Afghanistan: The Forgotten American Nightmare
SEARCH BLOG: AFGHANISTAN
This stupid war gets worse and worse and ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, and nearly all other networks conveniently let it slide by. After all, there are only 100,000 Americans there... just another "bump" for the Commander In Chief. But hardly a bump for the families of those who are serving in the military there.
It is personal. I posted this a month and one-half ago.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012
R.I.P. Spc. Kyle McClain
But there is more than that. This is the content of emails sent to my congressman and senators for the state of Michigan:
I wish to express my concern regarding the present military tactics being employed in Afghanistan that place our soldiers at unnecessary risk.
Please refer to this article:
http://www.businessinsider.com/one-marines-views-on- afghanistan-2012-8
My concern is more than abstract; I have a niece who will deploy to Afghanistan before the end of the year as a medic. She will be one of those soldiers who will have to venture into hostile territory unarmed as a result of the politically correct insanity that serves as leadership these days.
I would like to see funding sharply curtailed for this military fiasco since the CIC has determined that there is no real long term vision, strategy, or goals for our involvement... only that we want to stand our soldiers up before hostile forces in the name of hope and change.
Forgive my sarcasm.
Sincerely,
Bruce HallI sent a copy of those emails to my sister whose daughter is referred to in them. She wrote back:
Last night I spent the evening crying and went to bed at 1 a.m. and tossed and turned. I felt angry and moody all morning. This problem is very real to me- too real. And while I greatly appreciate your letters, I still believe they will do no good. You didn't get a response from Scott Walker when you wrote to him. I didn't get a response to Obama when I wrote to him. And frankly, Mitt Romney doesn't have a better idea of what to do or not do in Afghanistan either. None of them are talking about it and they simply do not listen anymore. When the vast majority of Americans are against this war and they are ignored, it is hard to feel like writing a letter will make a difference. I really can't walk around absorbing the full impact of this every day because what happened last night is the effect it has on me. When the girls and I were together we spent an evening on the beach. A beautiful evening with a fire, making "s'mores" like little kids on a camp out and drinking wine like big adults - together for a brief time, all of us. And that lovely night reduced me to tears because we talked about what ----'s wishes were in the event she died in Afghanistan. You know, how much insurance she carried, who would get what, where she wanted to be buried or if she wanted to be buried. We also talked about what her wishes were should she be injured and maimed - where she wanted to be treated, etc. This is more real to me than you can know and my letter will not stop it. What it will do is make this emotional trauma even more real for me. My daughters are my life and I don't even have them near me. For my own mental health I need to have the illusion that ---- will come back from that hell physically and mentally sound. I have no religious faith - that has proven empty and hollow and I have no faith in politicians whose promises are equally empty and hollow. The country is too polarized to have effective leadership anymore and the result is innocent people getting caught in the crossfire. I don't expect the best. All I can do is control how I deal with it and my way of dealing with it is to tell and show ----, every day, how much I love her and how important she is to me so that she can carry that with her. No one has to remind me how bad it is.Someone needs to remind our politicians how bad it is. But, of course, I'll expect another politicized form letter in place of a true response.
I don't expect honor from our politicians; I used to expect that from our military leaders. Now I only expect self-serving, weasel-wording, dishonorable "leaders" regardless whether they call themselves "elected officials" or "military leaders." Washington, D.C. is bereft of honor. It is filled with dishonesty and cowardliness. Our "leaders" are the antithesis of the person for whom the nation's capitol city they infest was named.
Should I get such responses, I will publish them here so that you can judge them for yourselves. Not a threat; a promise. It is time that our non-responsive Washingtonians be called out by name.
No comments accepted on this one.
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