by Robert M. Traxler
I have been an Afghan for 312 years, a Muslim for 1421 years and a Pashtun, Tajiks, Hazaras, Hazaras, Baloch,and 11 others for 8000 years.
This sums up the attitude of the Afghan people, where tribe is more important than religion or national identity. It is hard for us to understand this attitude as we have no tribal identity and are open to all religions, but it is a fact of life with many folks in the world.
Afghanistan is our longest war? It’s a slam-dunk fact you hear on all media on the left (the vast majority) and the few on the right; let’s look at that. Wars often turn into a long term presence.
We fought the Spanish in places like Cuba and the Philippines in 1898; we sent forces there and they are still there today. World War II ended in 1945 and we still have troops in Germany today. The Korean War started in 1950 and is technically still in existence today, and we still have troops there today. In 1987 we sent troops to Honduras to fight the Cold War and the war on drugs, and there are still troops in Honduras today. We have troops in nations like Japan, Panama, areas like the Marshall Islands, eight African countries, some going back to the Cold War 1947-1991, and they are still there.
Just how the media states Afghanistan is our longest war is puzzling, but most folks just believe what is said by the media, question are not allowed, ask and you are anti something, mean, heartless and stupid.
In Korea we have armed troops cocked and locked after 71 years, but Afghanistan is our longest war? Before the tragic deaths of the 13 heroic Marines and soldiers, it had been 18 months since our last death at the hands of the enemy; the country was fairly stable and just starting to function as a nation. The 4,000 military personnel (of the 174,000 deployed overseas) we had in Afghanistan maintained a stable atmosphere for the country and gave us a base from which to gather intelligence on the belligerent nations that border Afghanistan.
The State Department decision to give up Bagram AFB (no military planner would ever make such a tactically stupid decision) was based on the desires of the Taliban, and by extension, the Department of State, not sound military planning.
The Departments of State and Defense are two different organizations with two different sets of goals and two different sets of procedures. The fact that the State Department had people at every gate into Kabul Airport who had the final say on procedures the soldiers and Marines had to follow is an outrage, but the combined media will ignore this fact as they want the surrender in Afghanistan to proceed, to end our “longest war.”
Afghanistan as a base is strategically located on the borders with Iran, China and the tribal regions of Pakistan. It was a valuable asset; however, we are told to believe our “over the horizon” intelligence/military capability was just as good. Folks, try to get HUMINT (human intelligence) over the horizon, good luck with that.
President Joe Biden told us that the Taliban could not and would not take Kabul for months, if at all. If President Trump had said that, and Kabul fell in days not weeks or months, the socialists who scribble in the pages of this paper would have called him a liar, a damned liar.
All Americans who wish to get out have gotten out — the White House mantra. Really? Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. President Biden has clearly broken his promise that the troops would not leave until all Americans were gone. Even CNN had the story of an American family who want to leave but cannot.
The Taliban still have Mark Frerichs, an American veteran, held hostage for 20 months. Americans who are at home in Afghanistan, some 300 to 1500, and know they have to run the gauntlet of the Taliban to get out, are justifiably terrified and scared to go out. Most would love to, but would you chance it with your young children? Would you put your family’s lives in the hands of the Taliban? An organization with no centralized command and control? Every tribe, village, and mosque dancing to its individual tune?
I break with the left and the right because I believe we needed to remain in Afghanistan; I did not agree with President Trump cutting and running nor do I agree with President Biden cutting and running. My opinion.
Mr. Traxler, thank you for sharing your thoughts on the recent developments in Afghanistan. I guess I must have missed your numerous columns over the past 18 months that no doubt repeatedly objected to the Trump Administration’s early 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. forces and release of 5,000+ Taliban prisoners by May of 2021, in return for the release of 1,000+ allied prisoners (but not Mark Frerichs). I’m also very sorry I missed your opinions last year regarding Trump’s decision to exclude the Afghan government from his agreement with the Taliban, or Trump’s 2018 direction to Pakistan to release from jail the Taliban’s founder and leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who now (oh… what a coincidence!) serves as the Taliban’s new “President” of Afghanistan. Similarly, I guess I failed to notice your informed perspectives regarding Trump’s annual budget and diplomatic corps staffing cuts to the State Department, annual increases in military funding, military spending, and military outsourcing to private companies, and his huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans. You certainly have every right to now be sad that our always-infallible military leaders and their military industrial complex contractors will no longer have the war in Afghanistan to keep themselves occupied and profitable, at the expense of our troops and taxpayers. No doubt they have plans for future wars, I’m sure you’ll keep us posted in a timely fashion, and I guess I’ll just have to pay better attention in the weeks ahead. Actions sometimes have consequences, and the hindsight of Monday morning quarterbacks is always 20-20.
Mr. Bergeron you sound like a very smart man. I am not sure but I think you graduated from Wayland Union with my sisters in the 1960s. Try not to make AB look so bad he is a 100% Trumper . Reality is not an option . Fox and friends are his only source of info . Trump left no one behind because he dropped the ball on his word to leave Afgan. The Taliban were Trumps friends . Like Kim in Korea
Thank you Mr. Longstreet. I was fortunate to graduate from Wayland High in 1969, and to work for Mr. Lee Miller at Hardings from 1966-69.
