From “The Operators, The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan” by 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 worlds had ever known, they were getting their asses kicked by illiterate peasants who made bombs out of manure and wood….
“Men like [Sir Graeme] Lamb and [General Stanley] McChrystal told themselves they operated within a strict code of honor. A brotherhood and friendship, unique to the warrior brand, trumped all other values. And this is where I saw the flaw. How could they, at the same time, be involved in cover-ups – with Tillman, with torture, with endless allegations of reckless civilian killings? How did those actions fit into the images they had of themselves as honorable men?
The answer, I believed, was that they considered the loyalty that they felt for one another as the highest measure of integrity. Any crime or transgression, any acts of immorality they committed or ordered were excused, in their own minds, by the high principles that guided them. Any act of violence, any atrocity, any action they were called upon or felt compelled to do in order to complete the mission and protect their own pack – whether it was leaking to the press or forcing a president down a path he didn’t want to take – the saw as acceptable….
“What wasn’t permissible was breaking trust, or what they viewed as trust – straying outside the pack. The decade of war had hardened these feelings, creating an almost insurmountable boundary between them and the rest of society.”
