#afghanistan

When you decide to get involved in a military operation in a place like Syria, you've got to be prepared, as we learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, to become the government, and I'm not sure any country, either the United States or I don't hear of anyone else, who's willing to take on that responsibility. ↗

— Colin Powell

#any #anyone #be prepared #become #country

General McChrystal had to go. Whatever his virtues as a strategist and commander, the 'Rolling Stone' interview fatally compromised his ability to represent the United States in dealing with allies and to act within the circle of people who must make decisions in Afghanistan. ↗

— Jim Talent

#act #afghanistan #allies #circle #commander

I had earlier concluded that a war with Iraq would be a distraction from the successful and expeditious completion of our aims in Afghanistan. Now I had come to question whether the White House was telling the truth. ↗

— Bob Graham

#aims #come #completion #concluded #distraction

The legal system in Afghanistan is very immature and porous. ↗

— Lindsey Graham

#immature #legal #legal system #porous #system

In fact, if you look upon the situation today, there is great division in the world and we have failed to capitalize on that unity to finish the job in Afghanistan and against al Qaeda. ↗

— Chris Van Hollen

#against #al #capitalize #division #fact

In fact, I couldn't help thinking that despite their height, adults were just plain unbelievably stupid: men were blowing up other men; soldiers were shooting at children; men were ignoring women they loved; the women who loved them pretended they didn't; and when I read the newspapers to Pir Hederi everyone they talked about seemed to be far more interested in rules and arguments and taking sides than the actual business of living. ↗

— Andrea Busfield

#business

The best thing we could have done for Afghanistan was to get out of our Humvees and drink more green chai. We should have focused less on finding the enemy, and more on finding our friends. ↗

— Craig M. Mullaney

#war #education

Every triumph from patience springs, the happy herald of better things. -From Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy ↗

— Nur ad-Din Ab ar-Rahman Jami

#inspirational #inspirational

Life is Too Short and Memories Are Forever! ↗

— Regulo Zapata Jr.

#africa #special-forces #life

It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make ANYTHING all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight. But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting. - Amir ↗

— Khaled Hosseini

#drama #the-kite-runner #smile