Richard Holbrooke: “I want to underscore the core difference between Vietnam and Afghanistan-Pakistan. And it is 9/11.”

There's no Ho Chi Minh. There's no Slobodan Milosevic. There's no Palestinian Authority.

The western part of Pakistan, the lawless areas, are the epicenter of the issues that threaten our country.

Why are we in Afghanistan? The short, simple answer is: 9/11, direct threats to our national security interests.

We have ended poppy eradication, a radical change, because all we were doing by eradicating poppy seeds--poppy crops--was driving farmers--poor farmers--into the hands of the Taliban.