As I watch our situation fall apart in Afghanistan, I recall the pain, the horrors, sacrifice and hardships as a combat veteran. There are some experiences in life that defy translation to words, for those that do not, and cannot understand what war is, and what it does to a human being who survives it. Yet, despite the horrors and devastation of war, there are times that it is necessary (I will speak later in detail on this). There are things that are bigger than one person. War is one of those things.
Once a decision has been made to go to war, a nation, its leaders, and its people, must provide the means, the mission, and the support that is necessary to achieve the intended outcomes, by those that are sent to execute that war. Incompetence of leadership, and lack of clarity to the mission objectives, and a failing of the population back home to understand the necessity to support the warfighters, leads only to a prolonging of the conflict, and an inability to define what defines victory. Many forget that the goal of war, is peace, and the security and safety of the nation’s people (and their allies) from those who wish to bring them harm.
Some people continue to exist in an imaginary fairy tale world of perpetual sunshine and butterflies. A world without war, where everyone lives hand in hand, singing beautiful songs and sipping on Slurpees (and I really like Slurpees). Peace and tranquility for all humanity. A beautiful dream, but in the real world, there exists evil, and those who wish to bring harm to those who are perceived to be weak, and/or easily conquered. Asking nicely, saying “pretty please, don’t attack our country, or kill our people”, doesn’t work. And there are those that have tried (history is littered with noble, but failed attempts to appease, and diplomatically persuade dictators and expansionist regimes from waging war on their weaker neighbors). On the other hand, history shows that military strength, saves lives, and countries, from subjugation, execution, and occupation by those that perpetuate evil, hate, and exploitation.
The Vietnam War was a complex and convoluted conflict. However, ultimately, the war can be defined as a defense of a democratic and free country (South Vietnam), from an oppressive, violent, and expansionist communist regime/ideology in North Vietnam (supported directly by the Soviet Union and Communist China). In the US, there was a movement by the population and politicians to “stop the war, and stop the killing”. Many of these people even accused our troops of being murderers.
While there were known events where American troops participated in operations where civilians were killed, these events are the exception. By rule, American forces do not intentionally target civilians, but the communists did (as the Taliban does today, as Russia is doing in Syria, as Saddam Hussein did in Iraq, as Hitler did in WWII, the list goes on and on). Yet, those “Americans” that are obsessed with demonizing the American soldier, fails to even acknowledge or further investigate the blatant atrocities committed by our adversaries
So, instead of taking the time to speak to those from Vietnam, to better understand the conflict, and to understand the evil, and threats faced, ignorance ran rampant, and the blissfully uninformed American public focused their energies on demonizing their fellow countrymen in uniform (which directly benefitted the Soviets, and Communist China). They protested enmasse, to end the war, and stop the killing. In the end, history shows, that immediately after the fall of South Vietnam to the communists, a “purge” took place, where over the next few years, the communists systematically executed millions of people that they felt were a threat to the regime, or had previously supported the democratic South Vietnamese government or the US. The only thing that had stopped this from happening earlier, was the strong US military presence to resist that evil. So, those that had pushed for peace, and ending the war, actually helped to facilitate the mass killing of those that were left defenseless and weak in front of a communist evil that was well equipped and armed. A hasty, poorly planned, exit from South Vietnam, paved the way for the communists to conquer the country, and terminate all those who didn’t agree with them.
Those that could, fled by any means necessary to other countries, continents, or anywhere they could survive. The US took in a large number of Vietnamese refugees over the next several years after the war. Did any of the war protesters ask someone from Vietnam, or who had served in Vietnam about the atrocities committed by the communists? Of course not, because that may lead them to an alternate understanding that conflicted with their utopian, imaginary, alternate reality. A pursuit of the truth, and the reality of the war, was never part of their agenda. Thus, the war was lost, and the real killing began, by those that no longer had anyone to stop them.
By the way, it is important to note that, the fall of South Vietnam had a “domino affect” for the entire region, where immediately following the US withdrawal, Laos, and Cambodia also succumbed to communist forces and endured (well documented) mass genocides of their populations by the communist and dictatorial regimes that took power. Again, in an absence of strength to resist evil, evil grows stronger, and becomes empowered to do those things that evil does. But, those that protested for peace, are happy that they helped end the war, and stopped the killing. But, history shows otherwise. There is blood on their hands. The soldiers that fought to stop the evil, helped to save lives, and they know that, even when nobody else does, doesn’t care, or loses interest.
