Word: saying
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...think, How do they perceive it? Do they know we made a mistake, or do they think we don't care? And so we have to communicate that to them in a way that is understandable. And we have to understand that they don't understand. If we just say, "Mistake, sorry," that is different. And then you have to look at your own forces as well, because the impact of making a mistake with huge consequences affects the force. It can make you less confident. It can make you less unified. So even if you don't make...
...There has not been blowback. In fact, almost everyone I talk to says, I absolutely understand where you are going, and we understand what we are trying to do. Sometimes people say, But what if...? I just go back and I say, We put instances in the directive where in certain cases if you have...
...here in the embassy. It's not what you'd think after eight years. You'd think there would be cynicism, you would think there would be fatigue, but it is actually the opposite - it's a sense of resolve, so I guess the best word I can say is passionate. And that surprised me, and it's been really heartening. (Read "Why the Pentagon Axed Its Afghanistan Warlord...
...Shock and awe - technological war. It's now different. What does this say? I think what we do learn ... the most important thing in war is the human being. In this war, the human being is the most important thing in every point. The most important is the human being in the Afghan population that is making their decision on who they are going to back. It is more important than the enemy. Because at the end of the day, the Taliban, each of them are making a decision to participate in an insurgency, and we are trying to convince...
...Will you be setting benchmarks? There are a lot of efforts to set benchmarks. I think we have to be careful in that, because if they are too brittle - if you say 60% of people must have running water or whatever - you run the risk of that not being a really accurate assessment of the situation. So it has to be a lot more subtle. But you do have to have a way of pulling these together and knowing when you are making progress...