thedrifter
10-08-09, 08:25 AM
ight years in Afghanistan: What’s our mission?
by Matt Johnson, Managing Editor
On Tuesday morning’s CBS “The Early Show” there was a report on U.S. Marines doing their duty in Afghanistan.
The report showed the Marines on patrol. Each day they head out, through cornfields and mud. They are shot at, encounter roadside mines and improvised explosive devices.
The Marine base is surrounded on all sides by Taliban factions. The Marines themselves work hard to protect people in the areas they patrol, but there are no safe zones.
What’s missing are any creature comforts. There’s no formal base infrastructure, with proper barracks, showers -- just soldiers sleeping on the ground covered in mud.
One news report isn’t indicative of all United States military activity in Afghanistan. But a glaring question keeps smacking citizens weary of war in the face -- What is the mission of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan? What is the goal? What is the end game?
The United States has no clear goal in Afghanistan. Nobody in our government has come close to defining what “victory” would be or how it could be achieved.
Furthermore, the United States needs to increase its forces on the ground significantly just to protect its own troops. The United States has 64,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. The military has asked President Obama to send another 40,000 to the country.
First, United States soldiers need all the support they can get. Second, why do we have troops in Afghanistan if we have no defined mission?
If the mission is to counter the Taliban, American citizens better hunker down for a 100-year war. If the mission is to help the Afghan government help itself -- like our supposed mission in Iraq -- then citizens should be prepared for another long, long wait.
The executive branch of the federal government should have learned an important lesson from Vietnam. Don’t send troops half-way around the world without giving them a defined mission and the support they need to protect themselves. What our government has done has turned out to be gravely difficult. We can’t keep asking troops to rotate to combat zones where their only objective is to survive.
War is horrible. War without noble, clear purpose is insane.
In January of this year, the Obama administration announced it was going to reassess the “mission” in Afghanistan. There’s been no answer yet concerning that.
Our soldiers are noble. They go beyond the call of duty. They care for each other. They follow orders. What do they get in return? No clear mission, restrictions on engagement and not enough support to protect themselves.
It has been eight years since U.S. troops have formally been fighting terrorism and the Taliban in Afghanistan. We all know why we went there in the first place, what we don’t know is if we’ll ever get out.
The holidays are approaching. If you can, please take the time to send a care package to American soldiers serving overseas. Remind them that people here at home know they are making sacrifices and they are appreciated. Soldiers don’t make choices about where they go. They serve to protect us.
While doing that, write your congressman and senators a letter asking them what we’re doing in Afghanistan and why our troops aren’t properly supported.
It’s a question that needs an answer.
Ellie
by Matt Johnson, Managing Editor
On Tuesday morning’s CBS “The Early Show” there was a report on U.S. Marines doing their duty in Afghanistan.
The report showed the Marines on patrol. Each day they head out, through cornfields and mud. They are shot at, encounter roadside mines and improvised explosive devices.
The Marine base is surrounded on all sides by Taliban factions. The Marines themselves work hard to protect people in the areas they patrol, but there are no safe zones.
What’s missing are any creature comforts. There’s no formal base infrastructure, with proper barracks, showers -- just soldiers sleeping on the ground covered in mud.
One news report isn’t indicative of all United States military activity in Afghanistan. But a glaring question keeps smacking citizens weary of war in the face -- What is the mission of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan? What is the goal? What is the end game?
The United States has no clear goal in Afghanistan. Nobody in our government has come close to defining what “victory” would be or how it could be achieved.
Furthermore, the United States needs to increase its forces on the ground significantly just to protect its own troops. The United States has 64,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. The military has asked President Obama to send another 40,000 to the country.
First, United States soldiers need all the support they can get. Second, why do we have troops in Afghanistan if we have no defined mission?
If the mission is to counter the Taliban, American citizens better hunker down for a 100-year war. If the mission is to help the Afghan government help itself -- like our supposed mission in Iraq -- then citizens should be prepared for another long, long wait.
The executive branch of the federal government should have learned an important lesson from Vietnam. Don’t send troops half-way around the world without giving them a defined mission and the support they need to protect themselves. What our government has done has turned out to be gravely difficult. We can’t keep asking troops to rotate to combat zones where their only objective is to survive.
War is horrible. War without noble, clear purpose is insane.
In January of this year, the Obama administration announced it was going to reassess the “mission” in Afghanistan. There’s been no answer yet concerning that.
Our soldiers are noble. They go beyond the call of duty. They care for each other. They follow orders. What do they get in return? No clear mission, restrictions on engagement and not enough support to protect themselves.
It has been eight years since U.S. troops have formally been fighting terrorism and the Taliban in Afghanistan. We all know why we went there in the first place, what we don’t know is if we’ll ever get out.
The holidays are approaching. If you can, please take the time to send a care package to American soldiers serving overseas. Remind them that people here at home know they are making sacrifices and they are appreciated. Soldiers don’t make choices about where they go. They serve to protect us.
While doing that, write your congressman and senators a letter asking them what we’re doing in Afghanistan and why our troops aren’t properly supported.
It’s a question that needs an answer.
Ellie