>> IT HAS BEEN FOUR DAYS SINCE THE U.S. BOMBED THE DOCTORS
WITHOUT BORDERS HOSPITAL IN KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN, AND CALLS
FOR AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION HAVE GROWN LOUDER AND MORE
INSISTENT.
THE PRESIDENT IS TRYING TO WARD OFF THESE SORTS OF
CALLS, THE MILITARY IS CURRENTLY CONDUCTING THE EARLY PHASES OF
THIS SORT OF INVESTIGATION, BUT BOTH DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS AND
SOME IN THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS SECTION WANT IT TO BE
INDEPENDENT, NOT CONDUCTED UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED
STATES.
SO THE PRESIDENT DID CALL BOTH THE GOVERNMENT OF
AFGHANISTAN TO APOLOGIZE, AND HE ALSO CALLED JOANNE LIU, THE
INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT OF DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS, TO
EXPRESS HIS CONDOLENCES FOR THE STAFF AND PATIENTS WHO WERE
KILLED AND INJURED, ACCORDING TO HIS PRESS SECRETARY.
HE ALSO
ASSURED DOCTOR LIU THAT THE DOD INVESTIGATION WOULD PROVIDE A
TRANSPARENT, THOROUGH AND OBJECTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE FACTS
AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE INCIDENT, AND THE PRESIDENT
WOULD IMPLEMENT CHANGES IF NECESSARY THAT WOULD MAKE
TRAGEDIES LIKE THIS ONE LESS LIKELY TO OCCUR IN THE FUTURE.
BUT AS OF RIGHT NOW, MSF IS NOT BUYING IT.
JOANNE LIU SAID THAT
THIS WAS NOT JUST AN ATTACK ON OUR HOSPITAL, IT WAS AN ATTACK
ON THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS.
IT CANNOT BE TOLERATED.
WE HAVE
BEEN FOLLOWING THE EVOLUTION OF THE MILITARY'S EXPLANATION OF
WHAT HAPPENED, WAS IT AN ACCIDENT OR DID THE AFGHANIS
TELL US TO BOMB THERE?
MAYBE IT WAS AN ACCIDENT AND THEY TOLD US
TO BOMB THERE.
WE HAVE NEW INFORMATION ABOUT PENTAGON
GUIDELINES FOR WHEN YOU CAN ATTACK A SITE LIKE THE HOSPITAL,
AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY ACTUALLY GAVE THE WARNINGS THAT THEY WERE
SUPPOSED TO.
FIRST, I WILL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO COMMENT.
>>DOCTOR LIU, I LIKE YOUR ATTITUDE.
SHE IS NOT BUYING IT.
IF WE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, THERE ARE NO BOUNDS ANYMORE.
WE
CAN'T ALLOW IT TO STAND.
THE U.S. SAYS, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
WE WILL INVESTIGATE OURSELVES.
NATO IS, WE ARE, THOSE ARE THE
PEOPLE WHO DID THE BOMBING.
AFGHANISTAN ALSO IS.
BUT
AFGHANISTAN ALSO WAS APPARENTLY THE ONES WHO WANTED THE BOMBING
IN THE FIRST PLACES, SECURITY FORCES.
SO THREE PEOPLE
INVOLVED IN THE BOMBING WILL INVESTIGATE THEMSELVES.
THE
DOCTOR SAYS NO, IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THIS BOMBING.
IF YOU ALLOW
THIS TO HAPPEN AND YOU DO SOME FAKE INVESTIGATIONS OF YOURSELF,
THEN THERE ARE NO LAWS OF WAR ANYMORE, NO RULES OF WAR,
HOSPITALS ARE PROTECTED, GOD KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
TO GIVE
YOU A SENSE OF THE SEVERITY, 22 PEOPLE DIED, 12 DOCTORS AND
NURSES, STAFFERS OF DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS. 10 PATIENTS.
THEY SAID THE PATIENTS BURNED TO DEATH IN THEIR BEDS.
BURNED
ALIVE.
THREE KIDS DIED IN THE BOMBING, AND TO ME THE MOST
AMAZING FACT OF ALL IS, THE BOMBING CONTINUED FOR AN HOUR.
SO DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IS CALLING THE U.S. MILITARY
SAYING, IT IS A HOSPITAL, STOP BOMBING.