Looking back, I feel in those years our community benefitted from a strong mix of teachers and administrators, business owners, community leaders, volunteers, and mentors. They didn’t all think alike, but some weren’t afraid to openly question or challenge the conventional wisdom, and to motivate us kids to try and sort things out in our own minds. Some lessons might have penetrated my teenage fog, but I’ve always wished I paid closer attention during that special time.
I feel it’s our responsibility to honor that legacy by sharing our perspectives, questions and concerns, together seeking the best paths forward through today’s increasingly-smokey wilderness. So I hope we all appreciate and respect Mr. Young’s Town Broadcast and his columnists, including Mr. AB, for providing us that context and forum.
In my old baseball mind, the dynamic between column writers, readers and commenters feels like an exchange between pitchers and batters. The columnist on the mound writes to get reader attention by throwing us fastballs, curves, knuckleballs, sliders, changeups, and spitballs. They may be thrown high or low, inside or outside. Some are right in the strike zone, some are thrown into the dirt, and some might be thrown right at our ears. Readers at the plate must watch carefully and decide whether to swing for a hit by commenting, or just let the ball go by, or to duck, or to risk personal injury by getting beaned.
Anger, taking things personally, or arguing over the pitch just clouds player vision and judgement. So errors are made, fights can occur, and players may be ejected from the game. But the score remains 0-0, and everyone loses. It’s a long season and the stakes are high. So I hope we all try to respect each other, play by the rules, keep our heads in the game, and not get distracted speculating about any individual player’s beliefs or party affiliation.
Mr. Longstreet, I do recall students from other classes with your last name, and they were all good people! I thank you again, and my best wishes to you all!
Mr. Bergeron,
Sir , thank you for the comment. I did write about disagreeing with President Trump pulling out of Afghanistan. I get it, you hate the military and President Trump, it is your right, however I disagree. Perhaps you should comment on President Obama and Vice President Biden stating Afghanistan was the “good war”.
Perhaps you should let us know how many Americans President Trump left behind in Afghanistan? Perhaps you should comment on President Trump not pulling out because the Taliban did not live up to the agreements?
Thanks for the comment.
AB,
Please stop the pesky facts, you are making the lad look bad………..
Cheers!!
Mr. Wilkens,
John,
Thanks for the comment.
Everyone that has intelligence knows that “but, my predecessor’s plan” isn’t responsible or competent leadership, which looks nothing like what we see in the Afghan withdrawal.
A large number of people remain in denial, but it is obvious to almost everyone now that Biden is synonymous with incompetence not seen previously in the office of The President.
Mr. Traxler, with regard to your request for further comment, I’m happy to do so. But please do not misunderstand me:
1) I do not hate the military. But I do wish there was no need for a military.
2) I do not hate Mr. Trump. But while he was in office, I often disagreed with his words and actions.
3) I disagree with any politician who would call the war in Afghanistan, or any war, a “good war.” I completely concur with the late U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf, who said, “War is a profane thing,” and “Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar.”
4) I have no knowledge regarding any Americans that Mr. Trump might have “left behind” in Afghanistan. But since Trump’s deal to end the Taliban war by May 2021 was announced over eighteen months ago, I can only speculate that any civilian Americans who really wanted to leave that country should have had plenty of time to do so.
5) To your request that I comment “on Trump not pulling out because the Taliban did not live up to the agreements…” I’ll offer my understanding that by January, 2021, only 2500 U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan, and 5,000 Taliban soldiers plus their founding leader Mullah Baradar had all been released from prison. So, it certainly seemed that throughout Trump’s final months in office, he intended to withdraw U.S. force from Afghanistan by May, 2021, per his commitment to the Taliban. You might also consider what Trump’s former Defense Secretary, Mark Esper, said in a recent TV interview:
“My concern was that President Trump, by continuing to want to withdraw American forces out of Afghanistan, undermined the agreement, which is why, in the fall, when he was calling for a return of U.S. forces by Christmas, I objected, and formally wrote in a letter to him, a memo, based on recommendations from the military chain of command and my senior civilian leadership that we not go further, that we not reduce below 4,500 troops, unless and until conditions were met by the Taliban. Otherwise, we would see a number of things play out which are unfolding right now in many ways. That, of course, was just a few weeks or a week or so before I left office.”
As you may recall, Trump immediately fired Esper, removed an additional 2,000 troops, and then blocked experienced Pentagon and State Department officials from briefing President-Elect Biden’s transition team on the Afghanistan situation until mid-January, 2021, just prior to Biden’s inauguration. So, in contrast to Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s concerns, perhaps Mr. Trump was personally satisfied that the Taliban had indeed lived up to the agreement. Or, maybe he didn’t care if they hadn’t. We’ll probably never know the truth.
Thanks for your followup suggestions.
trumpy took us out of the afghanistan
Well said Mr Bergeron, I noticed AB number one fan BD number two couldn’t help but make a comment I hope he sent him his weekly bouquet of flowers.