“One of their major initiatives was getting all officers on Facebook. So the question is, why are these people who are there to train the Afghans being pressured to be on Facebook? Again, it sounds benign until you realize that the military's concern isn't the Afghans, it's convincing the American people that we should be in Afghanistan.Soldiers can put up pictures and say "See how happy the Afghans are because of our presence here." It's a way to directly influence the American people using propaganda.”
![“An information operations team was sent to Afghanistan to conduct various psychological operations on the Afghans and Taliban. The team was then asked not to focus on the Taliban but on manipulating senators into giving more funds and troops [to the war].” quote by Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/44d/michael-hastings-6810_afghanistan_an-information-operations-team-was-sent_395510.jpg)
![“The bureaucratic culture that we [Afghanistan] have inherited is an obstacle. Hierarchies may be extremely efficient for dealing with certain events, but they are not quick in responding to global, flexible networks.” quote by Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8c9/ashraf-ghani-4964_afghanistan_the-bureaucratic-culture-that-we-afghani_2863342.jpg)
![“Thousands of Americans have given their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq upholding their oaths and defending this nation. Chelsea Manning broke her oath and made it more likely that others would join the ranks of her fallen comrades. Her prison sentence may end in a few months' [time], but her…” quote by John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/788/john-mccain-465_afghanistan_thousands-of-americans-have-given-their_26162.jpg)