YOU ARE KILLING US,
LITERALLY.
AND THE BOMBING CONTINUED AND CONTINUED AND
CONTINUED.
AS JOHN SAID, THERE IS SHIFTING REASONS BEHIND THE
ATTACK AND YOU GET A SENSE OF, UH-OH, THERE'S SOMETHING SERIOUSLY
AMISS HERE.
IT WAS NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO BELIEVE, BECAUSE YOU
THINK WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS, WE WOULD NOT DO SOMETHING TERRIBLE
LIKE THIS, THE OTHER SIDE DOES TERRIBLE THINGS LIKE BURNING
PEOPLE ALIVE, ETC.
OUR BOMBS DO BURN PEOPLE ALIVE, IN CASE YOU
ARE NOT AWARE OF HOW BOMBS WORK.
BUT IT HAD TO BE HONEST MISTAKE,
RIGHT?
YOUR FIRST INSTINCT IS, THEY WERE DROPPING BOMBS AND
THERE WAS SOMEBODY NEARBY AND THEY MISSED.
THAT HAPPENS,
RIGHT?
IT TURNS OUT, NO, THEY DIDN'T MISS.
AND THERE ARE
SHIFTING REASONS FOR IT.
>> REALLY FAST, I THINK THERE SHOULD BE THE INDEPENDENT
INVESTIGATION, AND SOME FEEL LIKE IF IT WAS CONDUCTED, THAT
IS SIMPLY ADMITTING THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG, THEY ARE
ADMITTING THEY COMMITTED WAR CRIMES.
THAT IS NOT THE CASE,
THAT IS WHAT THE INVESTIGATION IS INTENDED TO FIND OUT.
AND
SIMPLY BECAUSE I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH A RATIONAL
EXPLANATION FOR WHY THE U.S. WOULD PURPOSEFULLY BOMB A DOCTORS
WITHOUT BORDERS HOSPITAL, KNOWING THAT THE TALIBAN IS NOT
THERE, KNOWING THAT DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IS THERE, THEY
WOULD KNOW WHAT SORT OF INTERNATIONAL IMPACT THAT WOULD
HAVE.
AND I CAN COME UP WITH AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY THEY WOULD
CHOOSE TO DO THAT, ESPECIALLY IF, AS DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
IS SAYING, THERE WERE NOT TALIBAN AND PRESENT IN THE
HOSPITAL AT THE TIME.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN I DON'T THINK THERE
SHOULD BE THE INVESTIGATION.
AT ANY RATE --
>> CAN I JUMP IN FOR A SECOND?
ON THE ONE HAND, IT SEEMS TO MAKE NO SENSE.
WHY WOULD WE DO IT?
WHAT DO WE GAIN FROM THAT?
>>EXACTLY.
>>THERE ARE SOME EXPLANATIONS.
SOME SAY THE AFGHAN SECURITY
FORCES DID NOT LIKE THAT THAT HOSPITAL TREATS THE TALIBAN
INJURED.
THE TALIBAN WERE NOT FIRING FROM THE HOSPITAL, BUT
THERE ARE TALIBAN INJURED IN THE HOSPITAL, AS THERE ARE OTHER
AFGHANS INJURED IN THE HOSPITAL.
THE U.S. HAS ITS OWN MEDICAL
FACILITY, SO THERE ARE NO U.S. INJURED THERE, BUT AFGHANS FROM
BOTH SIDES OF THE CONFLICT ARE THERE.
THE AFGHAN SECURITY
FORCES DON'T LIKE THAT, THEY ARE THE ONES WE BELIEVE BASED ON THE
FOURTH EXPLANATION ASKED THE U.S. SPECIAL FORCES TO CALL IN
THE AIRSTRIKE.
THERE IS SOME REASON FOR THAT.
IS THAT A GOOD
ENOUGH REASON?
OF COURSE NOT, THAT'S TERRIBLE, WE HOPE WE DIDN'T
LISTEN BASED ON THAT.
DID WE KNOW THAT THAT IS WHY THE AFGHAN
SECURITY FORCES WANTED THAT AREA BOMBED?
WE DON'T KNOW, THAT IS
WHY YOU NEED AN INVESTIGATION.
