--- title: "1 Combat veterans Quotes By Michael Hastings" description: "1 Combat veterans quotes by Michael Hastings. Plus more from Michael Hastings and more Combat veterans sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/michael-hastings-6810_afghan_the-general-s-staff-is-a-handpicked-coll_2621423.png" --- > [The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-general-s-staff-is-a-handpicked-collection-of-killers-spies/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/michael-hastings-6810_afghan_the-general-s-staff-is-a-handpicked-coll_2621423.png) ## More by Michael Hastings > [I have a deep-seated skepticism about the morality of violence. Violence is almost always morally corrosive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/i-have-a-deep-seated-skepticism-about-the-morality-of-violence/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [The humanitarian argument is so selective I find it difficult to swallow. It's not even so much about the choice as to where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-humanitarian-argument-is-so-selective-i-find-it-difficult-to/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [If Bill O'Reilly is calling you a far-left critic, in my book, no matter what your political persuasion is, that's probably - that probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-bill-o-reilly-is-calling-you-a-far-left-critic-in-my-book-no/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [I'm post-cynical on this stuff. I look at the El Salvador model as the glory days: Why don't we just fund the death squads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/i-m-post-cynical-on-this-stuff-i-look-at-the-el-salvador-model-as-the/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [Whether or not Afghanistan would be a peaceful nation-state had we not gone into Iraq I doubt. Afghanistan is going to be Afghanistan, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/whether-or-not-afghanistan-would-be-a-peaceful-nation-state-had-we/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [One of their major initiatives was getting all officers on Facebook. So the question is, why are these people who are there to train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/one-of-their-major-initiatives-was-getting-all-officers-on-facebook/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/it-was-interesting-watching-the-afghanistan-war-review-deliberations/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [Inside the White House there were always extreme amounts of doubt about whether they should be escalating in Afghanistan. In fact, most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/inside-the-white-house-there-were-always-extreme-amounts-of-doubt/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [The State Department is essentially... I was going to use the word useless. But I don't know if that's correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-state-department-is-essentially-i-was-going-to-use-the-word/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [If someone tells you something is off the record, I don't print it. If they don't tell me something is off the record, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-someone-tells-you-something-is-off-the-record-i-don-t-print-it-if/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [If you polled the military in Afghanistan as to how many think we should be there or not, the numbers would probably be similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-you-polled-the-military-in-afghanistan-as-to-how-many-think-we/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [Afghanistan would have been difficult enough without Iraq. Iraq made it impossible. The argument that had we just focused on Afghanistan we'd now be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/afghanistan-would-have-been-difficult-enough-without-iraq-iraq-made/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [“Her name has been released to the press. Her photograph is released, too. I want to talk to the press about it. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/her-name-has-been-released-to-the-press-her-photograph-is-released/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [The frightening aspect is that it's part of a larger effort from the Pentagon to tear down the wall between public affairs and propaganda,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-frightening-aspect-is-that-it-s-part-of-a-larger-effort-from-the/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [An information operations team was sent to Afghanistan to conduct various psychological operations on the Afghans and Taliban. The team was then asked not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/an-information-operations-team-was-sent-to-afghanistan-to-conduct/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combat-veterans/michael-hastings/#itemlist", "name": "1 Combat veterans Quotes By Michael Hastings", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at least two dozen combat veterans and counterinsurgency experts. 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