The Left Captain

I’m going to revisit the “Left Captain” theme, as it’s been a while since I’ve made any partisan comments, and I find myself in a dynamic process of justifying to myself why I am here, but this is normal for me. I want to think that I am a part of a honorable war effort, part of a force that is doing good things. Most soldiers/airmen who talk about justifying the war put it simple terms: we are killing terrorists who want to kill us, and that’s good enough. Simple, elegant, but it doesn’t completely work for me. Those simple terms will likely work well for me in the event that I experience 102mm Chinese rockets, or drive in a convoy anywhere near the Pakistan border, but I need more than bad guy/good guy.

I believe that NATO is justified in ousting the Taliban and has a responsibility to begin to rebuild the country, support a new government, and help keep the Taliban out (by training Afghan security forces). I think this is part of being good world citizens. The US has a special part in this, as we ignited the hottest part of the Soviet-Afghan war and then walked away, sowing the seeds of our current harvest here in Afghanistan.

Our biggest failure since 2002 has been alienating our allies. Bush is politically toxic for everyone, making it hard for nations to give blood and treasure to support what has been branded as Bush’s “War on Terror”. I get angry when I think that our leaders will not do more to develop a true coalition, using diplomacy and compromise to bring in additional reconstruction and military support from other countries. Instead they are willing to lay the burden upon the shoulders of America’s sons and daughters.

This war should be fought by international soldiers, shoulder to shoulder. It is, to a degree, but we carry the heaviest load. I don’t really blame any one person (!) and I don’t blame Europe. I’m hopeful that a leadership change in the US will lead to changes in foreign policy strategy and tactics.

But to come full circle with this, I know for sure that the vast majority of our soldiers, airmen and sailors are here meaning to do good things—leaving their homes and families and friends, risking their lives, but doing so because they believe they are doing something positive, whether it be hunting down suicide bombers, vaccinating kids, building schools and footbridges, or training Afghan doctors in Kabul.

It’s important to remember that our people are here with the intention to do something good and from what I hear, a lot of good things happen. The politics of war seem very distant and irrelevant to me, sitting over here. This is about people.
Now the contractors, they’re just here to make money, but that’s a different story.