01 December

On 25 Nov at 4:27pm Eastern time, the wheels of my plane hit American soil; ending a chapter in my life. It has been a long and educational journey. Thank you all for your support and prayers. As I have said many times before, I learned a lot, a lot about myself, people, government, and the military. Some times when you learn things, it is disturbing or frustrating. These problems must be met with solutions, not a blind eye or complacency.

In conclusion: I wish I could sum up all of my thoughts from the past 8 months and provide a concise and clear answer for all of the world’s problems or even a fraction of the problems we face overseas…I cannot. However, there are a few items which I feel strongly about.

Our goals in Afghanistan: The corrupt Afghan government will continue to suck America dry as long as we let them. They will not step up and do things for themselves unless we make them. This holds true from the President on down. WE MUST HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.

As for sending more troops; Pres Obama relies on advisors for every single decision he makes from his kids advising him in the pardoning of a turkey to his cabinet and czars advising him international politics and war. His top man in Afghanistan has requested/recommended a troop increase. This would not be popular among the people that voted the Pres into power. I believe this is the reason for his long delay in making this important decision. It looks as if he will partially grant this request with a half-hearted troop increase. I think he lets politics fog his ability to make correct military decisions. Sending more troops into harm’s way is undoubtedly a tough decision, but one that he signed up to make when he decided to run for the Presidency.

The rest of the War on Terror: Of course, sending more troops to Afghanistan is not the final answer for our War on Terror. We must hold other governments accountable for allowing terrorists to train and operate on their soil. Governments found to harbor and support terrorists should have the strictest of sanctions placed on them and receive ZERO foreign aid from the U.S., U.N., NATO, etc. Non-profits shall have their assets frozen and punished severely if they are found to provide relief to any country known to harbor or support terrorists or terror organization; knowingly or otherwise. If they are not responsible enough to investigate where there dollars are going, they won’t be trusted with that responsibility. Yes, innocent people will suffer, but if those people are suffering due to the actions of their governments, they will eventually fight back. America cannot afford to continue to give undeserving handouts to the world.

We must continue to develop programs to fight terror on our soil and abroad. When the war in Afghanistan “ends,” the War on Terror will go on. Pres Bush declared a war on terror after 9/11, but we had been half-heartedly battling terror for several decades. The problem was we never allocated enough of the right resources to truly combat one of the biggest problems we face today. What changed after 9/11 was the level of attention we all paid to the problem and our willingness to wage war on those that had long ago declared war on us. I see us now slipping back into a state of complacency in which we prefer to pretend like “everything is OK.” What many people don’t realize is that in the mid ‘90’s, Osama and his friends declared war on us and our way of life. They started their attacks shortly thereafter, but we didn’t “really” respond until 9/11. Our lives changed with the formation of these terror organizations decades ago, but we didn’t see the full measure of the effects until late 2001. I liken it to someone developing a life threatening disease or condition. Did your life change the day your cells were affected in your body, the day you were diagnosed, or the day you first felt the effects? It is all a matter of perspective. One thing is for sure; your life will never be the same. Whether you are fortunate enough to beat it or resume some life that resembles your pre-diagnosis way of life, you are changed. It may be a scar or something else physical, but you will undoubtedly have a new way of looking at life and each day you share with family and friends…bottom line; you are different. The same holds true for our lives in a world with Islamic Extremists. We cannot just stop fighting, we cannot neglect our responsibility to protect our way of life, and we cannot turn a blind eye. Survivors of life-threatening illness or injury all say one thing, “I never quit fighting, and I never gave up.”

America is infected with a rapidly spreading aggressive disease (really several of them in my opinion) that we cannot ignore or stop fighting.

Our government: As Americans, we cannot afford to be complacent. We cannot keep accepting the poor performance of our elected officials and re-electing them. We must hold them accountable and let them know how we feel about the issues. We cannot allow the federal government to continue to take power away from the states. Government intrusion in your life must be met with the fiercest resistance. They shouldn’t be able to tell you how you can discipline your children or what kind of firearms you can legally possess. There is no middle ground here; stand up, be counted and fight, or stay lying down and don’t act surprised when you and every right you thought you had are trampled under the feet of a growing, self-serving government and its politicians.

Our way of life:

· Keep God first in your life and our country.

· Spend responsibly. Save responsibly.

· Have kids and raise them right (Thank you to my parents and family.)

o Make them go outside

o Impress upon them the importance of education

o Teach them about their family and America

o Hold them accountable.

· When the government and your elected officials do something that aggravates you, get mad, let them know about it, and don’t take it lying down. Hold them accountable.

· Be proud to be an American…NEVER apologize for being one.

· I tackle everyday with the following thought: IF YOU AREN’T MAKING IT BETTER, YOU ARE MAKING IT WORSE!

So, is there an underlying theme that could be a big part of the answer?

ACCOUNTABILITY!

Hold yourself, your kids, your spouse, your neighbor, and your government accountable.

Our government must hold itself and others accountable.

The justice system must hold criminals accountable.

It is all about accountability.

Pray for our troops. Pray for our enemies. God bless.

BMP

***Muriel and I will continue to use this to keep everyone up to speed on our adventures. New pics/video from Afghanistan to come soon. California adventures and pics to follow.