War Machine Page #5

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Karzai ain't that guy.

You gotta understand,

what we're trying to do here

is like raising a child.

And a child needs two parents.

Two parents who love it

and each other very much.

That's what it needs, above all else.

Well, then your wife, Mrs. Karzai...

I'm assuming that you're the daddy

in this metaphorical relationship-

We suspect your wife, Karzai,

might be a drug addict.

He eliminated his chief opponent

in this election

by spreading

a pretty vicious homosexual rumor,

and we're pretty sure that his brother

is a straight-up criminal warlord.

Oh, come on, Pat!

You got a bee in your bonnet.

You just don't like him for some reason,

whatever it is. And seriously...

Anyway, I wanna know,

how is Washington any different, huh?

Seriously! Tell me!

Hmm?

Yeah.

You can't.

On page 74 of One Leg at a Time,

Just Like Everybody Else,

Glen wrote, and I quote,

"A good leader lives by a set of rules.

A great leader knows when to break them. "

Morning.

- Morning, all.

- Sir.

- Morning.

- Morning, sir.

Morning, boys.

- Morning, sir.

- Boss.

Morning, Matt. You're up early.

Uh, yes, sir. We've got a problem.

Somebody leaked your report.

The Washington Post has a copy.

No.

- Somebody gave it to Bob Woodward.

- Woodward? No.

Oh, my God almighty.

You find the source?

Sir, the source?

Uh, this is terrible.

Goddamn terrible news.

Do you hear that?

Someone leaked the assessment.

- Oh, terrible.

- Terrible. Shocking.

- Shocking.

- Shocking.

- Terrible.

- Shocking.

Yeah, well...

I don't think it really matters

who leaked the assessment.

Question is,

what are we gonna do about it?

I wanna do the 60 Minutes interview.

Sir, as your senior PAO,

I must counsel strongly against it.

It would be foolhardy.

I really don't think

now's the time to court media attention.

At the very moment,

allegations are being made

- that you leaked this report yourself.

- I'm choosing to embrace the leak, Simon.

I don't seem to be getting any traction.

Do you know what I'm saying? Traction?

We got ourselves a president

who appears not to be aware of the fact

that the United States is

at war right now,

and he's that war's commander in chief.

- I gotta get me some traction.

- You need cut through.

Exactly. Cut through. You need to get me

some goddamn cut through.

I can handle that for you, sir.

Sorry. No offense, Simon,

how exactly are you gonna do that?

I'll quieten this whole situation down.

Again, I'm sorry,

I don't wanna start a fight here.

And please forgive me

for speaking for you, sir.

But the general didn't hire me

to make things quiet, okay?

Look, you're so good at your job,

but that job is basically

writing press releases.

Here's the thing about press releases.

Nobody reads 'em, okay?

They're boring.

And they're bullshit.

And everyone knows they're bullshit.

Correct me if I'm wrong,

you hired me to make some noise.

You know, the right kind of noise.

Our... noise.

Pete.

- Boss.

- Move those vehicles to the right.

I wanna make sure the M-ATVs are

clearly visible in the background.

Copy that.

They're...

They're completely blocking them.

- This one?

- Both of them.

Just get 'em out of there.

Get 'em out of there!

Hey. How're we doing over here? Good?

- Great.

- You good? Good. Okay.

- Yeah, I think we're getting close.

- Oh, that's exciting.

I don't wanna interrupt.

I mean, I know you have your own

world of questions to ask in there.

You might wanna think about

asking the general...

how much face time

he's had with the president

since taking over the position.

Okay.

Yeah. You know, if you run out

of stuff to talk about or whatever.

You're welcome.

Yes, the leak was unfortunate.

There's no denying it.

It's unfortunate.

One would always choose

to mull these things over

in the... the sensible calm

of the proper quiet places.

But this war is tough. War is tough.

And... And the president

has tough decisions to make.

How many times have you spoken

to the president since you've been here?

Since I've been here in Afghanistan,

leading ISAF?

Yes.

Uh...

Once. I've spoken to the president once.

By video teleconference.

You've spoken to the president

once in, what, 70 days?

That's right.

You're the leader

of US forces in Afghanistan,

and you have spoken to the president

once in 70 days?

- Yes, ma'am.

- Why is that?

Uh... I don't know. Uh...

I'm guessing he's... very busy.

Probably.

What the f***'s

the matter with you, Glen?

Are you out of your mind?

One second we're dealing

with this so-called f***ing leak,

the next you're on the f***ing television

backing the president into the most

ham-fisted corner I've ever seen.

I honestly believe you've made it

your sole mission to f*** me.

Well, Dick, I answered the questions

that were asked of me.

- I thought I was being fair.

- It's not a question of fair, Glen.

It's a question of what the f***

were you doing on the television?

- Why am I seeing you on the television?

- Oh.

Now we gotta fix this.

We gotta find a way

of taking the heat out of this thing.

Now you've gone and lit a f***ing fire

under it! Do you understand?

- Yeah, I see.

- Here's where we're gonna start.

You're gonna get on the phone

to Bob Gates and-

Hang on, Dick. You're cutting out.

I can't hear you. Can you hear me?

Yeah, I can hear you.

And please stop calling me Dick!

Sh*t. Something's wrong.

I can't hear a word you're saying.

Let me, uh... let me try this.

- Can you hear me now?

- Yeah, I can hear you.

Okay, something's wrong here.

Hold on a minute, Dick.

- Oh, God.

- Andy, get your ass in here!

- Yes, sir.

- Got a problem.

- I can't hear a word Dick's saying.

- Uh-huh.

He can hear me, but I can't hear him.

- All right, can you hear us now?

- Yeah, I can hear you.

- What about now, Mr. Dick, sir?

- Yeah, I can hear you!

I'm... I'm sorry.

- I'm sorry, Dick.

- Oh, gosh!

Can't hear a word you're saying.

Andy's gonna have to work on this,

and pronto!

- Yes, sir.

- This is goddamn unacceptable.

No, no, we need to talk.

I'll talk to you later, Dick.

We need to finish...

We need to finish this thing.

Well done.

- Thank you, sir.

- Well done.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the President of the United States.

Thank you.

I wanna speak to you tonight

about our effort in Afghanistan.

It's an extraordinary honor for me

to do so here at West Point,

where so many men and women

have prepared to stand up for our security

and to represent

what is finest about our country.

As your commander in chief,

I owe you a mission

that is clearly defined...

- Yes, you do.

- ... and worthy of your service.

And that's why I insisted

on a thorough review of our strategy.

And as commander in chief,

I have determined that

- it is in our vital national interest...

- Mmm-hmm.

...to send an additional 30,000 US troops

to Afghanistan.

After 18 months,

our troops will begin to come home.

I do not make this decision lightly.

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