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...such a public message on the use of arms? Why shouldn't I? I want the Afghan people to know what we are about. I am not scared about the Taliban knowing that we are going to go protect the population, because at the end of the day, they can't stop us. They can resist that, but they can't stop us from doing that. So I think everyone knowing that that is our intent reinforces with the Afghan populace that obviously we are on their side. But it also reinforces in our force that that is the important...
...because you went after the fly with the sledgehammer. What happens is, you have made the insurgency wider. You are going to run into more IEDs (improvised explosive devices), you are going to run into more insurgents, you are going to run into a more difficult place. At the end of the day you are going to suffer more casualties. Our effort is going to be harder and potentially unsuccessful. So what I am asking them to do is just step back and take a more strategic look and try to put themselves in the position of the Afghan people...
...human being. In this war, the human being is the most important thing in every point. The most important is the human being in the Afghan population that is making their decision on who they are going to back. It is more important than the enemy. Because at the end of the day, the Taliban, each of them are making a decision to participate in an insurgency, and we are trying to convince them that was a mistake. Some of them we won't be able to convince, and some we will. And then the most important...
...What benchmarks will be most important to track your progress? I think it will be governance. We are going to do security. But that is to enable governance. At the end of the day, the amount of the population, the percentage of the population in the areas we serve, that we can provide enough legitimate governance in the eyes of the individuals, will determine our effectiveness. Because we are competing with the Taliban for influence and control of the population. The analogy that a smart young guy I work with is that it is an argument. In conventional war, what...
...they can protect sanctuaries for insurgents. So what we are looking at hard right now is not only how we can combat them but also what are they trying to do with them, what is their real intent. What we found, in Iraq and here, is that at the end of the day, there is no single technological silver bullet. What you have to do is establish rule of law and control, so that placing IEDs is very difficult and not accepted by the populace. And you drive them down that...