The People of Afghanistan - Please Read · 6:47pm Aug 20th, 2021
As a general rule I avoid talking directly about current events on this site. I try to leave it as a place to come for rest and relaxation. But the immense tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan brings me to tears and compels me to speak.
This is not something you probably want to read about, but I encourage you to read about it anyway. Life sometimes forces us to face tragedy, and we can either grow from experience or shrink from it in fear. The more we shrink away in fear, however, the easier it is for tragedy to be repeated.
To paraphrase an old saying, attributed to many and echoed time and time again in recent years, “All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.”
I have never encountered someone – of any political leaning – who thinks that the war in Afghanistan was prosecuted well. Right or Left, whether supporters or detractors or any complicated viewpoint in between, most people I hear from on the subject describe the US handling of the Afghan conflict as falling somewhere between a flawed effort with good intentions and total charlie foxtrot (though still perhaps with good intentions).
With all that said, for all the missteps and catastrophes and losses along the way, it would not be just or accurate to say that the US efforts accomplished nothing.
Whatever your political or philosophical beliefs, I urge you to put them aside and consider these true stories and the human faces behind them:
Just a quick look at the state of affairs for women and children living in Afghanistan under the Taliban compared to their state living under the US-backed Afghani government is stark.
Before the arrival of US troops in 2001, the Washington post described the conditions of children under Taliban rule thus:
“The outside world got periodic glimpses into the country (even though taking photos was technically forbidden): There was the video of an Afghan mother forced to kneel in the stadium, shot dead between the goal posts. There were photos of children dying of preventable illnesses in a dilapidated pediatric hospital.”
The US State Department in 2001 wrote:
“Under Taliban rule, women were given only the most rudimentary access to health care and medical care, thereby endangering the health of women, and in turn, their families. In most hospitals, male physicians could only examine a female patient if she were fully clothed, ruling out the possibility of meaningful diagnosis and treatment.
These Taliban regulations led to a lack of adequate medical care for women and contributed to increased suffering and higher mortality rates. Afghanistan has the world’s second worst rate of maternal death during childbirth. About 16 out of every 100 women die giving birth. Inadequate medical care for women also meant poor medical care and a high mortality rate for Afghan children. Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest rates of infant and child mortality. According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 165 of every 1000 babies die before their first birthday.”
Even after US involvement, the problems caused by the Taliban (and related groups) never went away. The UN noted that between 2019 and 2020, during the US drawdown, there were over 6,470 grave violations against children documented, with nearly half attributed to the Taliban.
US forces operating overseas frequently noted the appalling amount of rape and murder perpetrated by the Taliban and similar forces, with rape and molestation targeting women, girls, and boys. Sex slavery is distressingly common there, and retired Army Ranger John Lovell described the reality of working and serving alongside Afghani soldiers – friends of his - who revealed to him that they in their youth had been assaulted in that manner, or seen it happen to friends and family.
But, with the US backing of the new Afghani government, many things did get better. Women were able to take a much greater role in public, have access to healthcare and education they’d never had before, and throw off many of the restrictive laws once imposed on them.
Children, too, saw their circumstances starkly improved, with schools and hospitals and protection from sex trafficking.
A friend of mine who served in the Army Special Operations told me that his proudest memory of serving over there was when he was able to save a dying child. One day he saw an old, weakened man stumbling towards his squad’s position out in the middle of nowhere. The old man carried in his arms a dying child. He had seen the US forces from afar and walked across the open, hostile terrain, risking his life in the hopes that the Americans could save the child. My friend, who was trained as a combat medic, went out to the old man and the child with an escort He and his escort knew that it could have been a suicide bomber’s trick (Taliban have used women and children to carry suicide charges before), but he and his men decided to take the risk in the hopes of saving the child’s life.
The need was genuine, and my friend was able to save the child’s life.
US forces built and protected schools, hospitals, and aid clinics. They cracked down on human trafficking and tied up Taliban forces, who had to focus on fighting the troops instead of terrorizing the population. US troops protected trade, protected elections, and tried to give the people of Afghanistan a chance for a better future. They didn’t want to be there, they didn’t want to get killed and watch their friends die on foreign soil, but they did want to see their sacrifices mean something, so that the people of Afghanistan could forge a safer, healthier, and freer society for themselves.
Now, in the span of two weeks, thanks to horrific mismanagement and gross negligence, the country has fallen to the Taliban.
As you read this, desperate mothers are literally throwing their children over the fences to US and allied forces guarding the last airport out of Afghanistan, praying their babies can survive elsewhere. I News states, “The report from Kabul by war correspondent Kim Sengupta is one of the most upsetting stories we have published. At Kabul airport, a Parachute Regiment officer tells Kim that Afghan mothers have been trying to throw their babies over the barbed wire to British servicemen, in the hope that their children can be saved from life under the Taliban. Some of the babies did not reach the troops.”
