War Machine Page #2

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- Ray.

- Glen.

Grab a seat, boys.

I'm calling myself Richard now,

Pat, if you don't mind.

Oh?

Okay, fine. Uh...

- That's fair. My apologies.

- Hmm.

- Have you settled in, Glen?

- No, Pat, I haven't.

Seems to me that too much settling in

might somehow be at the heart

of the problem we have here.

Small talk.

Should've gone with the weather.

Glen, the president wants you

to get the lay of the land here.

This war's been running eight years now.

President Obama, as you know,

is drawing down troops in Iraq

to refocus our attention on Afghanistan.

Henry Whelan was a good man,

he meant well,

but he just wasn't getting the job done.

Now, given your reputation

and your formidable drive,

our hope is that you're the man

who will get the job done.

First things first. We want you to make

an assessment of the situation here.

Travel the country, talk to people.

At the end of that assessment,

you'll tell us what needs to be done,

how you're gonna get it done

and what you need in order to get it done.

- So, now-

- To that end...

- I'm sorry.

- Oh, you go.

- I thought you were finished.

- You go.

- You sure?

- You go.

- I thought you were finished.

- No.

To that end...

uh, now is probably

a good time to share with you

where the president hopes

that assessment might land.

Obviously, the endgame here

is to just finish this thing.

So, how do we do that?

- Is it by reducing our footprint here?

- The civilian executive.

These were guys who, in Glen's eyes,

hadn't earned their power the way he had,

through hard work and discipline.

I don't know. But whatever it is,

we want you to bring it on home, Glen.

But, whatever you do,

please do not ask the president

for more troops.

No more troops, Glen.

These were men who'd acquired

their power through charm and seduction,

and who seemed to serve no purpose other

than to stand in the way of his greatness.

God, it's so f***ing hot!

F***!

Another f***ing assessment.

How many assessments do they need?

Just one f***ing assessment after another.

They all point the same direction.

Bring General Glen McMahon in here

and do whatever the f*** he says!

Oh...

Settle down, Greg.

They just wanna feel involved, is all.

Wars aren't fought

by nations or by armies.

Wars are fought by men.

There are two types of general

in the American military.

There are those who believe they can win

in the face of all evidence

to the contrary.

And there are those who know they can't.

Unfortunately for the world,

it's the believers

who climb to the top of the ladder.

It's guys like Glen

who get given the keys to the castle.

President Karzai is very much

looking forward to meeting you.

I think you will like each other.

There is no need to be nervous.

I'm not nervous.

F***!

F*** it.

- Ah! General, excuse me.

- Ah.

We are trying

to make this Blu-ray player work.

- Uh, do you know how they function?

- Uh...

Normally, you have those wires with

the red, the yellow and the white plug.

But, uh, this machine seems

only to have this wire.

I can't find where to plug it

into the television.

I'm sorry, Mr. President.

I'm afraid I don't know

a whole lot about technology.

I'm sure I could have somebody come by

and take a look at it for you.

F*** it. Never mind.

I think I need a new television.

I'm sorry, General.

Please, let's sit.

Welcome.

- Thank you, Mr. President.

- Please call me Hamid.

Excuse me.

Please.

Your predecessor, General Whelan,

I liked him.

I'm not entirely certain he liked me.

He didn't visit very often.

Why was he dismissed?

It seems, uh, one minute he was here...

the next minute, not here.

Ah. Well, Mr. President,

I think our government

simply felt it was...

time our effort took a new direction.

- And, uh, what is this new direction?

- Ah!

It is most important to me

that we build Afghanistan.

Together, we build Afghanistan

into a free and prosperous nation.

Free from fear and conflict.

- I see. I see.

- Yeah.

Sounds a lot like the old direction.

No.

But perhaps you yourself

are the new direction.

New strong personality.

New energy. New commitment.

Well, General,

I wish you the best of luck.

Sir, uh... my team and I are about

to embark on a, uh...

a tour of the country

so that we may make an assessment...

...to precisely understand

what is required of us here.

It would be an honor if you would

consider joining me on the tour,

so that our project

might be a unified endeavor.

Hmm.

A sharing of our purpose...

Of our shared purpose.

Thank you for the invitation, General.

Hmm.

- It's very generous.

- Hmm.

But...

I've seen the country.

To get inside

the mind of Glen McMahon,

you really need first to get a handle

on the madness of modern American war.

Lieutenant Colonel Frank Groom.

Welcome to Kandahar, sir.

Nice to meet you, Frank.

I'm here to get the lay of the land.

Counterinsurgency.

In the good old days,

wars were fought

against conventional armies

from nation states.

Guys in uniforms, like Nazis and stuff.

When, however, you've just gone

and invaded a place

that you probably shouldn't have,

you end up fighting against just

regular people in regular-people clothes.

These guys are what are called insurgents.

Basically, they're just guys

who picked up weapons 'cause...

so would you,

if someone invaded your country.

Funnily enough...

insurgencies are next to impossible

to defeat.

And so, if you wanna go on

pretending you can win,

you're really left with no option

but to try to convince

the country you've invaded

that you're actually here to help.

He's saying the Americans

are urinating in the streets,

and, uh, they call us motherfuckers

all day.

It's "motherf***er, motherf***er"

all the time.

And it's considered in our culture

a very bad thing to f*** your own mother.

In ours, too. Uh... in ours, too.

This is counterinsurgency.

It's a popularity contest.

Salaam alaikum.

You're trying

to convince the people

that they're better off with you

than they are with the insurgents.

Basically, it works like this.

You install a local government.

You provide security for the people

so that that democracy can take root.

We're training them up,

taking them out on maneuvers.

You train up the local forces

so that they can provide

the security for themselves.

I mean, they're sweet kids.

They're good kids.

Good-natured. Integrational.

You know, they are very integrational

as a people.

You know, I mean,

they are committed to, uh...

- But, uh...

- Or at least you try to.

I don't know, sir, they're also lazy.

I mean, they really seem

like they don't wanna be here.

They steal our sh*t and, basically,

they're on drugs all the time.

I mean,

they are f***ing high all the time.

Excuse my language, sir.

You do whatever you can

to stimulate the local economy.

Heroin is the only thing

bringing money in.

Not that I like to think where

the money is going to, exactly,

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