[no pics due to computer problems]
It has been over a month since I wrote. I came home for leave for 2 weeks and had a great time with family and friends. I regret not being able to visit with everyone, but that is life. It took me about 3 days to get home in late August and about 6 to get back to my base in mid to late Sept.
From what I have seen of people returning from leave is that they arrive back here completely de-motivated and “flat.” I vowed that I would be different. As I left Murl in the BR airport, I got on a plane to start a journey. In my mind, I was walking out of the locker room back to the playing field for another half of give it all you got. I flew from BR to Dallas to Germany to Kuwait to Bagram, AF and on to my base essentially. It was no problem until I hit Kuwait and realized where everyone loses their motivation. It is just something about being stuck in that for place 3 to 5 days that takes it out of you. I linked up with a friend there and we traveled on together.
I returned to my base on the first day of the Islamic celebration of Eid. I learned that this is a holiday that lasts a week, and you better not expect anyone to do any work. It falls on the heels of Ramadan where no real work occurred for about a month. Needless to say, it has been an easy transition for me from leave to nobody doing anything. I think it helped me regain some motivation that was stolen from me in Kuwait. On the other hand, with the discussion of more/less troops, more money, different strategy, going home, staying…it is very hard to set long term goals and convince these wild people to do things the right way. I am not talking about the American way, I am talking about not stealing, about following a contract to the letter, about taking responsibility for actions and inactions. I lost something else on leave…my rose colored lenses of hope for this country and the people that drag it down. We have created a welfare state filled with people with a sense of entitlement and no appreciation for the work we do here. Once again, these statements are not all encompassing, but I think it covers the majority.
So the question lingers…What happens if we pull out now? Well, over the course of several years, they will destroy everything we built for them through neglect, feuding, waste, and tribal warfare. The government will collapse because currently there is no money going into it other than the American Dollar. As the country descends into civil war, the power vacuum created will inevitably be filled by tyrannical extremists that will harbor/support people that want to kill westerners and destroy our way of life.
Add more troops? It worked in Iraq, but remember, the average Iraqi is much more educated than the average Afghan and so it is hard to compare the two countries. The extra troops would have to be properly employed not like the hundreds of soldiers I saw living at Bagram Airfield doing nothing. They were ordered to Afghanistan, but weren’t put to work upon arrival….that is your tax dollars.
Our President is currently “mulling” his VP’s plan to reduce troop number and use more UAVs and Special Forces. Who do they think runs the huge airfields and bases required to house these people and their equipment? For example, Bagram Airfield (BAF) has close to 20,000 personnel, and only 10% (2,000) will ever leave the base. The rest are just base support. Our generals are saying they need more troops…is it possible, even conceivable that the VP is more in tune to the war strategy than and the career military men, not the way I see it. There are a thousand different combinations of money, troops, and asset changes that will not work in this war and a few that will. If I knew what would work, I’d probably not be writing this right now. However, what I do know is that it takes time. When you are talking about shaping a country and changing a culture, it takes generations. You have to breed out the instincts that tell people to lie, cheat, and steal. There have been several major strategy shifts in the 6 short months I have been here. You have to hold people (everyone, including the president and his family) accountable for their actions. People need to know that if they do something or don’t do something, they will be held responsible and it won’t be fun. (See the rise in crime in America over the last 30 years, the rise in single mom’s raising babies in the U.S. without the help of the father, the sky rocketing numbers of foreclosures and the rest of our financial down spiral… "You mean I have to pay for all of that?…you meant that is my problem?” Those people, those Americans were raised by what amounts to negligent parents that created self righteous, irresponsible children who were never or insufficiently punished for wrong doing.
Final note. Several Marines and a Navy Corpsman died recently in an ambush a few hours north of me. They had recently visited a village to see how they could help them. When they returned days later with some goods, food, and medical supplies, the villagers had tipped off the enemy and a bloodbath ensued. It has been reported that women and children were seen giving the men ammunition and grenades during the battle. That is the thanks America gets. I am not sure I understand why anything in that district is still standing…it should have all been turned into a glass parking lot.
Do I have a bad attitude about Afghanistan now? No, I have a different one. I still think it is a beautiful country with interesting people. The people that I liked before, I still like them, but I know that most of them have a twisted idea of right and wrong and are more concerned with themselves than their fellow man.
The link below is from the AP a few weeks ago.
I had a blast on leave and look forward to coming home real soon. The latest news on the street is early December. I miss you all. God bless. Geaux Tigers.
BMP
