It doesn't matter what we think we are there [in Afghanistan] for; it matters what they think. They think we are invaders.
As an internationalist, I feel that it is simply my duty to fight for Borneo, as it is my duty to fight for Afghanistan or for Venezuela. If someone is ready to support my work and my struggle, I'll be grateful. If no one will, I'll do it on my own, somehow! Attempts to destroy our planet do not wait. Why should I?
Now, here we are, and we have Obama in office, and he has drawn down forces in Iraq - which is a plan that was on Bush's desk the day that he left office. The forces in Afghanistan, he's going to draw down, too. But at the same time, Obama has also expanded a lot of the more unsavory, covert aspects of the wars, with the drone strikes and some of the night-raid missions.
There's an 800 kilometer border between Iran and Afghanistan.
Afghan society is very complex, and Afghanistan has a very complex culture. Part of the reason it has remained unknown is because of this complexity.
The story of what has happened to women in Afghanistan, however, is a very important one, and fertile ground for fiction.
Let's take Pravda in the 1980s. I mean you could have read things in Pravda saying that it was a stupid error to invade Afghanistan: "it was a dumb thing to do, we have to get out, it's costing us too much. " I mean that U. S. analog of that would be "extreme liberalism," and it has been pretty well studied.
The market system rewards me outlandishly for what I do, but that doesn't mean I'm any more deserving of a good life than a teacher or a doctor or someone who fights in Afghanistan.
In a place like Afghanistan where the society is completely segregated, women have access to women. Men cannot always photograph women and cannot get the access that I get.
If we can't understand the Afghan family, we can't understand Afghanistan.
Eighty-five percent cannot read when they enter the security forces of Afghanistan. Why? Because the Taliban withheld education during the period of time in which these men and women would have learned to read.
Afghanistan must never again be a safe haven for terrorism.
Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, or on the red carpet, or in Afghanistan, the better you feel, the better you do your job.
It was interesting watching the Afghanistan war review deliberations, this three-month process where Barack Obama did the most thorough foreign policy review ever by a modern American president. Compare that to Libya. For a month he said we weren't going to do anything, then suddenly changed his mind and did it on the fly. My view is that it's not how long or quick you take to make a decision, it's whether you make the right one.
We [Afghanistan government] were in the process of cleaning up the government when these attacks happened in the north - not only in Kunduz, but also in other provinces. Our special forces are limited - we cannot be everywhere at the same time and we had to defend every district regardless of how insignificant it might be, because of the very social and political makeup of this country.
[ Iraq and Afghanistan] don't get better, they only get worse. Bombing them has only enabled them to grow and multiply.
We have to be concerned that Russia is also increasing its military influence in Egypt, potentially in Libya, also in Afghanistan.
I'm not sure we have the right strategy in Afghanistan. Let me think this over for a few months.
During one of my treks through Afghanistan, we lost our corkscrew. We were compelled to live on food and water for several days.
Military surge in Afghanistan to eliminate the Taliban.