Afghanistan One Year Later - My Experience & Thoughts on the Withdrawal

One year ago...

I was overcome with anguish as I watched in horror the unfolding of the terribly-botched Afghanistan withdrawal. I wasn't the only one. Many others in my professional and personal network began expressing the exact same feelings of helplessness that I was experiencing. And many of these had more "skin in the game" as they had served, bled and lost in Afghanistan.

I listened to their anger, sadness and frustration, which were often pointed to the lack of leadership coming from the very same ranks and offices who, years before, had ordered them to that country in the first place. The only thing I knew to do was to listen and lament with them. None of us could explain how things could be managed so poorly.

When the withdrawal kicked off, I was on a much-needed respite with my family, with hopes of taking in some nature, swimming with my kiddos, and spending quiet evenings with a hot tea and a good book. And then the withdrawal happened and my vacation turned in to... well you will see in a moment.

Despite the needed rest, I was unable to put Afghanistan out of my mind. As a family man and father of five, all I could think about were other beautiful families who were now fighting for their very existence. I couldn't stop the guilt that hung over me -- while I was resting, others were suffering - nor could I put out the intense feeling that I had to do something.

So I picked up the phone and made a call to a friend.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"You watching this?"

"Yeah."

"Can you make some calls and see how we can help?"

"Yeah, I know some folks..."

And that was it. One call, then another, and another, and another. A network of people naturally came together out of a sheer desire to rid ourselves of this helpless feeling and actually make a difference. And to a degree, we did...

Laptops, technology, human networking and information sharing were the main assets we brought to the fight.

Many men and women with "interesting" backgrounds and connections formed an ad-hoc mesh network of human capability that spanned locations, nationalities and job descriptions. Together we brought a situational awareness technology to the fight, from which we were able to field and share critical and time-sensitive tactical info from assets on the ground in Afghanistan (information like location of Taliban checkpoints, recent locations with gun fire, open gates, etc.).

Many NGOs and people ended up contributing and using this data to make real-time, life-and-death decisions on the ground, to help those in harms way navigate the many real dangers faced by those on the wrong side of the fence.

After a week of very little sleep, this collective made a difference and we were able to save some lives. In the grand scheme, the impacts were small, but I was relieved that I didn't have to be altogether helpless but could make a real difference for real and precious people.

At the same time, the non-profit I work with (The National Child Protection Task Force - ncptf.org) jumped into the Afghanistan mission. Led by Kevin Metcalf who personally deployed to the airport in Afghanistan, and working with other partners, NCPTF helped in the rescue of many thousands of at-risk persons. This team wouldn't accept the impossibility of the situation and as a result of their dedication and tenacity, saved many thousands of human lives. I am proud to be a part of this organization. You can read more about it here: NCPTF Leads Operation Chivalrous Knight to Resettle Hundreds of Afghan Orphans to the United States (apnews.com)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention countless other NGOs, individuals, and organizations who jumped in to this mission at moment's notice -- largely because the United States government's response was (to put it nicely) completely unacceptable and inadequate. Several folks had to operate anonymously either because their organizations were under orders to not get involved or they were on the "wrong" side of the fence. These and other stories of sacrifice and bravery abound - many of which will never be told publicly - led to the saving of many precious lives.

What I learned is that by pulling together, we can accomplish so much more than what seems possible at first. This is worth celebrating...

However...

Unfortunately we have much more to mourn.

One year later, the pain is still too real for many, especially for those who served and sacrificed in Afghanistan, those still stuck there, and those who are currently persecuted. It is worth a collective pause to consider what happened before we let the future dilute the lessons of this history.

The part that my mind tends to settle on as the "big thing" is this: I believe the barbaric nature in which innocent lives were taken was absolutely unnecessary given the capabilities of our nation and coalition we put together, and as such *we* bear the responsibility for these hideous outcomes.

And by "we" I mainly refer to the United States, who by virtue of leading this coalition of nations into Afghanistan (starting all the way back in 2001), waged warfare, disrupted the course of human history and attempted to establish a working (now failed) government system.

Whether the overall mission was right or wrong is unknown to me -- and I don't care to argue the points.

However I want to focus on the withdrawal -- of which I chose to become a small participant and have strong sentiments toward. Like it or not, I believe the United States had the helm and thus owns the majority of responsibility for what transpired during this tragedy, this "second fall of Saigon." (We seem to have a talent from learning nothing from history.)

We are told by our leaders that the outcomes were planned, expected and normal. I call bull $h!t, and so do the majority of the thinking American public. Ownership is how leadership is supposed to work, or have we forgotten this?

Since invading Afghanistan in 2001, the United States has spent $2.3 trillion on the war. That's roughly 1/15 of the United States national debt. And the outcomes? A few that come to mind are:

• Afghanistan citizens were given 10 years of hope -- hope that freedom, education, and peace was within their grasp -- only to suddenly and violently have it remove from them, casting many back into slavery, violence and a future of death and destruction
• Arming the largest standing terrorist army on the planet with top-rate gear like vehicles, night vision systems, body armor, ammunitions, etc. To make matters worse, our leaders gave the Taliban the databases of people who were working with the United States and coalition forces (providing Taliban a kill list - see references below).
• 176,000 deaths, including 46,319 civilian deaths. 2,448 US soldiers died and 20,752 wounded. No one can properly quantify damage from the emotional scars and trauma of fatherless / motherless homes and the PTSD that will impact families for generations...
• Leaving behind our friends, allies and citizens, harming the reputation of the United States as an ally that can be trusted to do the right thing

Dare we move forward into our future without first admitting and attempting to reconcile this immense leadership failure?

Perhaps we can summon the collective courage of a nation and world to peer into this Abyss for a moment or two instead of getting sidetracked by the next Trump headline. In doing so, we may be able to learn about the terrible impact poor leadership can have on both the micros and the macros - from recessions to supply chains, from pandemics to natural disaster handling, from war in Ukraine to that family stuck in Afghanistan at risk because they helped interpret for US Soldiers.

Perhaps with sober thinking, heavy hearts and Heaven's help, we can then raise the bar for what it means to be a leader of a nation.

How do we perform this introspection? This analysis? I think we should Start here. This documentary is an excellent resource to begin this introspection. Thanks to Kevin Metcalf of the #NCPTF for posting the link and pointing this out to me. I am now paying it forward.

WARNING - This documentary covers it all, and it is probably not appropriate for work, and certainly not safe for those easily or traumatically disturbed by discussion and visualization of the horrors of war and terror.

For the rest of us, I recommend watching this, and see and hear what the news couldn't and wouldn't report... Perhaps we can learn from history and not be doomed to repeat it. Perhaps we can grow. Perhaps we can learn that leadership decisions have far-reaching and destructive outcomes. And perhaps together we will raise the collective bar as to what we demand from our leaders and establish a new norm.

#afghanistan #afghanistancrisis #leadershiplessons

Human and Budgetary Costs to Date of the U.S. War in Afghanistan, 2001-2022 | Figures | Costs of War (brown.edu)

Civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan (2001–2021) - Wikipedia

U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate - POLITICO