I served in the Gulf War as an infantryman. Everyone seems to have an opinion about the causes and motivations for the war (and any war). I ask this hypothetical question, if you’ve seen every Jurassic Park movie, does that make you an expert in paleontology and Dinosaurs? Clearly not. Watching the news, or looking at images from the war through a computer screen, does not mean you know about it, or understand it. Basking in the glow of blue light from a monitor, does not provide enlightenment into the complexities, purpose, and meaning and results of war.
Here’s what I know (speaking as a combat veteran). Hussein was a brutal bloodthirsty dictatorial murderer, psychopath with plans for territorial expansion, and domination/extermination of populations that opposed him. If there are questions about why there was a war, ask someone from Kuwait. Ask them to tell you who they lost as a result of the Iraqi occupation and brutality. Hussein took Kuwait, because he could, and Kuwait couldn’t stop him. Beyond Kuwait, he had eyes on the vast oil riches of Saudi Arabia, and he massed over 1 million troops on the border with the Saudi Kingdom.
So, for those that say the war was fought only for oil, this is only partly true. For a ruthless, psychotic, murder, dictator, to take control of nearly 70 percent of the world’s energy production (at the time), would this not put the entire world in peril (including the US), and further strengthen and perpetuate his evil? What about liberating the Kuwaitis from brutal occupation, exploitation, and execution? The UN agreed that this was a cause worth going to war.
So, yes, I am permanently and irrevocably damaged by what I saw, did, and experienced, in that war. But, between my nightmares, I sleep well, knowing that I was part of something bigger and more important than me, to prevent further killing of the innocent, to protect life, to help drive out the Iragis from Kuwait so the oil fires (intentionally ignited by Hussein’s forces) could be put out, and restore order and humanity where it was purposely destroyed by Hussein’s evil. From a computer screen, one cannot see (or smell) firsthand the piles of the dead, the tears on the faces of the orphaned children left behind, the bleeding, flaming earth, and the gentle rain of oil on your skin from the fires nearby. We were there to stop this evil, and we did. If you weren’t there, yours is just a shallow opinion. You can thank anyone who wore the uninform later for your freedom to carry your pathetic little sign in your protest, and believe that you are saving lives and making a difference. Stopping evil, saved lives, and it didn’t require a sign, it required strength and courage to do that, which is difficult and dangerous.
I once heard a quote, that was tattooed on a soldier who was killed in combat during the Iraq War (Lance Cpl. Rogellio A. Rasmirez). It read as follows;
“War is an ugly thing, but it is not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth the cost of war, is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has not a chance of being free unless made and kept so, by the exertions of better men than himself.”
Weakness in the face of evil, only strengthens and emboldens that evil. A nation with the strength to do so, must help defend the weak, and those in need of protection from those who wish to perpetuate evil. Recall Europe, pre-war in the late 1930’s. If western Europe had shown strength against Hitler, prior to his invasion of Poland in 1939, how many millions of lives could have been spared from the evils of the Third Reich? Ultimately, the blood of 40 million lives lost, are on Hitler’s hands, but to those who initially decided to avoid confrontation, and leave Hitler to his ways, those leaders, and those nations also have responsibility for those lives lost. A lack of action to stop evil, is the same as accommodating evil.
A nation persists only as a result of its strength. While not everyone can, or wants to serve in the military, the burden to continue the survival of the nation, rests with those that are willing to serve and sacrifice for it. At the very least, an American must support their fellow citizens in uniform when they are off at war. This includes our politicians. They must also support our military when that support is needed most. Defining the mission, is perhaps the most important way to express support.
Now, I will be honest with you here. When I joined the military, I didn’t entirely serve out of patriotism and love of country (this comes later, from war, experience, maturity, and retrospect). My initial mission was to acquire the college tuition benefits (under the Montgomery GI Bill), and to serve in the armed forces deployed overseas. I learned from my experience in the military, that the United States represents and stands for something good in the world.
Despite all of America’s problems (political division, inequality, poverty, etc, etc), I learned that there is great evil in the world, that requires strength, and will, to oppose and defeat, in order to maintain peace, life, and freedom. I was part of something bigger than me, that made the world better. So, when someone asks me what I have ever done to contribute to society, I would say, if you have to ask, then you wouldn’t understand. Therefore, I don’t need to explain, because, I know, any soldier knows, and that’s good enough.
