U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke: We're in Afghanistan because it really matters. We're in Afghanistan because if we fail in Afghanistan, it will have a direct, immediate danger to us. It will increase al-Qaeda's worldwide reach. They will come back with the Taliban in all likelihood, and they will gain a worldwide success which will be very dangerous for our national security interests. So we have to be clear. The American public needs to be clear on why we're in Afghanistan. This is not Vietnam, a war which I participated in as a State Department civilian in the lower Mekong Delta when I entered the government. This is not the Balkans. It's not Iraq. This is quite different, and this one relates directly to our safety at home.
