The Afghanistan Papers

The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock, WP Company LLC, 2021. 

Foreign Aid Corrupts Locals

Many critics blamed our failure in Afghanistan on the corruption of their government officials, but we were the ones who gave them the money. American aid for public works projects was siphoned off not only by corrupt government officials, but also by the Taliban. The United States poured money into building schools, even though there were few jobs for school graduates. 

Operation River Dance

The goal of our Operation River Dance was the irradiation of opium poppy farming. But this took away a major source of income for the poor Afghan peasants. This deprivation pushed them into joining the Taliban.

Culture Clash

Afghanistan had no history of a strong, central government, but the United States imposed one on it anyway. There were very few American soldiers who spoke the local languages Pashto and Dari fluently. Americans had a poor understanding of Afghan culture. In particular, the U.S. failed to realize that most Afghans are not familiar with things that our soldiers take for granted:

• How to drive a vehicle

• Helicopters

• Handling complex weapons systems

• Taking care of ones rifle

David McKiernan

Army Major General David McKiernan, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces spoke candidly and pessimistically about our progress in winning the war in Afghanistan. He was sacked for telling the truth.