After the september 11th attacks, and initially he was involved with u. S. Efforts at the u. N. Security council to freeze and block assets linked to alqaeda. But after the invasion of ric in 2003 of iraq in 2003, he ended up in baghdad among the First American diplomats sent to the iraqi capital. And then he went on to spend seven years in either iraq or afghanistan advising u. S. Forces and working with local authorities and others. Kaels service, for which he received the secretary of states medal for heroism, was uncommon not only for the amount of time he was posted in iraq or afghanistan, but also for the range of his contacts and the depth of his involvement with american troops and local civilians. His new book, the mirror test, recounts his personal journey, and it also provides a closeup, gritty, emotional portrait of the, of the wars that america has been engaged in now for well over a decade. Kaels very critical of americas failures in both conflicts and makes a point of hi
A in either iraq or afghanistan advising u. S. Forces and working with local authorities and others. His service for which he received the secretary of states medal for heroism was uncommon, not only for the about of time he was posted in iraq or afghanistan but also for the range of his contacts and the depth of his involvement with american troops and local civilians. His new book, the mirror test america at war in iraq and afghanistan recounts his personal journey and also provides a closeup, greedy, emotional portrait of the wars that america has been engaged in now for well over a decade. Kael has been critical of america in both conflicts and makes a point of highlighting the tremendous human costs of the conflicts, the dead and wounded troops, and the meaning civilian casualties. Hes haunted in particular by one u. S. Military mission in iraq in early 2005 that ended in a Helicopter Crash killing 30 marines and one navy corpsman. He remains the single largest casual incident in
Afghanistan. It means half have nod not but its bang for the buck. Best money we spent in eastern afghanistan was 5,000, and how much does a drone cost . How much does a tank cost . How much does daves salary cost . 5,000 to do what . We basically provided taxi fare for all of the bus students to get in the come down from the mountains and go to host university. The only role the americans had was to make sure that the drivers dropped them off at the university, and took them back. Thats 5,000 bucks. Just trying to be wise more than smart. I think wisdom west. Coms at the end. As i gatemer gray hair i can relate to that. Time for one moreey. Sounds like the money was spent you did the best you could. You were directing us through the photographs in the book and i spend time on the photos. I was taken by this one here that shows barneys cereal bowl on display in the bush library with ai and mia badges and bracelets. A damning picture and showed the attitude. The host question comes at t
Suv and come down from the mountains and go to host university, the only role the americans had was to make sure the drivers drop them off at the university and took them back. That was 5000 bucks. We have time for one more question. You were were directing us to the photograph in this book. I was taken by this one here that shows bernies cereal bowl at the white house on a display in the bush library with a bunch of kia and mia badges and bracelets. Its a damning picture and it shows the attitude. The hardest question, at the end, youre the first person to ask me about the bush museum photos. I can talk a long time about how we manage which photos got in, potato factory bush. All im going to say is i went to the museum and i saw what i saw. So barney had a role in a runup to the world, how, he was the president ial dog when the city had the annual White House Television Correspondents Dinner and they had a spoof in the oval office about where is the wnd. I was in iraq at the time, it
Were almost out of time. I see a young lady eager. Im going to get this little girl here and then well have to move on. You talk too much. Y first, mr. Aldrin, i would like to say thank you for your service to the country, your continuing influence. I was reading a book and im wondering where are you going to scuba dive with crocodiles . Where do you want to . Well, he is not going to scuba dive with crocodiles anymore. Why would you scuba dive with crocodiles . With a tank on my back and slippers on my feet, when i got out of the water at crocodile runs much faster. He was going to, but he changed his mind probably wisely. He said i didnt want to lose a hand. Lets take this young lady here. What is the one thing he would have done differently in your careers yet, would you have done differently. I can think of all kinds of things youre going to say. I told nasa dog canceled out maneuvering that back. Just because you dont want a little failure of success. I want to fly that that pack,