Episode 3: Betrayal in the Mountains

In the days after 9/11, America was unified. The mission in Afghanistan was the clearest U.S. war objective since World War II. We had been attacked. We knew who did it. We were going after them. For a moment, everything was simple.

But that simplicity didn't last. And it didn't disappear in the mountains of Afghanistan. It disappeared in Washington.

This episode explains how a righteous mission—backed by the full weight of public support—was quietly overshadowed by a second mission that had nothing to do with 9/11. While Americans were volunteering to enlist and families were preparing for deployments, the nation's political leadership was already pivoting toward Iraq. Not because of new intelligence. Not because of a link to the attacks. But because Iraq was the war they had wanted for years.

Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and the neoconservative bench had spent a decade arguing for preemptive strikes, regime change, and the idea that American power could reshape the world. Iraq was central to that vision. 9/11 handed them the permission slip they needed. But they couldn't sell Iraq outright in 2001—the country was focused on Afghanistan. So Afghanistan became the cover for the war they truly wanted.

Even in the first hours after 9/11, Iraq was already on the table. Notes from high-level meetings show officials pressing to tie Saddam Hussein to the attack, even though every intelligence agency said the opposite. The Pentagon began planning for Iraq long before Afghanistan was stabilized. This wasn't a response to facts. It was a hunt for talking points.

Meanwhile, troops were fighting in terrain that had swallowed armies throughout history. Afghanistan required precision, patience, and total commitment. Instead, the chain of command was split. Missions launched with limited support. Equipment shortages made no sense. Supply delays piled up. Troops on the ground could feel the difference—even if they didn't know the politics behind it.

Afghanistan didn't go sideways because the troops failed. It went sideways because the political class walked away before the mission was finished.

This episode shows how the administration blurred the two wars for the public. Words like "war on terror," "rogue states," and "WMDs" merged Afghanistan and Iraq into a single emotional storyline. Many Americans never realized the shift was happening. They believed Afghanistan was the main focus for years after Washington had already deprioritized it.

For those serving there, this disconnect felt like abandonment.

The betrayal in the title isn't about soldiers or commanders. It's about the strategic decision to treat Afghanistan as a stepping stone instead of a war that mattered. That decision doomed the mission, set the stage for two decades of frustration and loss, and laid the groundwork for a withdrawal that felt like a national gut-punch—not because troops failed, but because their leaders never gave them a complete mission to finish.

This podcast is produced by Bring Our Troops Home, a veteran-led effort to end endless war and restore constitutional limits on when America fights. Our work centers on Defend the Guard legislation—requiring Congress to declare war before the National Guard deploys to foreign battlefields. Not an authorization. A declaration. The standard the Constitution demands.

New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday. Share this if it hits you. America cannot afford another generation that doesn't understand how quickly a righteous war can justify a reckless one.

Welcome to The Truth About Dick Cheney - Betrayal In The Mountains.