AND IN A LOT OF THESE CONFLICTS,
WHETHER IT IS SAUDI ARABIA AND YEMEN, ISRAEL AND GAZA, US AND
YEMEN, US IN AFGHANISTAN, WE ALWAYS SAY, GOLLY GEE, WE DIDN'T
MEAN TO HIT THE WEDDING AND THE SCHOOL AND THE HOSPITAL.
BUT WE
KIND OF KEEP ON DOING IT, RIGHT?
AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT, IF
YOU THINK THAT IS WHAT IT WAS, IN THE SUDAN THAT WE HIT, ETC.
AND SOME SAY WELL, THE IDEA BEHIND THAT, AND IT IS HARD FOR
US TO UNDERSTAND BECAUSE WE DON'T COME FROM THIS MINDSET, IS THAT
THERE ARE SOME IN THE MILITARY WHO THINK, WE TEACH THEM A
LESSON, OKAY?
TEACH THEM A LESSON AND THEN THEY WON'T DO IT
AGAIN.
WHETHER IT IS THE U.N. SHELTERING PEOPLE IN A SCHOOL,
OR THE DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS TREATING TALIBAN COMMANDERS WHO
THEN COME OUT AND KILL US AFTERWARDS AND FIGHT US AND KILL
OUR OWN PEOPLE, AND I WANT TO PROTECT MY PEOPLE AND I DON'T
WANT HIM BEING TREATED, THE REASON I SHOT HIM IS BECAUSE I
WANTED TO KILL HIM.
WHY ARE THEY TREATING HIM?
NO, NO, WHEN
SOMEBODY IS WOUNDED YOU HAVE TO TREAT HIM, WE SAY.
BUT NOT EVERYONE SEES IT THAT WAY.
>>I THINK THE MOST LIKELY EXLANATION IS THAT IT IS
PROBABLY THAT EITHER THE AFGHANI MILITARY HAD OUTDATED
INFORMATION ABOUT WHEN THE TALIBAN HAD BEEN THERE, IN TERMS
OF FIRING FROM IT, AND THAT THEY HAD CLEARED OUT BEFORE THE CALL
FOR THE STRIKES HAD HAPPENED, OR THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE FIGHTING
FOR THEIR OWN TERRITORY, THEIR OWN CITY, THESE SORTS OF -- WE
HAVE TO BE SUPER CAREFUL TO NOT ACCIDENTALLY KILL AN
INTERNATIONAL DOCTOR, THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN LESS COMPELLING TO
THEM, AND PERHAPS THIS IS WHAT YOU SAID EARLIER.
IT IS EASIER
FOR US TO ASSUME OTHER GOVERNMENTS DO BAD THINGS AND
OURS DOESN'T.
MAYBE I AM FALLING INTO THAT, I DON'T KNOW.
BUT THE
IDEA THAT OBAMA, WHO IS TRYING TO BE SO CAREFUL IN TERMS OF HIS
IMAGE, AND ESPECIALLY IN THESE SORTS OF EXCURSIONS, THAT THEY
WOULD BOMB DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS?
IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME.
I DON'T SEE THE GAIN AND THE RISK, IT DOESN'T BALANCE OUT.
THESE ARE THE SORTS OF QUESTIONS AND CONVERSATIONS THAT
SHOULD LEAD TO AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION.
>>ONE MORE THING, I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO GET THIS WRONG.
I DON'T THINK OBAMA PICKED THE PHONE UP AND SAID, GO GET
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS.
>>YOU'RE SAYING HE COULD BE OUT OF THE LOOP.
>>I IMAGINE HE'S OUT OF THE LOOP FOR THE SAME EXACT REASON AS
YOU.
NOT BECAUSE PRESIDENT OBAMA IS NOT CAPABLE OF IT, HE
HAS ORDERED DRONE STRIKES THAT ARE SIGNATURE STRIKES, WHERE HE
HAS NO IDEA WHO HE IS KILLING.
HE HAS DONE THAT MANY TIMES.
SO
IT IS NOT OUT OF LOYALTY TO PRESIDENT OBAMA OR HIS GREAT
INTENTIONS THAT I SAY THIS, IS THAT JOHN IS RIGHT.
HE HAS
SHOWN, LATELY, A LOT OF CARE TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T GET ANY
CIVILIANS, AND THAT HAS GREATLY FRUSTRATED THE MILITARY.
THE
MILITARY AND OBAMA HAVE BEEN CLASHING OVER THAT.
