23 Years in the Blink of an Eye
not sure what we were killing for, in the end
As long as I continue to write, every September 11th I will post this, as this is what was playing on the TV in the background as I was going about my duties as a then garden variety LCDR in C5F AOR in, what was for us, mid-afternoon in that blazing heat.
Everything changed, but I really didn’t see how things happened at home because for me and those around me, we were busy for the next few months trying to figure out how to get into Afghanistan to do what none of us expected. We thought we would do some punitive expedition, but that was well above our paygrade.
What a couple of decades of waste it was, ending in that national disgrace of a surrender in Kabul a little under two decades later. All that treasure, blood, pain, and national reputation.
For what, exactly, in the end—an end of choice?
So, back to the last minute of the post-Cold War peace dividend and the last moment when I was just going through the motions of a mission that was just a vapor of inertia from the little skirmish I played in as a LTjg, Desert Storm.
One of those awful moments where everyone old enough to remember can tell the story of exactly where they were when it happened. Opinion: Our initial response was good...perhaps very good. The decision to invade Iraq (which I supported at the time) and ensuing attempt to democratize 7th Century cultures is with hindsight the epitome of poor judgement...at least on its face. The "Blacklist" is one of my favorite TV series. James Spader as Reddington, the writing, twists, and "apparently" outrageous plotlines of corrupt businessman, politicians, scientists, government officials secretly acting in ways that were completely at odds with their publicly stated job portfolios. The show created a 007 type criminal network (SMERSH-like) that had all of the previously mentioned public / private officials at times collaborating for personal and SMERSH-like organizational gain. It was camp, it was (at times) funny, but the underlying theme was very dark, with a "you don't really know what's going on here" vibe. It was great escapism, and fun. Until you used that model to explain some of the real-world actor's actions on the world stage. But it was all in fun, and jest, right? Wasn't it? Right? Guys?
I’m proud of my role as a division officer and combat watch stander during the days and weeks after the attack and then being the TAO on watch when launched our punitive strikes for 6 weeks before we headed home to Norfolk. We did our job, we made them pay for their transgression and we killed a lot of Taliban and Al Qaeda. We should have ended it there. Instead, well you know.