Fight to Win...Or Don't Commit

This nation should be tired of war, especially a war that has lasted 20 years.??This nation should be tired of ENDING Wars.??This nation should fight to WIN Wars.??If that is not the ultimate objective, then the lives of our service men and women should not be committed to anything less.

I served 30 years as a United States Marine.??I served in many corners of our globe.??I served where I was told to serve.??I gave my all, along with my fellow Marines, to accomplishing the missions assigned to us.

I was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, when this country suffered the first, and deadliest, attack on the Continental mainland since the Civil War.

I served two tours in Iraq, planning and then directing operations for the force that logistically supported MajGen Mattis’ 1st?Marine Division.??I was in the Al Anbar Province when the Marines of the 1st?Marine Division were within hours of defeating the enemy in Fallujah, only to be pulled back, and not WIN.??

I served in the State Department, funding programs to eliminate and destroy small arms and weapons, and conduct Humanitarian Demining in post conflict areas.??I went to Afghanistan and saw firsthand the potential for success within the Afghan villages we supported.??I saw people wanting to live their lives without fear and intimidation.

I served a year in Helmand Province on the staff of Regional Command Southwest, directing “Stability Operations”, meaning the building of governance and the oversight of socio-economic development.??I worked with American and international diplomats and aid organizations, and with Afghans in villages, in District and Provincial governments.??I drank a lot of tea, ate a lot of goat, rice, and flat bread.??I met and negotiated with Afghans that I knew were probably Taliban, but could not definitively determine their background.

I saw the good and the bad of Afghanistan.??The BAD in that the United States developed a sense of entitlement in the Afghans.??The BAD in that we tried to force development into areas that were not secure, at the behest of diplomats and aid agencies, while combat operations were still being conducted.??The BAD in the corruptness of the Afghan Government, military, and police.??The GOOD in the will of the Afghan people to live free of fear and intimidation.??The GOOD in that, with security (provided mostly by a Marine with the business end of a service rifle trained on the bad guys), the Afghan people stood up to and resisted the Taliban, forcing them into the hills and making them resort to desperate measures.??With this security the Afghan people started to feel as if they could live without fear and intimidation.

When I arrived in Afghanistan in March of 2011, I was part of the last elements of the “surge” dictated by President Obama.??Literally within months of arrival we were starting to redeploy these “surge” forces in order to meet the timeline set forth by the Commander-in-Chief.??As we were starting to give the Afghan people the confidence to stand up and fight against fear and intimidation, we were sending that security blanket home.

This nation should be tired of war, especially a war that, if resourced and planned for properly, would never have lasted 20 years.??Leaders did not commit and fight to win because this nation does not have the stomach or will to fight to win.??This nation has not had that will since August, 1945, the last time we defeated an enemy and WON.

The United States has mismanaged Afghanistan, and it is the current President’s fault, and every President back to President Carter’s fault.

We funded the Mujahedeen in the 1980s to defeat the Soviet Union only to cut and run after the Soviets left.

We had an opportunity to take out Osama Bin Laden in the late 1990s, if only our Commander-and-Chief was not dealing with testimony, perjury, and impeachment when Bin Laden was a target.

We had a second??opportunity to take out Osama Bin Laden and defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda immediately after September 11, 2001.??Instead of continuing the pursuit we decided to shift our concentration to Iraq, who probably needed to be dealt with, but not at that time since they were not the source of the attacks of Sept 11, 2001.

We surged troops to Afghanistan in 2010-2012, and started to see results and put the Taliban on the run, only to have to begin redeploying those troops in order to meet a deadline (sound familiar).

We negotiated with the Taliban for a settlement while they still had the capability and will to continue to perpetuate attacks.

And then, we set a ceremonial “end” to the war (September 11, 2021), only to actually have it moved up two weeks, and then pull the vast majority of forces out, leaving equipment behind, before American citizens and Afghan allies were safely out of the country.

Nowhere above is the word WIN.??That is because we are ENDING a war, not WINNING one.

We ended The Korean War, and still have troops in the Republic of Korea.

We ended the Vietnam War, but conducted a conditions-based evacuation, getting forces in and American citizens out before the North Vietnamese entered and took Saigon.

We have now put Afghanistan into the worst of situations, with the Taliban dictating to us our conditions for departure.??And through the use of our precious service members as sitting ducks we have lost 10 Marines, two soliders and a Navy Corpsman in this mismanaged effort to evacuate.

Although many disagree, the comparisons and contrasts to Post-World War II Germany and Japan and post Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan are stark.??We defeated oppressive, inhumane leaders in both countries, and committed American will to rebuild these countries to the members of the free world they are today.??We still have troops in both countries, 76 years later.

We attempted to defeat an oppressive, inhumane organization who wanted to continue to lead Afghanistan, had them on the run, but due to the lack of understanding of the country, its culture, and its background, could not sustain this effort, and eventually lost interest in WINNING.

With the commitment of the resources needed to succeed, and the will to commit the time to make this work, our effort in Afghanistan would have resulted in VICTORY (another word for WIN) in less time, with ultimately less money.??We still would have had forces in the country even today, but it would have been a manageable environment.

I am tired of war, especially a war that has lasted 20 years.??I am tired of ENDING Wars.??I want to WIN Wars.??I believe this should be the ultimate objective.??If not, I believe the lives of our service men and women should never be committed to anything less.