Sky News recounts an interview with an officer on the ground who is doing his best to lead his men in helping the evacuation, knowing full well that they don’t have the means to save everybody. The Sky reporter related that the officer felt the mothers, “had no choice because the situation was out of control.” He further noted that, “the blockade will live with some of his soldiers for the rest of their lives. ‘It was terrible, women were throwing their babies over the razor wire, asking the soldiers to take them, some got caught in the wire,’ he told me. ‘I’m worried for my men, I’m counselling some, everyone cried last night.’”
I have my own views on interventionism that are too complex to be examined here. Whether the US was right to pull out of Afghanistan is not the question here. How and when we should have withdrawn is. As Taliban forces capture US weapons caches – acquiring night vision, helicopters, armored vehicles, and other modern weapons systems - and commit rape and murder in the streets, it would be the height of willful ignorance and self-deception to earnestly claim that the US withdrawal was handled even remotely well.
Please do not interpret my words here as some jingoistic display that the US should casually involve itself in foreign affairs. I know too much of war and death to think that way. The best man at a family wedding was there in spirit only, as he had been killed by an IED overseas. A childhood friend of mine was almost killed by an enemy missile strike, and many men and women from my city have lain down their lives in the fighting overseas.
Nor am I blind to the mishandling of the twenty-year war or to the many, many bad decisions made by the US leadership during that time. Even if the war was justified, it still would not excuse many of the horrible choices that were made.
But as a nation we have a responsibility to conduct ourselves justly in foreign matters, to fulfill commitments made to the people we have worked alongside. My own views on how long and in what fashion the US should have been involved in Afghanistan and under what circumstances we should have withdrawn are complicated, but what is quite simple is the plain fact that our manner of withdrawing these past days is nothing short of shameful.
I pray for the safety of the Afghani people, especially those trying to flee or unable to flee the onrushing evil which threatens then, and for the safety of the US and allied servicemen and women who are desperately trying to do their duty and serve the people of Afghanistan in this evacuation. I likewise pray for all the men and women who served there in the past, and now cannot help but weep to see what is happening to people they lived alongside – many of whom were friends and comrades.
If you know anyone who is a veteran of the war or who lost friends and comrades over there, please, call them up. Grab dinner, play some videogames, watch a movie, go mini golfing, do something positive with them. This is almost certain to be a hard time for them, and I’m quite confident they could use some time with friends.
Veterans, please know that for the time you were there, women and children were safer, more people had opportunities, and the Afghani people tasted freedom. That's still an accomplishment. Poland experienced freedom between the World Wars, and while they were betrayed by the Western Allies and sold to the Soviets, the freedom they tasted sustained them through the occupation. It wasn't for nothing, and what happened wasn't your fault. You did what you could, and that’s all that can be asked of any of us.
PLEASE SHARE THE RESOURCES AT THE BOTTOM FOR VETERANS AND VETERAN FAMILIES WHO ARE STRUGGLING.
Perhaps one of the best reflections I have seen for this unfolding tragedy comes from Army Veteran Chris Cappy of Task and Purpose, who in this short video puts us into the boots of an Army sergeant trying desperately to evacuate people from a country he cares for – to help them as best he can, one last time. I encourage you to watch it and to reflect on the human faces behind the news.
Please do not be toxic in the comments; this is too serious for that.
To Veterans and families of Veterans who are struggling with seeing this unfold, please don't struggle alone. Reach out to your friends and battle buddies. Talk to other vets and families and help each other.
MakeTheConnection.net - information, resources, and Veteran to Veteran videos for challenging life events and experiences with mental health issues.
RallyPoint - Talk to other Veterans online. Discuss: What are your feelings as the Taliban reclaim Afghanistan after 20 years of US involvement?
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) - Request a Peer Mentor VA Women Veterans Call Center - Call or text 1-855-829-6636 (M-F 8AM - 10PM & SAT 8AM - 6:30PM ET)
Veterans Crisis Line - If you are having thoughts of suicide, call 1-800-273-8255, then PRESS 1 or visit http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ For emergency mental health care, you can also go directly to your local VA medical center 24/7 regardless of your discharge status or enrollment in other VA health care. 70% of Vet Center staff are Veterans. Call 1-877-927-8387 or find one near you. Download VA's self-help apps - Tools to help deal with common reactions like, stress, sadness, and anxiety.
VA Caregiver Support Line - Call 1-855-260-3274 (M-F 8AM - 10PM & SAT 8AM - 5PM ET)
Together We Served -Find your battle buddies through unit pages George W. Bush Institute - Need help or want to talk? Check In or call:1-630-522-4904 or email: checkin@veteranwellnessalliance.org
Elizabeth Dole Foundation Hidden Heroes
American Red Cross Military Veteran Caregiver Network - Peer Support and Mentoring Team Red, White & Blue - Hundreds of events weekly. Find a chapter in your area.
Student Veterans of America - Find a campus chapter to connect with.
Team Rubicon - Find a local support squad.
And so the Graveyard of Empires adds another headstone.
