Afghanistan Withdrawal Through the Eyes of a Veteran

I Left a Piece of My Soul

I will be honest, the last couple of weeks have been hard. As someone who spent time fighting in Afghanistan, the events that have transpired over the last couple of weeks have been very difficult to process. From the hasty evacuation that left thousands clamoring at the airport gates for safety, to the explosion that took the lives of 13 American services members, the internal distress that I have been feeling has increased by the day.  As I have watched the decisions that this Administration has made, and the consequences that have played out in real time, it has made all the sacrifices that I made seem worthless.

One of the hardest things for me to process has been the question inside my head of whether my time deployed to Afghanistan was a waste. Whether the lives that were lost and the injuries that have been incurred have all been for nothing? Watching the Taliban take ground that we took many years ago made the feeling that our time over was for nothing increase by the day.

Now that I have fully processed the events that have taken place over the last two weeks, I know the sacrifices were not for nothing. I think back to the twenty years of relative peace that Afghanistan has enjoyed because of our sacrifices. I think of the little girls that have been educated over the last twenty years that otherwise would not have. I think of the light that we brought to an otherwise dark place, and it gives me a peace with the sacrifices that were made.

TO THE VETERAN

For those who did not spend time in Afghanistan it is hard to understand that those of us that did left a piece of us over there. While most of us made it back, none of us came back the same, all of us who fought in this war left a piece of our soul over there. For me I lost my innocence, my optimistic view that the world is a good place was forever stripped from me. What I did gain was the realization that the world is a dark and dangerous place. By fighting in this war, it has made me realize that America is one of the few beacons of light in this dark world.

In Afghanistan the light shined through, we introduced compassion to a place that has little. We provided a safer place for families to raise their children. We provided the security necessary for little girls to come out of hiding and get an education. We ensured that people were able to seek out medical care in their villages when in the past there was only suffering. And we provided a glimmer of hope for a better future for those that had no hope before.

What we did was honorable, we stood in the darkness to allow a small amount of light to shine through. However, as we watched the last of our troops leave those of us that can truly grasp the full consequences of this event realize that as that last plane left the last light was extinguished and darkness returned.  

TO AFGHANISTAN

To the ninety percent of the good people in your country all I can say is that I am sorry. I am sorry that we did not do more. I am sorry that we did not secure for you a lasting peace where you do not have to live a life under a brutal regime. As we watch what is taking place in your country over the last couple weeks, realize that the hearts of us that fought side by side with you for so long are breaking, they are breaking because we know what you are going through and what you will be going through as the last American has left.  

I am sorry to the women and the little girls. The life you are about to live would be unimaginable to people in the United States and most of the world. I am sorry for the sheer brutality that you are about to experience, and a life filled with little hope.

What I am most sorry for is the lack of determination and will of my country and the current Administration to ensure that we were handing over a country that would be safe for you and your children to grow. Some within our country have lost the will to fight, and for that we have forever altered the path of your lives and I am sorry for that.

TO AMERICAN CITIZENS

There are those of you that will argue that we needed to pull out, or that we should have never been there in the first place. While I do not disagree with the first, it is a little too late to argue the second. We were there and had been for the last twenty years and to pull out in the manner that we witnessed over the last couple of weeks is a travesty. We needed to pull out in a manner that ensured that limited support was available so that what we have witnessed in the last two weeks would not take place. Instead as the last plane took off, the image to the world was the United States leaving with our tail between our legs.

As the reports continue to come out on what took place over the last two weeks, it is clear to me that the only thing that this Administration cared about was the optics of being out of Afghanistan by the 20-year anniversary of September 11th. If this Administration would have cared about anything else, they would have never left in the manner that they did.

We altered the lives of the citizens of Afghanistan over the last 20 years for the better, and now we have abandoned them. We have allowed a brutal regime to regain control and we have showed the rest of the world that we do not have the resolve to fight. We have showed our allies that we are not as strong as we once were, and more consequently have showed our enemies that we are weak.

TO MY SON

I fear for you and the world that you will grow up in and now because of the events over the last couple of weeks that fear has grown stronger. America has its flaws, but it is also the beacon of light in an otherwise dark world. Whether or not people want to admit it the world is a much safer place when America is strong. When America shows strength and resolve the light shines the brightest, when we pull back, we allow the darkness to slowly creep back in.  

I was once as innocent as you. I viewed the world with the innocence that only a child could have and had yet to have the realization of how dark the world truly is. What I have learned however, is that the world needs those who bring light to the darkness. The way in which I was called to bring light to the world was to battle darkness at the end of a gun, I hope that is not your path. I hope that as you grow the light wins out and you never have to leave a piece of your soul on foreign soil to keep the darkness at bay.