During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the military conducted only a handful of drone missions. Michael Hastings More Quotes by Michael Hastings More Quotes From Michael Hastings The simple and terrifying reality, forbidden from discussion in America, was that despite spending $600 billion a year on the military, despite having the best fighting force the world had ever known, they were getting their asses kicked by illiterate peasants who made bombs out of manure and wood. Michael Hastings fighting military reality A woman I loved [Andi Parhamovich] was killed in Baghdad in January 2007 – al-Qaeda in Iraq took credit for it … The memorial service with me crying over an empty coffin. Michael Hastings baghdad memorial iraq I have a deep-seated skepticism about the morality of violence. Violence is almost always morally corrosive. Michael Hastings skepticism morality violence Gore Vidal, Glenn Greenwald, Noam Chomsky, talk about how the U.S. became a national security state after World War II. Essentially there's this bipartisan foreign policy elite who've been calling the shots for the last few decades and they're clearly still in control regardless of how clownish or absurd they demonstrate themselves to be. There's no shaking their orthodoxy. To me it was the most depressing thing, these full-scale military interventions firsthand for a number of years, seeing how quickly we can get involved in another war with very little debate. Michael Hastings depressing military war The idea of aerial military surveillance dates back to the Civil War, when both the Union and the Confederacy used hot-air balloons to spy on the other side, tracking troop movements and helping to direct artillery fire. Michael Hastings military air war General McChrystal wanted to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Michael Hastings rolling-stones rolling stones I had a recurring fantasy in which I took (Rudy Giuliani) out during a press conference (it was nonlethal, just something that put him out of commission for a year or so), saving America from the horror of a President Giuliani. If that sounds like I had some trouble being 'objective,' I did. Michael Hastings president america years I made this bad joke on Twitter saying, "I want to put in my first no-bid contract to train the Libyan army and police force." These counter-insurgency guys like to say, "We don't do the big F-16 or big boondoggle projects, we're not pulling this stuff because it's good business." But in fact it turns out there are tons of business opportunities involving counter-insurgency operations - and it's not like we're getting rid of the boondoggle programs either, we're just doing more of everything. Michael Hastings army guy opportunity I think when war becomes your life, I think its very difficult to have the proper perspective to be able to create a fully balanced policy. Michael Hastings perspective war thinking I thought Gen. McChrystal was unfireable, that his position was secure. Michael Hastings secure position I want to be the greatest investigative reporter of my generation. Michael Hastings greatest-generation generations want The military sensed weakness, exploited it and played Barack Obama. Obama's foreign policy has been consistently hawkish despite this reluctant warrior schtick that he pulls. But at the end of the day a reluctant warrior is still a warrior. Look at the drone strikes, the tripling of the war in Afghanistan, and now Libya. I'm convinced that had Obama been in the Senate in 2003 he would have voted for the Iraq war. He's clearly easily convinced by his advisers and the Pentagon. Michael Hastings weakness military war By the second sentence of a pitch, the entirety of the story should be explained. Michael Hastings sentences should stories Despite failing to get bin Laden, the U.S. government and media portrayed the early Afghanistan war as a great victory. Michael Hastings media government war Inside the White House there were always extreme amounts of doubt about whether they should be escalating in Afghanistan. In fact, most of the president's advisers said, "This is probably not going to work." A lot of people in the military said, "This is probably not going to work." If the thumbnail version of the Iraq war was that George W.Bush lied about mass destruction weapons, the thumbnail version of Barack Obama's war in Afghanistan is that the generals pushed him into a war he didn't want to fight. Michael Hastings fighting military war The fact is, psychiatric help is not widely available to CIA agents - and as in the military, there is a stigma attached to admitting post-traumatic stress. Michael Hastings cia-agents stress military When writing for a mass audience, put a fact in every sentence. Michael Hastings mass writing facts Look, I went into journalism to do journalism, not advertising. Michael Hastings advertising journalism looks One of their major initiatives was getting all officers on Facebook. So the question is, why are these people who are there to train the Afghans being pressured to be on Facebook? Again, it sounds benign until you realize that the military's concern isn't the Afghans, it's convincing the American people that we should be in Afghanistan.Soldiers can put up pictures and say "See how happy the Afghans are because of our presence here." It's a way to directly influence the American people using propaganda. Michael Hastings realizing soldier people The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at least two dozen combat veterans and counterinsurgency experts. They jokingly refer to themselves as Team America, taking the name from the South Park-esque sendup of military cluelessness, and they pride themselves on their can-do attitude and their disdain for authority. Michael Hastings team military attitude