IN THAT
CONTEXT, AND IN THIS TIME PERIOD, FOR HIM TO SAY SCREW IT,
KILL 10 DOCTORS -- THAT SEEMS IMPROBABLE, RIGHT?
>>I AM NOT AT ALL SAYING THEY WON'T KILL CIVILIANS IF THEY
THINK THERE IS A CHANCE THEY COULD TAKE OUT SOMEBODY
IMPORTANT.
I AM SAYING, AND THIS IS ACTUALLY KIND OF A SORT OF
CYNICAL LOOK AT BARACK OBAMA, HE WON'T KILL INTERNATIONALLY
IMPORTANT, LIKELY TO BE COVERED CIVILIANS.
THAT IS WHAT I AM SAYING.
>> FINALLY THE AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES, WHO SEEM TO HAVE ASKED
FOR THE STRIKE IN THE FIRST PLACE, JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE OUR
ALLIES, YOU THINK THEY ARE THE GOOD GUYS?
WE HAVE COVERED
STORIES ABOUT THESE GUYS AND HOW THEY DO THE SAME CULTURAL
PRACTICES THAT THE TALIBAN DO OF KIDNAPPING YOUNG BOYS, RAPING
THEM AND KEEPING THEM AS SEX SLAVES, AND THEY DO IT SO
THOROUGHLY AND REPEATEDLY THAT OUR FORCES CONTINUE TO HAVE
CONFLICTS WITH THEM OVER THAT ISSUE.
THEY DO IT ON OUR BASES,
ETC.
YOU THINK THOSE GUYS WILL SAY, LOOK, I KNOW SOME OF MY
ENEMIES ARE IN THAT HOSPITAL THAT I TRIED TO KILL TODAY AND THAT I
WOULD SORELY WANT TO DIE, BUT SOME WESTERN DOCTORS WILL DIE,
THAT IS AGAINST MY MORALS?
>>THAT SEEMS A LITTLE BIT MORE LIKELY.
>>THAT IS WHY YOU NEED AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION,
BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW AND WE NEED TO FIND OUT, AND I AM
NOT GOING TO TRUST THOSE SAME AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES TO
TELL ME WHAT THE TRUTH IS.
>>IF THERE IS AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION, OR BEFORE OUR
INVESTIGATION CONCLUDES, WE CAN SPECULATE A BIT BASED ON THE
INFORMATION WE HAVE WHETHER OR NOT SOME SORT OF CRIME, WHETHER
AN INTERNATIONAL CRIME OR JUST SOMETHING LIKE ONE OF OUR OWN
REGULATIONS OR LAWS, HAS BEEN BROKEN.
WHY DON'T WE BRING UP
GRAPHIC 4.
YOU WILL SEE A SECTION OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE'S
WARNINGS BEFORE CESSATION OF PROTECTION.
THERE ARE A FEW
IMPORTANT PARTS.
IN ADDITION, PROTECTION FOR CIVILIAN
HOSPITALS MAY CEASE ONLY AFTER DUE WARNING HAS BEEN GIVEN, NAMELY
IN ALL APPROPRIATE CASES A REASONABLE TIME LIMIT, AND AFTER
SUCH WARNING HAS REMAINED UNHEEDED.
IT SAYS YOU CAN ATTACK
THESE PLACES AFTER YOU GIVE A WARNING AND PROVIDE A REASONABLE
TIME LIMIT FOR NONCOMBATANTS TO LEAVE THE AREA.
CONSERVATIVES
HATE THIS BECAUSE THEY THINK THAT IS AN EXCUSE TO LET COMBATANTS
LEAVE THE AREA.
BUT THEY SAY THERE MAY BE CASES IN WHICH IN
THE EXERCISE OF THE RIGHT OF SELF-DEFENSE A WARNING IS NOT
DUE OR A REASONABLE TIME LIMIT IS NOT APPROPRIATE.
IF THEY DID
NOT DO A WARNING, THIS MIGHT BE AN EXLPANATION AS TO WHY.
BUT SUCH
USE OF FORCE AND SELF-DEFENSE AGAINST MEDICAL UNITS OR
FACILITIES MUST BE PROPORTIONATE.
FOR INSTANCE, IF
A FEW PEOPLE ARE FIRING FROM IT, AS WE SAY THEY WERE, THEN WE
CANNOT SIMPLY LEVEL THE ENTIRE BUILDING.
