border areas: Abbas, “A Profile of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.”
CHAPTER 20: EXECUTE
instinctive aversion to violence: President Karzai has noted that his role models are famous pacifists—Gandhi, and his friend and contemporary, a Pashtun leader named Ghaffar Khan. See Elizabeth Rubin, “Karzai in His Labyrinth,” New York Times Magazine, August 4, 2009.
trump card: Content of Taliban propaganda comes from an interview with an intelligence analyst deployed to Helmand 2009–11.
more than sixty tribes: Interview with intelligence analyst deployed to Helmand 2009–11.
slow, dangerous work: Jeffery Dresser, Operation Moshtarak: Taking and Holding Marjah, Institute for the Study of War, March 2, 2010, 4–5.
Taliban they had encountered: Julius Cavendish, “Afghanistan War: Marjah Battle as Tough as Fallujah, Say U.S. Troops,” Christian Science Monitor, February 14, 2010.
apologizing for the incident: Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force, “ISAF Weapon Fails to Hit Intended Target, 12 Civilians Killed” (press release), February 14, 2010.
On Wednesday, February 17: Details of Governor Mangal’s appearance that day can be found in Patrick Baz, “Afghans Raise Flag as U.S. Says Offensive ‘Going Well,’” Sydney Morning Herald, February 18, 2010.
on top of a bamboo pole: “Afghan Governor Raises Flag over Marjah Bizaar,” AFP, February 17, 2010.
staff from a few days earlier: Ibid.
seven hundred Marjah residents: Dressler, Operation Moshtarak, 6, citing the Associated Press, “Afghan Government Claims Taliban Stronghold,” MSNBC website, February 25, 2010.
that week, was in attendance: They had been there since Tuesday (ibid).
“the point at which you have”: Carter and Zazai are quoted in Michael M. Phillips, “Afghan Flag Marks a Turning Point in Marjah,” Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2010.
school into bases: Sangar Rahimi and Richard A. Oppel Jr., “Afghanistan’s President Receives a Mixed Reception in a Visit to Newly Won Marjah,” New York Times, March 7, 2010.
an old man: Mel Preen, “President Karzai Visits Marjah” (news video), NATO TV, March 8, 2010. Available on the NATO TV website.
“Their hands have been stained”: Mohammed Elyas Daee and Abubakr Siddique, “In Marjah, New Gains Could Offer Escape from Tragic Past,” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, March 9, 2012.
to gain a toehold: Ibid.
actively campaigning against: Paul Wiseman, “Despite U.S. Gains, Afghan City Still Feels Intimidation,” USA Today, June 11, 2010. The article reports that Abdul Rahman Jan accused the Americans of bringing in an “outsider,” since Abdul Zahir was from Musa Qala, not Marjah.
crowd erupted in cheers: Rahimi and Oppel Jr., “Mixed Reception,” New York Times, March 7, 2010.
“Shame on you”: Aziz Ahmed Tassal, “Karzai Faces Anger in Marjah,” Asia Times, March 19, 2010.
“We exchanged views”: Preen, “Karzai Visits Marjah” (news video).
folksy greetings: Interview with Afghan military officer present on the trip. The New York Times similarly noted that Karzai “appeared to win [the crowd] over on occasion with his crisp and simple language, spoken in the accent of his native Kandahar.” Rahimi and Oppel Jr., “Mixed Reception.”