There is a long and well documented history of wars and military conflicts that resulted in failure due to poor decisions, inept leadership (or lack of leadership), and putting politics over military strategy and tactical execution. Politicians that do not listen to the “boots on the ground”, are destined for failure. Only the soldier can know and understand what is happening on the battlefield, and what is needed to achieve the mission objectives (I will elaborate further on this key phrase “mission objectives” later in the article). The politician, far removed from the battlefield, having never experienced the battlefield, having never seen or experienced the violence, the horrors, and the smells of death that emanate from war, cannot fathom the realities of war, and thus, cannot make sound decisions about the course of battle, without the inputs of those who have known war, and still carry the smells from the battlefield with them. Without the advice and direction from a soldier, the politician can only provide a shallow interpretation of what course of actions are necessary to influence the course of battle to affect positive outcomes towards the mission objectives.
Every American soldier, while trained and hardened towards the violent and focused execution of war, knows that the ultimate goal of war (once initiated), is to achieve and maintain peace. For our adversaries that we face on the battlefield, their intentions through the execution of war, are not to achieve peace. In the example of Afghanistan, our enemies (the Taliban and their allied terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda), war is their tool to forcefully assert their belief system on the Afghan people, and perpetuate/project their ideology of hatred, violence, and intolerance beyond their borders. For the politicians back home, and the anti-war protesters, they give their empty speeches and carry their banners in blissful ignorance of the realities of war.
A soldier sacrifices their humanity, for the mission, to achieve peace, defeat evil, and protect the innocent. But who protects the soldier, if not the politicians that send them to fight? At the very least, they owe the soldier, a clear definition of the mission, the objectives, and what the thresholds of victory are, that establish the criteria for when to say, the war is over. If we are not there to achieve victory (fulfillment of the mission objectives), then why are we there? Without a defined mission, and objectives, there can be no progress, no finish. Leadership must outline what specific, quantifiable, achievable mission objectives are needed to secure, and maintain peace and security in the theater of operations.
As I talked about earlier, wars are justifiably undertaken to confront, and defeat those forces that perpetrate evil and bring death and pain, simply because they can. But, this by itself does not constitute a mission objective. To say, defeat the Taliban, is not sufficient to establish the specific definitions of what “defeat” means in this context.
So, this brings us to the situation in Afghanistan. We became militarily involved in Afghanistan because of the events of 9/11. A terrorist organization was harbored by the Taliban, and within the refuge that they were given within the borders of Afghanistan, they conspired, planned and executed the attacks on our country, and people. Not much more is needed to describe the justification for this war.
Now, in the event that you are one of those people so completely handicapped to perceive reality, and are incapacitated by the insatiable need to believe in, and perpetuate asinine conspiracy theories, and do not believe in what happened on 9/11…stop here, as you are not worthy of further engagement, nor capable of comprehending anything with even the slightest measure of intellectual content. As I have referenced previously, Einstein once said, “…they have been given a large brain by mistake, for them a spinal cord would duly suffice”. Your intellectual incompetence is a detriment to society and the country would do well to never again hear of the poison conspiracies that you perpetuate. Read my previous article about how conspiracy theories are used as weapons by our adversaries to manipulate the intellectually incompetent, and weaken the country. For everyone else, please read on, and engage intellectually on the topic of war, peace, and our human responsibility to oppose and defeat evil (including the defeat of those who perpetuate harmful, and pathetic conspiracy theories).
Civil war had been ongoing in Afghanistan since the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, and the predominant military faction was the Taliban, a violent, terrorist organization, well known for their brutality, and intolerance. The chaos of the extended civil war, allowed the Taliban to utilize uncontrolled regions of the country, as refuges for terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda. Our initial mission, in the war in Afghanistan, was to locate, isolate, and systematically destroy these terrorist refuges, while obtaining actionable intelligence from the terrorist camps, and POW’s.
For all of the reasons stated previously, going to war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan after 09/11, was not an option. Once the decision was made, the focus should be on defining the mission, and developing the strategic plan, and translating the plan into tactical execution. Unfortunately, this is where we began to lose the war, and it is important to say here, losing the war was a choice, not an inevitability.
Not having a clear mission impedes the ability of the forces on the ground to achieve strategic success. You can win tactically, in every combat encounter on the battlefield, but if you haven’t established the definitions of the overall mission (short and long term), the forces have no strategic objectives to work towards. The soldiers on the ground know this, and it is painful being in war, and not knowing what the mission objectives are. However, this did benefit the Taliban.
