Chapter 4: Steady in Afghanistan

90 contributed personnel, equipment, or services to the fight: A May 29, 2002, U.S. Department of Defense Office of Public Affairs fact sheet, “International Contributions to the War Against Terrorism,” highlighted the following countries in what was labeled a “partial list” of military contributions to date: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan.

90 a go-it-alone approach to world affairs: See, e.g., Peter Ford, “Coalition Allies Lament: It’s Still ‘America First,’” Christian Science Monitor, December 27, 2001; Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay, “Unilateralism Is Alive and Well in Washington,” International Herald Tribune, December 21, 2001.

100 as long as they do it “not openly”: Paul Pillar, “Intelligence, Policy, and the War in Iraq,” Foreign Affairs 85, No. 2 (March/April 2006), pp. 16–17 (emphasis added). Pillar served at the CIA as National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, and in the 1990s he was the top analyst at the CIA’s CounterTerrorism Center. Just months before 9/11, he published an analysis concluding that fighting terrorism “is not accurately represented by the metaphor of a war.” Paul Pillar, Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy (Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2001), p. 217.

100 Principals Committee meeting on Afghanistan: Feith memo to Rumsfeld, “Afghanistan Strategy,” October 11, 2001.

104 entitled “Military Strategy in Afghanistan”: [Wolfowitz, Feith, Pace, Newbold] draft for discussion, “Military Strategy in Afghanistan,” October 15, 2001, 10:23 p.m.

106 disrupt terrorist operations around the world: See “Intelligence from Afghanistan Breaks Singapore Plot,” CNN.com, January 11, 2002.

107 “or better support our friends”: Feith Memo to Rumsfeld, “Humanitarian Assistance: The Way Ahead,” October 13, 2001.

113 “to drive the people responsible for producing actionable ideas”: Rumsfeld Memo to Myers and Pace, “What Will Be the Military Role in the War on Terrorism,” October 10, 2001.

113 Proliferation Security Initiative launched by President Bush: President Bush announced the Proliferation Security Initiative in a speech: George W. Bush, “Remarks by the President to the People of Poland,” Wawel Royal Castle, Krakow, Poland, May 31, 2003.

116 cite as their sources current or former intelligence officials: See, e.g., James Risen, “How Pair’s Finding on Terror Led to Clash on Shaping Intelligence,” New York Times, April 28, 2004, p. A1; Eric Schmidt and Thom Shanker, “Threats and Responses: A CIA Rival: Pentagon Sets Up Intelligence Unit,” New York Times, October 24, 2002, p. A1.

116 “intelligence analyses provided by the CIA”: Murray Waas, “Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept from Hill Panel,” National Journal, November 22, 2005.

116 Hersh garbled his reporting on the PCTEG: Seymour Hersh, “Selective Intelligence,” The New Yorker, May 12, 2003.

118 the Policy Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group: Feith memo to Admiral Tom Wilson, “Request for Support,” February 2, 2002. The explanation of the request read as follows:

We are establishing an ad hoc Policy Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG) to take an independent look at Al-Qaida’s worldwide organization and linkages. In addition to cataloging suppliers and analyzing Al-Qaida’s relations with states and their supply networks, this group will seek to identify ‘chokepoints’ of cooperation and coordination, identify vulnerabilities, and recommend strategies to render the terrorist networks ineffective. We need the support of the intelligence community for this project to go forward.

121 “with a greater sense of urgency”: The Feith-Pace-Dunn first draft was completed within the five-hour deadline. In a series of discussions and editorial sessions with Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Myers, it was revised many times over the next week. The quotations here are from a draft dated November 6, 2001. Feith, Pace, and Dunn, “Afghanistan Strategy—Moving Forward,” with cover note from Feith to Rumsfeld dated November 6, 2001.

124 disparaging United States airpower: David Rohde, “Anti-Taliban Forces Say Light U.S. Strikes Lift Foes’ Morale,” New York Times, October 26, 2001, p. B3.

124 “it may be a quagmire”: Musharraf answered: “If the military objectives are such that their attainment is causing difficulty, their identification is causing difficulty, their locations are causing difficulty, then yes, it may be a quagmire.” Pervez Musharraf, Interview with Peter Jennings, World News Tonight, ABC News, October 26, 2001.

124 “getting bogged down over there”: Maureen Dowd, “Can Bush Bushkazi?” New York Times, October 26, 2001, section 4, p. 13.

124 “A Military Quagmire Remembered: Afghanistan as Vietnam”: R. W. Apple Jr., “A Military Quagmire Remembered: Afghanistan as Vietnam,” New York Times, October 31, 2001, p. B1.

125 “That could be a quagmire”: Francine Kiefer, “Is America losing the war on terrorism?” Christian Science Monitor, November 2, 2001, p. 2.

125 “but we do expect candor”: Richard Cohen, “War Behind Schedule,” Washington Post, November 6, 2001, p. A23.

126 “as the Pentagon attempts to massage the news”: Jacob Heilbrunn, “Opinion: The Powell Doctrine: Pinpricks Still Won’t Work,” Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2001, Part M, p. 2.

128 closely identified with the Taliban: Douglas Jehl, “A Nation Challenged: Pakistan to Cut Islamists’ Links to Spy Agency,” New York Times, February 20, 2002.

132 the Northern Alliance would make its own decision: Fox News Sunday, November 11, 2001, transcript.

134 a resolution blessing the agreement reached at Bonn: United Nations, Security Council, Resolution 1383, December 6, 2001.

135 “ ‘That’s wrong’ ”: Presidential election debate, Coral Gables, Florida, September 30, 2004.

137 a good indication of that: General Wesley Clark interview with Jonathan Karl, CNN Live Event/Special 22:00, December 30, 2001.

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