Well, there is no escaping the travesty that is currently unfolding in Afghanistan. I don’t engage much in politics on the blog these days, but this fuck up is really hard to ignore. Kevin Kim’s post pretty much captures the way I see things and I encourage you to give it a read.

Like Kevin, I believe if you are going to go to war, you should go with the intention of winning. Nearly twenty years after engaging the Taliban, victory was still not at hand. So, withdrawing in a planned, methodical way was perhaps the best option. That was Trump’s goal, so you can’t blame Biden for the pullout itself, but the abruptness of the pullout and the carnage taking place are all on him. Maybe maintaining a military presence there, much like we’ve done in Korea for all these years, would have provided more stability. I do understand that we don’t have the resources to police the world, and at some point, the Afghan military needed to up their game. Our abrupt pullout, including all air support, made defending against the Taliban incursions next to impossible.

Politics aside, it is the suffering that awaits non-Taliban Afghanis, and especially women, that concerns me the most. My daughter Hillary spent nearly two years in Afghanistan as a soldier. She worked in a civil affairs unit and had many interactions with the people. It is fair to say I think that this experience opened her eyes to many harsh realities, but also changed her life in a positive way.

I wrote a post to honor her on Christmas day 2004. In that post, I quoted from an email she sent, and I think it bears sharing again now:

This place is dusty, hot or cold, and halfway around the world from my loved ones. I believe in what I am doing here and if I didn’t I would not be here. There are some serious disadvantages to traveling around the world conducting peacekeeping missions, but at the end of every day I recap what I have done for Afghanistan and for the people I have met here, and in the end, it is extremely rewarding.

The people of this country have the most unique characteristics of any ethnic group I have ever met. They are the warmest, most generous people with high morals. One thing all of the Afghans have in common is that they are very courageous and strong people. Throughout their history, they have fought the rule of the Persians, the Mongols, the British, and the Soviets. Never yet have they sold their soul to another. Afghans remain free.

Even though we have not found Osama Bin Laden, and my fellow soldiers are still being wounded and worse in Afghanistan, at least we have given these people a chance. When I look over the compound walls and see a kite flying in the sky, I know that represents one happy child who otherwise would not know that feeling.

This is the beginning for them, it is not perfect, nor is it expected to be, but it is a progressive change in the right direction. I realize the news back home is filled with all the horrible things taking place here and in Iraq, but this is one story Americans don’t get to hear often–we are making a difference! Afghanistan is a better, safer place than it was. You have the combining of coalition forces and NGOs to thank for all their hard work. Together we are working towards the same goal and that is to liberate Afghanistan by providing the resources to sustain them economically and politically. As the Afghans would say, “Inshallah”. If God wills it.”

It’s a shame that what was accomplished during our presence will be for naught. That doesn’t diminish the efforts of those brave individuals who worked hard, suffered, and sometimes died, to make a positive difference.

Things are going to get much, much worse before they get better in Afghanistan.