So let me establish what I believe should have happened relative to defining mission scope.
1. First, destroy the military strength and capabilities of the Taliban and their terrorist allies
2. Locate and eliminate the Taliban and Al Qaeda leadership, command and control
3. Locate and destroy the enemies supply and logistics infrastructure
4. Seize and control territory from the enemy and establish security and defenses to protect military assets and the local population
5. Pursue and eliminate all avenues of supply, support and financing of the enemy, even across national borders
6. In collaboration with the local population, construct a framework of local and national government
7. In collaboration with the local population, construct the structure of a national military
8. Develop national and local infrastructure to facilitate transportation, communication, economic, housing, agriculture, and power needs to facilitate a functional government
9. Relentless pursuit and elimination of any/all remaining Taliban/Al Qaeda leadership, and execute all military operations in collaboration with Afghan National forces
10. US/NATO military leadership to provide strength assessments and recommendations to US executive and legislative branches of the government to ensure that adequate forces are provided to achieve mission objectives
a. Measurable/quantifiable milestones are to defined with associated timelines
b. Regular reviews to be conducted to measure performance against the established milestones and mission objectives
All 4 presidential administrations have responsibility for the failure on Afghanistan. Let me summarize:
• Bush:
o Did not clearly establish the mission objectives
o Did not ensure that there was a plan for security, during occupation
o Did not adequately pursue a plan for relentless pursuit (across borders) of the Taliban and Al Qaeda leadership
o Did not listen to the recommendations from military leadership as to the needs, and assets required to successfully execute the war
o Unnecessarily diverted assets and focus away from Afghanistan to pursue the invasion of Iraq (Iraq should only have happened after properly securing mission objectives in Afghanistan)
• Obama:
o Continued to allow operations without clear mission objectives
o Did not authorize the troop levels requested by military leadership
o Reduced troop levels to the extent that offensive operations became limited in scope and capacity
o Openly communicated a plan to withdraw (benefiting the enemy)
• Trump:
o Did not listen to the recommendations of the military and intelligence leadership
o Did not fill critical positions in intelligence organizations and military command
o Discontinued the twice daily intelligence and national security briefings that included assessments of the situation in Afghanistan
o Reduced troop levels and established restrictions on the capacity for offensive operations in theater
o Publicly communicated a plan for withdrawal
o Allowed the release of high-level Taliban leadership that were being held by US forces
o Did not develop or direct a plan for withdrawal based on assessments of the intelligence situation and recommendations from military leadership
o Did not consult with Afghan government on the plan, logistics, and timeline for withdrawal
o Did not authorize pursuit and elimination of the funding, support and supply network for the Taliban
o Did not authorize the destruction of Poppy growth for use as a cash source by the Taliban (in the production and sale of Heroin)
• Biden:
o Did not listen to military leadership relative to the situation on the ground
o Did not heed the advice of military leadership for required troop levels, and the result of a rapid withdrawal
o Did not direct proper planning and contingencies for withdrawal
o Did not coordinate with Afghan government to ensure stability during and after withdrawal
o Did nothing to change or alter withdrawal plans based on the rapid advances by Taliban forces and the collapse of Afghan National forces
This was not my war, but I feel the pain that any veteran is experiencing from seeing the events unfold in Afghanistan. We helped the people of Afghanistan. We saved lives, and tore apart the Taliban and their terrorist allies, until our politicians tied our hands, and would not allow us to win. I’ve heard from some that served in the war, that when Taliban fighters were captured, they would often say, “Americans have all the watches, but we have all the time”. Apparently, they were right, but it didn’t have to be this way.
Our cause was right and just. For those still interested, watch the brutality and bloodshed that is coming from the Taliban rule, and imagine how it could have been stopped. Not by pleasantries and nice words, but by force, strength, and conviction. For our politicians that chose to allow this evil to have their way, the blood of the innocent is on your hands, as well as the pain that our veterans will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
So go make your empty speech, carry your pathetic little signs to you protest, and share your hollow opinions. The veterans will think deeply about what happened on that battlefield, and how it could have been different, had you done your part, provided leadership, and gave the support that was needed. You have the ability to change the channel, or look at another website, when it gets uncomfortable, but the veterans don’t have that luxury. We will continue to carry the burden long after the channel is changed.