Matt received his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina in 1994, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. Sherman received his master's degree in international relations from Cambridge University in 1996. As a Fulbright Scholar, he worked with the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs on US - Australian trade regulations. He later returned to Chapel Hill and received his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2002. (Source:Wikipedia—But also confirmed by Matt) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Sherman_(lawyer)  Matt’s unique charismatic personality helped him build relationships with all types of players on all sides of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  His resulting perspective would inform the key decision makers in both wars.  The list of people he advised includes General Stanley McChrystal, General David Petraeus, and General John F Campbell.   12:46 Nothing Simple  14:00 Geography plays huge role in how nations evolve  15:30 Long term force presence  17:00  How to interpret the political views regarding now..  18:50 Forever War isn’t the way to look at it  21:00 How wars end  32:20 Afghani Institutions today  33:46 US Mission in Afghanistan  34:30 Reason for Pride in the mission  35:00 What caused 9/11 and will the Taliban be able to enforce prevention of terrorist training camps.  38:40 Justification for Invading Afghanistan and whether the Taliban could have turned over Osama Bin Laden to the US.  41:00 How Important was finding and killing OBL.  44:45  Perceptions of Force  46:20 The Fierce debate in Washington on the first surge in 2006  51:10 Obama Surge  53:20 The psychological impact of leaving  54:30 How many Americans are in Afghanistan against their will right now  56:20  Afghani helpers to the US left there  56:50 Helping People Out of Afghanistan  78:30 Advertisement  88:00 Dan Carlin  93:20 Wars bringing out the best in people.  94:00  Looking for more or broader perspective  100:00 Round up of Saddam’s AirForce  109:30 Colin Powell’s perspectives  1:58:00 Sister BA   Acknowledgments: Thanks to Matt Sherman for his time and the sharing of his perspectives.  Thanks to Sheila Corley for help in general in life and more specifically to this episode helping me consolidate my thoughts for the Intro.  Chad H for showing up.  The Ninja 9 for the intro music.  (Solstice from the Pandemia album.)  Mike Marts for creative connections.  Parkin Corley for writing/playing drums on the outro music.  Brendan Ruane, who is an outstanding audio engineer, for coaching me over the last year plus to help me get to the point where I was able to create the sound mix from this episode by myself….  Shawn G Smith for demanding better from me.