The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (57 page)

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.

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.

Page 373
:
His brother Charlie
: Melissa Bower, “Flynn Promoted to Brigadier General,”
Fort Leavenworth Lamp
, September 08, 2011.

Page 373
:… 
violence is the worst it has been in nine years
: Michael Hastings, “King David’s War,”
Rolling Stone
, February 2, 2011.

Page 373
:
“We are losing the battle for hearts and minds”
: “An Open Letter to President Obama,”
www.afghanistancalltoreason.com
, December 2010.

Page 373
:… 
“more constructive local leadership”
: Josh Partlow, “Ahmed Wali Karzai, Half Brother of Afghan President, Killed by Trusted Confidant,”
The Washington Post
, July 12, 2011.

Page 373
:… 
64 percent of Americans
: Scott Wilson and Jon Cohen, “Poll: Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Say Afghan War Isn’t Worth Fighting,”
The Washington Post
, March 15, 2011.

Page 373
:
On Capitol Hill, 204 congressmen voted against
: Eugene Mulero, “House Passes Defense Bill After Close Vote on Afghanistan Withdrawal,”
Congressional Quarterly Today
, May 26, 2011.

Page 374
: 
“Seven Days in May dynamic”
: Marc Ambinder, “How the White House Played Petraeus,”
National Journal
, June 23, 2011.

Page 374
:
Obama meets with Petraeus
: Andrea Terkel, “Petraeus Backs Obama’s Afghanistan Plan But Says Drawdown Is More ‘Aggressive’ Than Military Wanted,”
Huffington Post
, June 23, 2011.

Page 375
:… 
“was a more aggressive [drawdown] option”
: Mark Landler and Helene Cooper, “Obama Will Speed Military Pullout from Afghan War,”
The New York Times
, June 23, 2011.

Page 376
:
Obama plays only nine holes of golf
: Christopher Dickey, Ron Moreau, and Sami Yousafzai, “A Decade on the Lam,”
Newsweek
, May 6, 2011.

Page 376
:
Biden played with a rosary ring
: Mark Mazzetti, Helene Cooper, and Peter Baker, “Behind the Hunt for Bin Laden,”
The New York Times
, May 3, 2011.

Page 376
:
Admiral Mullen had his own
: Mark Landler, “Obama’s Growing Trust in Biden Is Reflected in His Call on Troops,”
The New York Times
, June 25, 2011.

Page 376
:
Hillary put her hands up
: Barry Moody, “Clinton: Allergy, Not Anguish in My Bin Laden Photo,” Reuters, May 5, 2011.

Page 377
:… 
for forty minutes
: Federal News Service, White House Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, Washington, DC, May 3, 2011.

Page 377
:
Obama turned to his team
: N. Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden,”
The New Yorker
, August 8, 2011.

Page 378
:… 
more than double the total
:
http://www.icasualties.org
., October 17, 2011.

Page 379
:… 
the twenty-three Navy SEALs who killed him
: N. Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden,”
The New Yorker
, August 8, 2011.