The war on terror, that began on 9/11/2001 still goes on.  The war in Afghanistan that began shortly after, that was once dubbed “the good war,” is America's longest war.  Sadly the landscape of that nation today, does not reflect the either the lives or treasure that Americans gave to it. 

War is always complicated.  Once the battle is joined, the game plans often go out the window.  Yet when one looks at the mistakes America made in Afghanistan, they were not so much about battle plans or strategy, they were a reflection of a fundamental misreading of history, culture, nuance and the reality of people being different than ourselves.  In an interconnected and globalized world, this is and will continue to be a recipe for repeated disaster.

Anand Gopal spent years covering the war, embedded with both American and Taliban forces.  His reporting culminates in his debut book,  No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes.

My conversation with Anand Goapl: