Blunders in Afghanistan - Some Understatements

"I think we made some, several, mistakes back in 2002," he said."I think it was probably a mistake to delay a serious effort at reconciliation really until 2011. I think an effort to integrate those of the Taliban who were willing to come over, who were willing to operate within the new dispensation, who were willing to accept the constitution as it was evolving at the time, those initiatives would have been better if they were taken earlier."
"Secondly, I think it was a mistake not to have deployed a substantial peacekeeping force in the country beyond Kabul.James Dobbins, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
"Of course the decision to move onto Iraq ultimately made it more difficult for us to turn our focus back to Afghanistan when the situation eroded there." MORE