.
. >>> IN REPORTING WHAT’S BEING
COMPARED TO A MODERN-DAY VERSION
OF THE PENTAGON PAPERS, "THE
WASHINGTON POST" HAS OBTAINED
THOUSANDS OF PAGES OF GOVERNMENT
DOCUMENTS THAT APPEAR TO REVEAL
THAT OUR GOVERNMENT WASN’T
ALWAYS TELLING US THE TRUTH
ABOUT THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN.
THE POST-GAINED ACCESS AFTER A
THREE-YEAR LEGAL FIGHT OVER A
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
REQUEST.
REQUEST. THEY INCLUDE 2,000 PAGES OF
PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED NOTES OF
INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO
PLAYED A DIRECT ROLE IN THE WAR,
INCLUDING OUR GENERALS,
DIPLOMATS, AND AFGHAN OFFICIALS.
QUOTE, SEVERAL OF THOSE
INTERVIEWED DESCRIBED EXPLICIT
AND SUSTAINED EFFORTS BY THE
U.S. GOVERNMENT TO DELIBERATELY
MISLEAD THE PUBLIC.
THEY SAID IT WAS COMMON AT
MILITARY HEADQUARTERS IN KABUL
AND AT THE WHITE HOUSE TO
DISTORT STATISTICS TO MAKE IT
APPEAR THE UNITED STATES WAS
WINNING THE WAR WHEN THAT WAS
NOT THE CASE.
NBC NEWS HAS NOT INDEPENDENTLY
VERIFIED THE DOCUMENTS AND
INTERVIEW NOTES AS OBTAINED BY
THE "WASHINGTON POST."
THE MILITARY "TIMES" ASKED
LEADERS ABOUT THIS REPORT.
ARMY COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR JOHN
TROKSLE, THE VERY ENLISTED
ADVISER TO CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT
CHIEFS OF STAFF ARMY GENERAL
SAID HE DIDN’T REED READY "THE
WASHINGTON POST’S" AFGHANISTAN
PAPERS STORY.
PAPERS STORY. HE DISAGREED WITH ASSERTIONS
THAT EITHER THE TROOPS OR PUBLIC
HAS BEEN MANIPULATED INTO
BELIEVING A CERTAIN NARRATIVE
ABOUT THE WAR.
I’VE BEEN TO AFGHANISTAN TEN
TIMES IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS IN
THIS JOB, AND I FEEL THAT WE’VE
NEVER BEEN LIED TO AND WE ARE
CONTINUING TO MOVE FORWARD, HE
SAID.
SAID. BACK WITH US AGAIN TONIGHT,
RETIRED FOUR-STAR U.S. ARMY
GENERAL BARRY McCAFFREY, FORMER
BATTLEFIELD COMMANDER IN THE
PERSIAN GULF, THESE DAYS OUR
MILITARY ANALYST.
MILITARY ANALYST. WHERE YOU SERVED IN VIETNAM WAS
THE ORIGINATION OF THE MODERN
TALKING POINT TO THROW OFF
AMERICAN OPINION.
AMERICAN OPINION. BODY COUNTS, K.I.A.s, WOUNDED IN
ACTION, ET CETERA.
YOU ADVISED THE PENTAGON IN ’06.
THIS WAS, TO MANY, THE ORIGINAL
POST 9/11.
POST 9/11. YET WHY ARE WE STILL THERE?
>> WELL, THAT’S THE QUESTION AT
HAND, ISN’T IT?
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS
WAR, BRIAN, IT’S BEEN A GIANT
ENDEAVOR GONE ON FOR A
GENERATION.
GENERATION. THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILLION
AMERICAN TROOPS HAVE SERVED
THERE.
THERE. IT’S A REAL WAR.
WE’VE HAD 23,000 KILLED AND
WOUNDED IN U.S. FORCES, NEVER
MIND OUR ALLIES AND THE AFGHANS.
ONE COULD ARGUE THAT IT’S ON THE
VERGE OF COLLAPSE RIGHT NOW.
MY TRIPS IN AND OUT OF THERE AND
SHE AND I CAME BACK UNDER THE
AUSPICES FROM A NATO COMMANDER
AND I GO UNDER THE LEGITIMACY OF
THE SIN COMCOMMANDER.
I TALKED TO THE AFGHANS DOWN TO
VILLAGE CHIEFS, AND I COME BACK
WITH A INSTINCT IMPRESSION THAT
THE WAR WAS BEING FOUGHT
BRILLIANTLY FROM A A TACTICAL
LEVEL.
LEVEL. THESE BE A TALIONS, ENGINEER
BATTALIONS, SPECIAL OPERATIONS
FORCES ARE INCREDIBLY COMPETENT.
THE SENIOR GENERALS IN COUNTRY,
THEY CHANGE OUT EVERY YEAR OR
TWO, SO THERE WAS NO CONSISTENCY
OF WHAT THEY WERE TRYING TO DO.
AT THE STRATEGIC LEVEL, THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
THREE OF THEM, THERE NEVER WAS A
TIME WHERE THEY WROTE DOWN THEIR
POLITICAL OBJECTIVES.
POLITICAL OBJECTIVES. WE SIMPLY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WE
WERE DOING.
WERE DOING. IT WASN’T EVEN MISSION CREEP, IT
WAS MISSION FANTASY.