THE TRUE 1% Thank you for 20 years of no 9-11s. These veterans represent the thousands who volunteered to stand between us and those at war with America. They protected our nation and gave us peace. American servicemen – the true 1 % of our population – deserve all the credit for American resolve, tenacity, agility, and success. Our military was victorious every day for 20 years in Afghanistan. Thank you Dan Crenshaw, Jocko Willink, David Goggins, Jonny Kim, and Chris Kyle (RIP). [From my FB and Ricochet posts from 1 September 2021. I am currently listening to Dan Crenshaw’s book Fortitude.]
One detractor to my post wrote (this is unedited, including typos, from my FB page):
I listened to a father on NPR tell his story of losing his son in Afghanistan at the Kabul airport bombing. His son was 20 years old. The father’s story saddened me a great deal, reminded me of how U.S. imperialism, 20-years of occupating a sovereign nation, has wasted over two trillion dollars, countless Afghan, American and the lives of others, ruined families, and destoryed a regional economy. Although we have not experienced another 911 in the United States, what we saw in the Taliban takeover should worry each of us every night. We are not safe. Nor should we be for acting irresponsibly and ungodly toward the Afghan people or with the vast resources God has blessed us with. Additionally, Afghans have lived with perpetual violence for a long time, escalated by our imperialism. We should be saddened for those people. We should be saddened and ashamed by the waste of American military lives, by the waste of Afghan lives. These are all God’s children! All of their lives matter. All of the lives lost over there should be remembered, but for their resolve, tenacity, and certainly not for their success. But to never forget the waste of and poor stewardship resources and people. I think that Biden, Trump, Obama, and Bush including all senior government leadership personnel who had a hand in this mess should be tried for war crimes and imprisoned for life.
My response was immediate and exacting:
I sympathize with your opening comments, especially about the father’s response. Mr. Biden’s response to those families was contentious in some cases to say the least. [I have given the WaPo article here, which does not enumerate some of the details that can be found elsewhere.] I thoroughly disagree with your use of terms such as “imperialism” and “occupying.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Ask any of the Afghans who stood with us, the girls who were able to attend school for 20 years, or the women who were protected from sexual slavery. “Ungodly?” “Irresponsibly?” Not even close. Please read my post from last week entitled “American Soldier” to see my further comments. You are right that we are “not safe.” Rep. Dan Crenshaw – a veteran of 3 tours in-country – has said we are in more danger now than since 9-11. I doubt very much that your words would be well received by the vets who served in Afghanistan: “ashamed” is not at all what they feel. Again, I would urge you to consider sources of information directly from those who served,
Dan Crenshaw in particular. Pick any of his statements on Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube. You will hear a very different POV from someone who was there. Your repudiation of their “success” and commitment to “waste” would not at all be welcomed, were you in veterans’ presence. Tried for war crimes? Imprisoned for life? I’m not even sure where to begin in any response. I stand by what I have written over the last two weeks. There is much more I would like to say. My view of social media communication is an attempt to be positive. For that reason, it is necessary to respond to your words here with restrained forthrightness.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/07ecff7c-09ac-11ec…
And further, I wrote:
I grieve the awful results of human sinfulness, no matter where, no matter with whom. I agree with presidents – including President Trump – who have clearly stated “we cannot be the world’s policemen.” Why we could not carry on a permanent presence such as we have in Korea or still in Europe is beyond me. There are certain strategic moves that could have been taken (here I depend on veteran testimonies who were there and who know first hand) that would have afforded a continued umbrella of safety. Giving up Bagram AF base, for instance, was unconscionable. We have leveraged strategic advantage to our enemies. There is so much to say about this I could write for pages with copious references to intelligence provided by those who were there, who know. Can we be everywhere? Of course not. Just as much as I cannot stop killings in my own city, I cannot do much more than pray for people and situations. “Success” is true for our troops, “failure” for those making political decisions.
To another respondent I wrote:
I disagree that we are not “safer” today because of what American men and women in uniform have done over the last 20 years to destroy and debilitate terrorism. We live in relative peace and calm to practice our educational pursuits at a university because terrorists are kept at abeyance. We are safer knowing there are many working behind the scenes and on the scene to waylay those who would want to blow up our buildings or take our people for sexual exploitation or hold for ransom the most vulnerable of our community. These and other atrocities are regular fare in countries which do not have the kind of security we take for granted from those in uniform. Our presence in other countries should be debated. Political decisions in the White House or Congress about “nation building” should be debated. The abdication of a U.S. military infrastructure to support the Afghan army is another, more visceral debate; far from an empty shell. My point will always be the same. I am grateful to live in a nation where dodging AK-47 rifle fire or RPG explosives is not a regular occurrence. Whatever one believes about war, violence, or evil, one thing is always a surety: that person is always glad when it doesn’t happen to them.
One friend on FB, who has first hand knowledge of the conditions on the ground this past week, wrote:
I agree with much of what you said. As some one who served, and is very involved presently with the ongoing evacuation of American Citizens, SIV Holders, and those under great threat of death due to their gender or religion I have been working day and night to get out of the Country. War crimes is a touch sell as war with in it self is a crime, and at the same time it is at times necessary. What I will say is we need accountability from our leaders. As a junior service member I was held accountable for my gear if something had gone missing I would be in serious trouble. When I moved to intel I was held accountable for how I handled information, had it leaked I would have been held very accountable resulting in most cases with prison time. When military commanders have incidents regarding equal opportunity, sexual harassment or assault with in their command they themselves are held accountable. It hasn’t made the main stream media yet, but our Ground Commander at HKIA sent a bus load of American Citizens, Green Card Holders, and Children back after it made it into the base to evac. We have since lost contact with them all as they were most likely executed by the Taliban. Where is the accountability from that senior leader? Where is the accountability from any of our leadership in our government. The few times they have been put on trial nothing has come of it. In some cases they make jokes about it such as in the Clinton case and wiping her server with a cloth. The administration keeps blaming this on the intel community, but the intel community has known this was going to happen for over a decade as a junior enlisted I an all my brothers knew for a FACT that the Afghan Army would be defeated quickly. People in the Trump Administration as well as the Biden Administration should be held accountable instead of pushing off the blame to their subordinate organizations.
Over the next several months you will hear stories of what I feel is the darkest time in my life. I have been to Africa, I have seen first hand the evil this world has, but nothing I have ever seen compares to what my brothers in Afghanistan saw over the last week. If you want to circulate a story from some one who was on the ground please watch this interview. Nick was an Infantry Officer and former Battalion Commander of the 4th Ranger Training Battalion.
A very good example of what I am saying is LTC Scheller
