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Take pride in American efforts
overseas
Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror are in the news every day. One thing that surprises me about all of the “news” coverage about Iraq and Afghanistan is how little detailed news there actually is coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Sure, you get the sensational stuff-car bombs, deaths of military personnel and civilians-but we see very little of what is going on where the rubber meets the road.
I was in Afghanistan for seven months from March through October 2004 as a Marine Corps reserve helicopter squadron commander. Our squadron was assigned to the Coalition Joint Task Force in Afghanistan at the Bagram Air Base and operated all over Afghanistan. Before I went there, I saw very little detailed reporting coming out of Afghanistan after the Operation “Anaconda” time frame, which had occurred two years previously. The only time I got to ever see anything of value was watching the BBC news, which occasionally had reporters at some of the military outposts. The only news on the American media seemed to always focus on the negative aspects of what was going on in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Since I was in Afghanistan for a while and my younger brother was in Iraq during the same time as an active duty Marine Corps officer, I feel qualified to make some comments about our country’s efforts based on my experiences. These are just some things for people to think about as they endure the constant barrage of negative news that comes from the media. I could cover many things but I’ll just address a few.
The news media never mentions that U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, was previously the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. Mr. Khalilzad was born in Afghanistan and left there in 1966 when he came to the United States. He is an articulate, well-educated, and very accomplished diplomat. While I was there, there were several times when I flew him in my helicopter to various official functions and meetings all over Afghanistan. When he flew on my helicopter he sat on the jump seat in the cockpit and we had several long conversations about everything in Afghanistan from the history of the Russian invasion to the present day with the various warring factions to the influence (or lack of action…) of Pakistan in the terrorist operations. When we got to our destinations, I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Khalilzad interact with a wide variety of people.
I found Mr. Khalilzad to be a gracious, engaging and intelligent individual who was held in very high esteem by everyone. He seemed to be as popular, or maybe more popular, than the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai (who we also transported while we were there). Ambassador Khalilzad was Afghan by birth, but he had the full power and resources of the United States behind him when he spoke. This made him very popular. He was an adept diplomat who did a phenomenal job of mediating the treacherous waters of dealing with tribal and ethnic differences that have very long histories. We had the initial presidential elections just prior to my unit departing and they went very smoothly. We were all on standby during that time waiting for the worst to happen and it was the quietest time in terms of enemy activity during my whole time there. It was historic and a monumental accomplishment by the myriad of countries and agencies that were there in Afghanistan involved in the very successful ballet of reconstruction, stability operations, diplomacy, and counter-terror operations. What was the story in the U.S. news media on the day of the Afghan elections? They focused on one small story (that turned out to be very minor) of some ink used to designate those who had voted that was supposedly erasable at one balloting place. In the face of the immense positive, historical accomplishment, the U.S. news media chose a negative story. We couldn’t believe it.
I remember thinking to myself back then that what they needed in Iraq was Ambassador Khalilzad. I was delighted when I heard later that he had moved from Afghanistan to Iraq. This is an individual who you can have confidence in. This is the right man at the right time in the right place. I am certain that he was the key player in pulling off some significant diplomatic accomplishments behind the scenes to complete this recent successful vote on the Iraqi constitution.
My younger brother, a career Marine Officer who is a veteran of the Gulf War and operations in Somalia during Operation Restore Hope, was not in favor of the president’s decision to invade Iraq. He was strongly against it. After he was in Iraq in 2004 for seven months working closely with the Iraqi forces on a daily basis, he told me that he re-assessed his position and changed his mind. What he had seen there in the spirit of the Iraqis and in their appreciation for their new-found freedom and the possibilities for their future brought him around to full support of the whole operation. I should add that my brother rarely changes his mind on anything.
Our enemies intended to bring fear to our country on 9/11. We, as a country, responded by bringing to our enemies that which they feared the most, freedom. In Iraq and Afghanistan, millions of people have been freed from brutal regimes responsible for the murders of hundreds of thousands of people. As Americans, we should feel proud of our accomplishments as a country and of the accomplishments of our men and women in uniform. The death of any one serviceman is a tragedy that cannot be downplayed or minimized. Many of my friends that I started off with in the military 20-plus years ago are no longer with us. We, as a nation, should honor their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families. We should get the deployed forces back home as soon as we can, but not before the job is done. So, let’s support the effort to accomplish the mission.
Our enemies intend to continue to murder innocent people and servicemen again and again and again until they wear down the American public’s will to face the enemies of freedom. In my opinion, from my own experiences and from the information of the many friends I have who have served with, significant progress is being made in Iraq in countering our enemies’ efforts and that ultimately this foothold of democracy in the Islamic world will be successful. The long-term implications of successful democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan are immense for that region of the world and mankind in general.
Keep all of the above in mind when you endure the constant barrage of negative news about our successful War on Terror and our efforts to bring freedom to the good people of Iraq. These are my opinions based on my own experiences in Afghanistan. Talk to someone who has actually served in Iraq or Afghanistan. I think you will be surprised by what you hear. There is good reason to be optimistic.
Rick Mullen