San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TROOPS DID THEIR JOBS. BUT DID U.S. BUREAUCRATS?
As an Army veteran who deployed to fight in the war on terror, I was deeply disheartened by how the Taliban was so quick to overrun Afghanistan. We spent more than 20 years there fighting terror, and today we have little to show for this effort.
Personally, I served in Iraq, but the parallels are quite similar. My unit suffered a number of casualties, as can be expected in any war. I survived an improvised explosive device, but still I was left with chronic pain, physical therapy and severe social disorientation that haunts me to this day, 17 years later. I lost a marriage a few months after returning from war. I know many veterans who have undergone similar calamities.
As service members, we have no choice but to follow orders and fight without questioning the political underpinnings. We are patriots, and we are also humans. We are also parents, husbands, wives and relatives of warriors. We are also taxpayers, and we resent when American treasure and blood goes unaccounted for in a foreign venture.
The 9/11 attacks left America in an existential conundrum. We are no longer keen on foreign interventions, but we wanted to protect our nation from future attacks. We were angry, rightfully so. Thousands of lives had been lost in the Twin Towers, at the Pentagon and in the fields of western Pennsylvania. Our post-vietnam military doctrine calls for us to use overwhelming force and to have clear political objectives when deploying our young men and women in harm’s way in distant lands.
We managed to accomplish that with seemingly unusual speed and ease: Several hundred special forces personnel backed by strategic aerial assets were able to turn the tide to our favor.
Shortly thereafter, major operations seemed unnecessary. We gravitated to helping rebuild Afghanistan.
We used our funds to build schools and hospitals. We helped train the Afghan police and military forces. Young girls were now able to go to school. Women were able to work away from home. Internet cafes, movie houses, traffic jams in Kabul and other outwardly symbols of Western influence sprouted up. People in Afghanistan were no longer afraid to speak up. Elections were held. A semblance of democracy took hold. Our allies in NATO fulfilled their treaty obligations and joined the fight against Taliban and al-qaida terror.
According to Forbes magazine, 1.6 million more Afghan women are now working away from home. Some have even been elected to Parliament. Forbes further states that we spent $85 billion to train Afghan forces. It estimates that we spent more than $2 trillion on the war or roughly $300 million daily, which translates to $50,000 for every Afghan. It is estimated that we shall spend $1.4 trillion by 2059 in disability payments for our service members who participated in this war against terror. According to a poll conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in July, 70 percent of Americans wanted this war to end by the 20th anniversary of 9/11. After all, the instigator of 9/11, Osama bin Laden, was killed over a decade ago. This war has so far cost the lives of 2,448 U.S. military members and 1,444 allied troops. At least 66,000 Afghan troops and more than 71,000 civilians have also lost their lives.
The rapid disintegration of the Afghan government and Army leaves many of us here wondering where we went wrong. We wonder why we did not see this coming and why we did not do anything about it. We soldiers did the job we were asked to do. We did it well. We were well-equipped. Hindsight is always 20/20. We were ready to die for our country because we believed in the idea of our country. We were always taught that we are representative of American values, such as equality among men and women, the right to vote and freedom of speech. We American warriors put country ahead of the individual.
Unfortunately, our counterparts in Iraq and Afghanistan did not see it that way. To them, family, local community and their religious sect come first. To many, wearing their military uniform was simply a way to provide for their immediate family. National defense scarcely hovered in their minds.
We American warriors were keen to fight, not because we love war. None of us do. We were highly offended by the notion that terrorists could band together, aided by a fanatic government, and bring death and destruction to our beloved nation.
Personally, I raised my hand and had to beg my unit to deploy in this war on terror.
So what went wrong? Why would such a costly effort come to such a rapid breakup? This is where our pain overwhelms us. Many of us are back from the war physically, but we are mentally broken. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, approximately 20 veterans take their lives each day. The Department of Defense states 325 activeduty service members committed suicide in 2018, the last year for which figures were readily available. This is a sad statistic; however, it is unlikely to dramatically change.
America is now faced with a debate on how to rebuild our great nation. We are exiting a war where our nation-building effort has failed us deplorably. As a nation, we should exercise tolerance and not view the infrastructure debate from a partisan prism. Let us work as one and mend our human and physical infrastructure kinks. It would be the greatest honor to show that these brave service members did not fight or die in vain.