From an Officer in the Area of Operations
Peter Robinson ·
Jun 24, 2010 at 10:41am
While we here at home find ourselves fixated on the folly of Gen. McChrystal, an officer making his way from Washington, D.C. to Kabul--who got in touch from the steppes of Central Asia--sends this note:
I'm old [the officer is in his forties] compared to the young and vigorous Americans I see from all the Services. They are motivated and NEVER complain. We owe them a great deal. As Sebastian Junger says in his most excellent new book, War, "No community can protect itself unless a certain portion of its youth decide they are willing to risk their lives in its defense."
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May '10
Re: From an Officer in the Area of Operations
Peter - thank you for the superb Uncommon Knowledge interview with Unger. It was fascinating, and very moving. I'm sending a link to my niece and her husband (both Majors in the British Army - she a vet, and he in the Royal Artillery) who have served in Iraq to see how it compares with their experiences.
There is (more or less) universal respect and admiration for the young people in the forces here, but continues to be a failure to communicate what it is we seek to achieve in Afganistan, and why it is necessary to to it. By default, therefore, the case for withdrawal is made for much of the population.
If Obama really were what so many who voted for him thought he was, he would be doing a fine job in this respect. But his eloquence (and that of his speechwriters) does not seem to be at the disposal of matters of genuine international import.