I've been torn about this for most of the last week, constantly tossing between saying "we did what we could" and "we could have done more", though both sides of that coin have a lot more questions and issues that I can't always break through at times. I'm not a foreign policy expert nor do I make any claims of being one, so all I can do now is wonder and keep tossing that question around until I get an answer. And pray that, to paraphrase a good quote, dictators die and the power they took from the people returns to the people.
I had something I wanted to say here, but I can't find any way to write it that I like.
Since almost the start, my attitude was one of, "We shouldn't be there, and I wish we would leave." Right now, I feel like someone who made a wish carelessly: This is in no way what I wanted, but it's really hard to feel like it isn't what I asked for, however irrational that may be.
Right now, the only thing I can coherently hope for is that our veterans, whether they are returning now or returned long ago, are told over and over, "Thank you for doing your best. We love you."
5571697
Took the words right out of my mouth. I have...complex opinions on this issue, that I currently don’t have time to elaborate on. I’ll be back.
5571692
5571697
5571714
One thing that can still be done is to share resources for vets and vet families who are struggling with this (which I went back and added after realizing I'd forgotten to put it in the first time). This can still save lives.
There really isn't that much more to say than what has already been said. What is going on in Afghanistan is a horrific, worst case scenario, and the people there need our prayers and whatever help we can provide more than ever. We're running low on time to get as many of them out of the Taliban's clutches.
But I pity the ones who will never make it in time. It's a terrible, awful thing, to have the freedoms you grew up with suddenly taken away by monsters. But it's even worse knowing that it could've been avoided if someone had made the right call, or if someone had done something differently.
If.
Should have.
Would have.
Could have.
Didn't.
God help them all...
This sudden Taliban blitzkrieg caught me by surprise when it happened. I didn't know how men without tanks, helicopters, and who were armed mainly with hand-held or shoulder-held weapons, could conquer Afghanistan so quickly and easily. I'm still kind of stunned on this topic.
I agree we should have gotten out... when the Taliban were gone or reduced to a state that they could not easily recover from, and when the Afghan government and military were stable enough to withstand external and internal pressures.
Twenty years... I saw the Towers fall on Sep. 11. Not personally, but at school we had to stay indoors that day and I saw it on the news (TVs still had antennae back then) when I got home. Two years later, I had my mom buy a magazine labeled, "America's Two Year battle" that praised US victory over the Taliban/Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, and presented a rosy image while remembering and respecting those who died on Sep. 11.
Now it all feels like ashes and sackcloth. We've achieved nothing and thousands of US and allied soldiers have died... for nothing, or at least that's how it feels. And we all know that the Taliban's claims that it will respect democracy and women's rights in particular is the biggest joke ever.
I do have hope that maybe an internal revolt against the Taliban may succeed, and that our people and Afghans who want to get out may do so. But this withdrawal, under the intel fail (that said Afghanistan was ready for this) and current administration...
Ashes. Ashes, ashes, ashes. And I don't see the US getting better unless the current administration changes to be stronger on external issues (standing up to China over Taiwan for one) while softening on internal issues (stop trying to push the Equality Act and REAP down our throats, and let people have their own beliefs and opinions!).
Very well said, sir. As an older vet from before the second war with Iraq and Afghanistan, I watch my younger brothers and sisters have to deal with this. Many of my younger friends served there. I have heard their tales and seen some of their photos even. There are many stories that most of us never get to hear of friendships made, Lives saved and lost, and moments shared with our allies and the people over there.
As you so well pointed out, the question is not if we should pull out, but when and how. I was a child still when we pulled out of Siagon in Vietnam and I still remember watching it on the news. I had never expected to see something like that again, and this time it seems we were even less prepared than back then.
For my fellow Bronies who have served there, remember it was for something. While we could not save them all, We saved as many as we could and hopefully made their lives better.
5571825
Well said. People, especially women and children, tasted freedoms they'd never known before for nearly 20 years. That's not nothing. For a brief time, people knew hope thanks to the courage and sacrifice of American and allied soldiers and the local allies who genuinely tried.
Put like that I'm reminded of an important scene from the Stormlight Archive, explaining why only delaying a conquering evil god was still worthwhile. "To (a god) time is nothing. To a mortal time is everything."
So twenty years. That's 2/3rds of my life. That's time enough that adults don't know anything else. And even if should have been much better, because our occupation was a disaster, it's still something and they'll have had time to have ideas swirl around. So we'll have to see, now. And know that the Taliban are ultimately going to fall, as regimes like theirs always do.
Thank you so much for posting this my friend.
From where I am right now, yeah, I can tell you it's utter chaos in the worse ways imaginable.
To all those who have served, to all those presently serving, your efforts were not in vain. Take care of your neighbors, especially our veterans. And for those of you who pray, please pray for the people of Afghanistan tonight. Thank you and God bless.
5571825
Thank you for your service brother.
Once again, Antiquarian, you knock it out of the park.
Out of everything, this is what got to me and made me tear up. Mothers throwing their babies over a razorwire-clad wall because the alternative is somehow worse than the perceived risk of not clearing it...