Afghanistan Crumbling... Was It Ever Intact?
CNN News has a report this morning on whether or not the Afghanistan government and the influence of the US in that country is crumbling (report not posted on web at this time). The question is not whether it is a "crumbling" situation, but whether or not there ever was stability and control.
I have a newly found friend who is in Afghanistan at this moment. I met him at the Chicago Art Institute 10 days before he was due to ship out to Afghanistan. He is a US Navy Corpsman stationed with a Marine unit on the fornt lines in and around Kabul. Since we are both Navy Hospital Corpsmen (he currently active and I long since mustered out), we spent a good part of the day together.
Ten days after his arrival in Afghanistan, he reported that his LPO Corpsman--a man he respected for his knowledge, skill and willingness to put the lives of his Marines and the Afghanis above his own--was killed less than 30 kilometers outside of Kabul. The US government describes Kabul as the most stable area of the country.
Further evidence of the problems in Afghanistan is the "bumper" crops of opium poppies that have been higher than ever before, the continued control over provinces and large regions by warlords and tribal chieftains, and the lack of real infrastructure built outside of the 100 KM area surrounding Kabul.
On top of these issues is the fact that our troops and the Afghanistan government has not been able to control the flow of Taliban operatives and militia to and from the Pakistani border, that the Pakistani government is not seriously putting forth an effort to find the Taliban in their midst, and that the the people of Afghan are still aiding groups that are not part of the new government or the "improved conditions" since the Taliban were ousted from total control.
Add to that the apparent lack of winning the hearts and minds that is illustrated by the riot that was sparked by a "traffic accident" involving a US military vehicle, which is now reported as being caused by a brake failure.
The report of the cause of the accident being related to failed brakes reveals something to those of us with military experience and/or knowledge of ground operations of the military:
This conclusion is drawn not on available facts, but an understanding that military vehicles have a regimented maintenance cycle under ordinary circumstances. The vehicles are pulled off the road if there is any maintenance issue under most circumstances EXCEPT when there is a critically pressing mission objective. The regulations, training manuals, operational manuals and standard operational procedure (SOP) of the Army and Marine Corps, as well as the equipment manuals for the vehicles in question, clearly spell out what maintenance needs to be done, when, how and what parts are required. If those brakes failed it is either due to a failure to follow these requirements and regulations (a matter of negligence which now rises to a criminal matter) or there was not a proper supply of parts, fluids, equipment or other materiels to get the job done in the proper manner.
We will have to wait to see if there is an investigation in this case, but we can safely draw the conclusion that someone is not letting the full truth be told.
But the end conclusion is that the Afghanis are just as anti-American as anyone else in that region of the world.
The anti-American sentiments continue to grow, especially after the apparent massacre committed by a small group of Marines, its subsequent cover up, the takeover of western provinces of Iraq by insurgents that have apparently killed pro-American tribal chieftains, and the fallout of abuses at Abu Ghraib, prisons in Afghanistan, etc.
Congressman Murtha, a decorated veteran himself, rightly pointed out today in a CNN interview, that if this is a "war based on American ideals," we better start living up to those ideals. So far, we are doing a poor job of convincing anyone--including many Americans--that we are on the right track.
I have a newly found friend who is in Afghanistan at this moment. I met him at the Chicago Art Institute 10 days before he was due to ship out to Afghanistan. He is a US Navy Corpsman stationed with a Marine unit on the fornt lines in and around Kabul. Since we are both Navy Hospital Corpsmen (he currently active and I long since mustered out), we spent a good part of the day together.
Ten days after his arrival in Afghanistan, he reported that his LPO Corpsman--a man he respected for his knowledge, skill and willingness to put the lives of his Marines and the Afghanis above his own--was killed less than 30 kilometers outside of Kabul. The US government describes Kabul as the most stable area of the country.
Further evidence of the problems in Afghanistan is the "bumper" crops of opium poppies that have been higher than ever before, the continued control over provinces and large regions by warlords and tribal chieftains, and the lack of real infrastructure built outside of the 100 KM area surrounding Kabul.
On top of these issues is the fact that our troops and the Afghanistan government has not been able to control the flow of Taliban operatives and militia to and from the Pakistani border, that the Pakistani government is not seriously putting forth an effort to find the Taliban in their midst, and that the the people of Afghan are still aiding groups that are not part of the new government or the "improved conditions" since the Taliban were ousted from total control.
Add to that the apparent lack of winning the hearts and minds that is illustrated by the riot that was sparked by a "traffic accident" involving a US military vehicle, which is now reported as being caused by a brake failure.
The report of the cause of the accident being related to failed brakes reveals something to those of us with military experience and/or knowledge of ground operations of the military:
If the brakes failed that means that the troops are not getting supplied properly and some ground-pounder mechanic had to gerry-rig and make do to get a vehicle on the road to meet the objectives of the mission.
This conclusion is drawn not on available facts, but an understanding that military vehicles have a regimented maintenance cycle under ordinary circumstances. The vehicles are pulled off the road if there is any maintenance issue under most circumstances EXCEPT when there is a critically pressing mission objective. The regulations, training manuals, operational manuals and standard operational procedure (SOP) of the Army and Marine Corps, as well as the equipment manuals for the vehicles in question, clearly spell out what maintenance needs to be done, when, how and what parts are required. If those brakes failed it is either due to a failure to follow these requirements and regulations (a matter of negligence which now rises to a criminal matter) or there was not a proper supply of parts, fluids, equipment or other materiels to get the job done in the proper manner.
We will have to wait to see if there is an investigation in this case, but we can safely draw the conclusion that someone is not letting the full truth be told.
But the end conclusion is that the Afghanis are just as anti-American as anyone else in that region of the world.
The anti-American sentiments continue to grow, especially after the apparent massacre committed by a small group of Marines, its subsequent cover up, the takeover of western provinces of Iraq by insurgents that have apparently killed pro-American tribal chieftains, and the fallout of abuses at Abu Ghraib, prisons in Afghanistan, etc.
Congressman Murtha, a decorated veteran himself, rightly pointed out today in a CNN interview, that if this is a "war based on American ideals," we better start living up to those ideals. So far, we are doing a poor job of convincing anyone--including many Americans--that we are on the right track.
posted by Jim Downey at 8:35 AM
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