WHEN WE WERE SAYING
BEFORE THAT YOU CAN'T BOMB IT, BUT MAYBE YOU CAN MOVE FORCES IN,
THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
THIS WAS BEFORE
SEEING THE PENTAGON'S GUIDELINES.
>>BE CLEAR, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS SAYS THERE WAS NOBODY
FIRING FROM THE MEDICAL FACILITY AT ALL, COMPLETELY,
UNEQUIVOCALLY, DID NOT HAPPEN.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO MAKE THAT
EXCUSE, BUT THAT IS NOT THE REALITY, THAT IS WHAT DOCTORS
WITHOUT BORDERS SAYS.
JUST SO YOU KNOW.
GENERAL JOHN CAMPBELL
IS THE GUY LEADING THE EFFORT FOR THE U.S. AND NATO IN
AFGHANISTAN, HE SAID SOMETHING INTERESTING.
THAT IS THE NEXT
QUOTE.
HE SAID, WE WOULD NEVER INTENTIONALLY TARGET A PROTECTED
MEDICAL FACILITY.
OKAY, SO THE WORD PROTECTED IS VERY IMPORTANT
IN THAT SENTENCE.
IS IT TECHNICALLY PROTECTED UNDER THE
LAWS OF WAR?
I DON'T KNOW.
IF SOMEBODY WAS FIRING IN SOME
VICINITY, MAYBE TECHNICALLY IT WASN'T PROTECTED.
THAT IS
TELLING, IN BOTH THE LEGAL DEFENSE THEY ARE SETTING UP AND
PERHAPS WHAT THEY KNOW ALREADY HAPPENED.
IF YOU THINK YOU DID
NOT BOMB IT, OR YOU THINK IT WAS CLEARLY A MISTAKE AND YOU DID
NOT MEAN TO BOMB IT AND YOU MEANT TO BOMB THE ARMORY NEXT-DOOR, I
DON'T THINK YOU WOULD START USING LEGALESE ABOUT USING
PROTECTED MEDICAL FACILITIES.
THAT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF WHAT
THEY THINK, WHAT GENERAL JOHN CAMPBELL AND THE U.S.
MILITARY, THINKS THEY DID.
>>EXACTLY.
SO THIS PASSAGE FROM THE PENTAGON GUIDELINES HAS BEEN
GOING AROUND, THEY HAVE MADE CLEAR, THE U.S. DIRECTOR OF THE
MSF, SAYS THEY DID NOT RECEIVE ANY WARNING LIKE THAT.
AND YOU
MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY THAT THEY WERE CALLING DURING THE ATTACK
WHICH LASTED AN HOUR, THIS IS OUR HOSPITAL, DO NOT BOMB HERE.
IN ADVANCE OF THE ATTACK, GPS COORDINATES OF THE HOSPITAL HAD
APPARENTLY BEEN SHARED WITH THE U.S. AND AFGHANI MILITARY, BUT
WE'RE HEARING REPORTS THAT IT WASN'T -- THE PLANES THAT WERE
USED TO BOMB THE HOSPITAL WERE NOT NECESSARILY OF THE SORT THAT
MAKE USE OF THAT GPS INFORMATION.
THEY COULD BE
LOW-FLYING PLANES, C-130S OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THAT WOULD
VISUALLY CONFIRM A TARGET.
AND THEN PERHAPS YOU COULD HAVE
ACCIDENTS LIKE THIS.
I WOULD SAY TO BE EXTRA CAREFUL, LET'S NOT
GET INVOLVED IN THESE SORTS OF FOREIGN WARS.
THEN WE DON'T HAVE
TO WORRY ABOUT THE LEGALESE OR THE GPS VERSUS EYESIGHT
TRACKING, WE JUST DON'T HAVE THESE SITUATIONS.
MAYBE THAT IS JUST ME BEING AN IDEALIST.
>>TO BE CLEAR, IF WE DID NOT GIVE WARNING TO A MEDICAL
FACILITY AND WE BOMBED IT WITHOUT WARNING, THAT IS A WAR
CRIME.
WILL THERE BE ANY CONSEQUENCES TO ANY WAR CRIME
THE U.S. HAS EVER COMMITTED?
DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH.
