Chapter 3, Part 3 Summary

More than a year after Don Rumsfeld's pronouncement of Afghanistan's successes, the Taliban was still a presence in that country, and over 10,000 American troops were still on the ground. Warlords controlled the provinces, and heroin production was resuming. Richard Clarke stated that President Bush had considered Afghanistan as a "detour" on the road to Iraq. The U.S. succeeded in stabilizing only the major cities. Also, the borders were not secured early, allowing a majority of Al Qaeda to escape.

From early 2003 to 2004, humanitarian agencies in Kandahar shrank from twenty-six to five, due to the increasing violence. A report was written about the inability of the commanders to adapt and fight an unconventional war conventionally.

The policy of paying warlords turned out only to "rent" their cooperation, and many refused to recognize President Hamid Karzai. Soon thereafter, many U.S. Special...