American officials during Vietnam felt they had nothing to learn from the failures of the French. Evidently officials overseeing Afghanistan felt no need to learn from the failures of our own last disastrous war. washingtonpost.com/history/2019/1
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The hubris of American “exceptionalism” blinded us as well to the fact that much could’ve been learned from the experience of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the 1980s.
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Not without reason, Afghanistan has been known as "the graveyard of empires."
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To be fair, the French didn't exactly have a great century when it came to war. So it is somewhat understandable that the Pentagon thought they could do better.
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I appreciate this memorial about my father by @ggrenwald above any I have read today--for his comprehensive review of his bio & history, for his attention to themes generally overlooked about his post-Vietnam life, but particularly for deep appreciation of his human qualities.🙏
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Here's my @RollingStone article on Daniel Ellsberg, the heroic Pentagon Papers leaker who died today at 92:
"We’re Told Never to Meet Our Childhood Heroes. Knowing Daniel Ellsberg Proved That Wrong"
rollingstone.com/politics/polit
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