IN THE
WORDS OF GEORGE W. BUSH, HASN'T HAPPENED YET.
WE WILL SEE, BUT
THAT IS NOT USUALLY HOW THINGS SHAKE OUT, THAT IS WHY DOCTORS
WITHOUT BORDERS HAS SOME HEALTHY SKEPTICISM WHETHER OUR
INVESTIGATION OF IT WILL BE THE CORRECT ONE WITH THE CORRECT
RESULTS.
EVEN IF IT WAS A MISTAKE, THINK ABOUT IT, AREN'T
THE GENERALS GOING TO WANT TO COVER THEIR OWN ASS?
OF COURSE.
EVEN IF YOU PUT THE BEST POSITIVE LIGHT ON IT.
AND BY THE
WAY, YOU CAN TELL THAT THE COVERING OF THE ASSES HAS BEGUN,
BECAUSE THEY HAVE ALREADY CHANGED THEIR STORY FOUR
DIFFERENT TIMES.
JOHN CAMPBELL ON SATURDAY, THE U.S. MILITARY
SAID IT HAS STRUCK A HOSPITAL -- IT DID NOT KNOW IT HAD STRUCK A
HOSPITAL.
THEY ARE LIKE, WE ARE TAKING FIRE IN KUNDUZ GENERALLY,
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE STRUCK A HOSPITAL.
ON SUNDAY THEY CHANGE
IT TO A STRIKE DID TAKE PLACE, BUT IN THE VICINITY OF A
HOSPITAL.
ON MONDAY CAMPBELL CAME OUT AND SAID, OKAY, IT WAS
A HOSPITAL.
THERE WAS A STRIKE, IT WAS THE ACTUAL HOSPITAL.
THAT
U.S. FORCES HAD NOT BEEN THREATENED, BUT THAT AFGHANS
REQUESTED THE STRIKE.
IT MAKES IT SOUND LIKE THE AFGHANS
ORDERED THE STRIKE, WHICH THEY CAN'T DO.
AND TODAY HE
CLARIFIED, THE AFGHANS ASKED FOR IT BUT IT WAS U.S. SPECIAL
FORCES THAT SAID, HIT THIS BUILDING.
AND WE HIT IT.
THAT IS
CLEAR.
>>YEAH, AND MY LAST THOUGHT IS THAT IT IS EASY TO SAY THEN, WE
CAN'T NECESSARILY TRUST THOSE AFGHAN FORCES, OR PERHAPS THEY
MADE SOME SORT OF MISTAKE.
I JUST FINISHED A FINAL JUDGMENT
WHERE THEY SUMMARIZED OUR SPENDING TO TRAIN THE AFGHAN
MILITARY AND POLICE AND MILITIAS AT $65 BILLION.
AT THAT POINT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TRUST THEM, AND YOU
CAN'T.
DON'T SPEND THAT MUCH MONEY IN THE FUTURE.
>>HOW MANY TIMES ARE WE GOING TO ARM FOLKS AND IT TURNS OUT THEY
TURNED AGAINST US, AND THAT MONEY WAS NOT WELL SPENT?
THE
MUJAHEDIN TURNED INTO AL QAEDA, SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS FIGHTING A
PROXY WAR ON OUR BEHALF AGAINST IRAN, HOW DID THAT TURN OUT?
>>SYRIA AS WELL.
AT THE VERY LEAST INEFFECTIVE.
>>AND HOW MUCH MONEY HAVE WE GIVEN TO SAUDI ARABIA AND HOW
MUCH HAVE WE WORKED WITH THEM FOR THEM TO TURN AROUND AND FUND
WAHHABIS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD ATTACKING US,
AND THE STORY GOES ON AND ON, AND YET CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
IN WASHINGTON AND AMERICA IS THAT THE BEST ANSWER IS
INTERVENTION AND MORE INTERVENTION.
DESPITE THE FACT
THAT HISTORY HAS SHOWN THAT TO BE THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF
REALITY.
REALITY AND FACTS ARE UNINTERESTING THINGS TO
WASHINGTON.
HOW DO WE MAKE MONEY, HOW DO WE KEEP DOING THE
SAME THINGS THAT DON'T WORK FOR PUBLIC POLICY, BUT DO WORK FOR
OUR POCKETBOOKS?
THAT IS USUALLY THE ANSWER YOU WILL FIND IN
WASHINGTON.