author:Jens Stoltenberg
“The problem with an economic meltdown is that the responsibility and the challenges to deal with the environment are squandered. That's an age-old battle in terms of the major conflicts in places like Afghanistan, etc. So there are age-old battles that'll keep going on. Unfortunately, man is a very slow learner, and we tend to repeat mistakes, as opposed to learning from mistakes.” MenProblemTermChallengesMistakeResponsibilityEnvironmentEconomicBattleConflictKeep GoingAfghanistanLearning From Mistakes Author:John Hillcoat
“I do think that it is impossible for us to think only in terms of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and not think in terms of what's happening with Syria or Iran or Lebanon or Afghanistan and Pakistan. These things are interrelated. And if we are looking at the region as a whole and communicating a message to the Arab world and the Muslim world, that we are ready to initiate a new partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interest, then I think that we can make significant progress.” ThinkingWorldTermInterestProgressImpossibleConflictCommunicateSignificantMutualAfghanistanPartnershipSyriaMutual Respect Author:Barack Obama