ambassador dobbins certainly mentioned some of the better things that have come out of, specifically, the war in afghanistan. but let me set that within another set of figures and statistics with iraq. after 8.8 years of war, 4,486 americans killed, thousands more with life-changing wounds depending on which estimate you want to take, close to $3 trillion american dollars spent, iraq itself close to a quarter of a million iraqis killed, that many more seriously wounded, close to a million displaced from their original homes, very few have returned. we've replaced one strong arm leader with another, this one nouri al-maliki, is allied closely with our regional adversary, iran. then we look at afghanistan. close to 2200 americans killed, that many more seriously wounded, close to a trillion dollars spent, tens of thousands of afghans killed. i know this is -- i often ask myself this a counterfactual or historical hypothetical, and i ask this just to try to set in context what these wars have cost relative to what we've achieved. and i ask myself if the united states had gone into iraq l

it is what ambassador dobbins said. at the beginning of these wars come the strategy and the policy that puts them and lace in the first place. that is what iraq and afghanistan has turned on. not whether or not the army didn't have the right manual in 2003 than in 2006. >> we will open up the questions to the audience. ask in the form of a question and give your name and credentials. gentleman in the back. >> my name is [indiscernible] i am currently a 2013 fellow in the south asia program. my doctoral research was on afghanistan. i agree that there have been a lot of problems. i will put this in the form of a question. there was a dire lack of understanding, the link just between tribes, power bases, and how karzai is utilizing different tribal bases, tribal families, groups to maintain himself. it is not a bad thing in itself that he is trying to do, maintain power in the country. any leader would want to do that. it is the same dynamic overall. i find that the united states entirely misunderstood afghan society, whi

it is what ambassador dobbins said. the beginning of these wars wars, the strategy and the policy that puts them and lace in the first place. -- in place in the first place. that is what iraq and afghanistan has turned on. not whether or not the army didn't have the right manual in 2003 than in 2006. >> we will open up the questions to the audience. ask in the form of a question and give your name and credentials. gentleman in the back. >> my name is [indiscernible] i am currently a 2013 fellow in the south asia program. my doctoral research was on afghanistan. i agree that there have been a lot of problems. i will put this in the form of a question. there was a dire lack of understanding, the link just between tribes, power bases, and how karzai is utilizing different tribal bases, tribal families, groups to maintain himself. it is not a bad thing in itself that he is trying to do, maintain power in the country. any leader would want to do that. it is the same dynamic overall. it is done here. i find that the united st