Truth, lies and Afghanistan
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| Rafiq Maqbool/AP |
A U.S soldier of 82nd Airborne patrols near a forward base in the Ghorak district of Kandahar southern Afghanistan.
Below excerpt fr. botn
'Truth, Lies And Afghanistan'
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis ignited a controversy when he wrote that after serving in Afghanistan, "What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by U.S. military leaders about conditions on the ground." In a piece he wrote for the Armed Forces Journal, Lt. Col. Davis states that there's an "absence of success on virtually every level" in Afghanistan and that "the American people deserve better than what they've gotten from their senior uninformed leaders". This criticism comes just as the Pentagon announced plans to wind down combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2013 and raises questions about the realities of the war in Afghanistan. Host Neal Conan speaks with Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and defense analyst Tom Donnelly about Lt. Col. Davis' concerns and what — if anything — to do about them. Johnathan Landay, correspondent for the McClatchy Newspapers, also joins the conversation to talk about the current state of affairs in Afghanistan.