Charlie Rose

SharkswithfrikingLazers  07/14/2012 03:38 AM Report

Dexter needs a brush and a comb and to straighten that tie.

Then again "Mr. Maybe" may need to go the other way and mess his hair up more, loosen his tie more and be leaning on a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Then when we see the clips of the military we will have additional theater.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  07/14/2012 03:16 AM Report

He tells us, 'We can't kill our way out of this because the Taliban can regenerate.'

How do they regenerate?

Via Religion? Then provide money to mosques to help the poor and discourage recruitment.

They just increase their payroll? Hire them for a dollar more before the Taliban gets them.

The hate for America is so great? Send teams village-to-village to improve their infrastructure and reward peaceful behavior with livestock.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  07/14/2012 03:07 AM Report

He tells us, 'Afghanistan is a giant criminal enterprise."

New York City was a giant criminal enterprise around Times Square. How was that cleaned up?

This whole war thing should have been throttled back at the beginning. It is a criminal thing.

There needs to be a rule of law. The Taliban established one and that is how they controlled the country. If those misogynist losers can do it surely we can do it for a trillion dollars.

Deputize anyone who can use a gun and operates a prefrontal cortex. (Yes, I have heard the stories and I know it is easier said than done.)

finalfantasytown  07/13/2012 01:52 AM Report

suddenly, I understand a lot on human history, Gods in history, and God of history: why Roman empire, why Marco Polo, why Mongol empire, why world exploration, why other countries didn't conquer the world while Great Britain did it, why United States. But I still don't understand the wrongdoing of the university refusal.

docmidnyte  07/12/2012 11:24 PM Report

I love how Philkins always looks like he literally just flew in. Like, landed on the studio roof.

Max83  07/11/2012 06:36 PM Report

I think the USA will maybe ''officially'' leave Afghanistan for domestic American political reasons and agendas and also to calm down Anti-Americanism in the region, but will remain in Afghanistan ''unofficially'' through their embassy, just like they did in Baghdad, Iraq and also through private military contractors, so they can claim that there are no or only very few American government troops in Afghanistan anymore, but there will be private/contracted American troops in Afghanistan paid by the American Government.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_the_United_States,_Kabul :

''The embassy re-opened after the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 and was under construction until early 2006, when U.S. President George W. Bush along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai held an innauguration ceremony. The U.S. State Department is spending another $500 million to further expand its premises, which is scheduled to be completed in 2014.[3]''

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_the_United_States,_Baghdad :

''The Embassy of the United States in Baghdad is the largest and most expensive of any embassy in the world. At 440,000 square meters it is nearly as large as Vatican City.[1] It also employs 15,000 people and cost $750 million to build. The Embassy opened in January 2009 following a series of construction delays. It replaced the previous embassy, which opened July 1, 2004 in Baghdad's Green Zone in a former Palace of Saddam Hussein.[2]''

The embassy in Kabul at 500 million Dollars almost cost as much as the 750 million Dollar embassy in Baghdad, which lets me know that the State Department has absolutely no intent to leave Afghanistan and to leave it to the Taliban. If they truly would have wanted to leave Afghanistan on their own they would have maybe invested 50 million max into the embassy but not 500 million.

After I have studied all different sides of this issue I think it is smart and wise to stay in Afghanistan and Iraq long term through the use of military bases ''camouflaged'' as embassies hahahaha

I am naturally a very pacifistic person, however I think it is necessary for the USA to have long term bases of operation in these volatile regions in case they blow up, so they can engage any aggressors directly without having to fly in troops from abroad, even if it is being used by certain groups within Iraq and probably in Afghanistan too to create Anti-American sentiments.

From the NY Times February 7th 2012:

U.S. Planning to Slash Iraq Embassy Staff by as Much as Half

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/world/middleeast/united-states-planning-to-slash-iraq-embassy-staff -by-half.html?_r=1

''This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 9, 2012

A headline on Wednesday about the State Department’s plans to reduce the size and scope of the United States Embassy in Iraq overstated what is known about the effort. As the article noted, officials in Baghdad and Washington say the planned American diplomatic presence in Iraq could be slashed by as much as half; it is not certain that it would be slashed in half.''

Those embassies in Kabul and Baghdad are something to be in awe of that is for sure, if you like them or not.

tabs  07/11/2012 02:24 PM Report

In the end it does look like America has not learned the lessons taught by the Vietnam war. It was not that Afghanistan was an unnecessary endeavor, for America had to deny Al Qaeda it's sanctuary in Afghanistan and had to respond militarily to 911 or lose credibility as the "Guarantor of Global Security since WW2." However it will forever be a mar on the record of the GW Bush Presidency to take the eye off the ball in Afghanistan and commit its resources to Iraq. From that moment on the window of opportunity to do something different in Afghanistan began to erode.

So the question becomes how did the Americans think that they could accomplish something different than everyone since Alexander has failed to accomplish. The answer is that the "Ugly American" hubris again began to rear its head in the form of trying to apply its Western hierarchical bureaucratic methods onto a decentralized Central Asian tribal culture. America once again fell back on the familiar bureaucratic method of using statical metrics as a measure of its success. To which Afghanistan's functionaries learned very quickly how to schmooze the Americans with those very metrics, to mollify in order to get the money.

It is a very ironic thing that at this juncture of history, with America being on the road of unsustainable monetary and fiscal policies, with the cliff of insolvency being just ahead that America would embark on an adventure in a region known as the "GRAVE YARD OF EMPIRES." In the end America may have become just another victim in that grave yard after all.

SandyKellermann  07/11/2012 01:06 PM Report

Charlie...I have watched and listened to you since the inception of the Charlie Rose Show...you keep us enlightened and aware, THANK YOU.

SandyKellermann  07/11/2012 01:04 PM Report

This was tantalizing and sadly not shocking esp with the feedback we get at Homefront Hugs dot org from families and veterans coming home and still there. EXCELLENT interview and info ....so when do we take our heads out of the sand and face reality? Dexter was bold and honest, and we need to cut through the BS now and listen to those who have been there and seen what really is going on. Lives have been lost, and are being lost...how many more? Bring them home now.

ShalomFreedman  07/11/2012 01:01 PM Report

I would think that the nuclear weapons in the hands of Pakistan which might fall to terrorists would be a major concern here. I would have in fact thought it would be the first concern. Dexter Filkins does not talk about this. Why?

BENEZRAA  07/11/2012 12:06 PM Report

A DISTURBING REPORT ON SO MANY LEVELS

How does allowing Afghanistan to disintegrate benefit anyone?

Is supporting "VICE" [Vertically Integrated Corrupt Enterprise] the best we can do there?

What if anything has been gained by Afghanistan or the USA as a result of our long weekend in Afghanistan?

Have we decided that the Taliban may well be the better choice as compared to VICE?

REMant  07/11/2012 11:26 AM Report

Well, Gen Allen told us why we're hearing this kind of disconnected talk. Nixon called it "peace with honor." The $16 billion pledged the other day is conscience money. And we'll no doubt soon begin to see a lot of Afghans in the DC suburbs.