I have been reading a lot about the President's reassessment of our Afghanistan strategy in recent weeks. Putting aside the politics of it, I can imagine what is going on in the minds of our soldiers and Marines who are currently in theater. The very public nature of the President's deliberations can only have a negatitive effect on morale. I know this for a fact having seen it firstand in Iraq.
Whenever your leaders, whether civilian or military, are seen to be questioning their own strategies and logic behind the mission, the junior men will always lose morale. They will then start questioning the mission themselves and will start wondering why they are even there doing what they are doing. This definitely has a negative effect on the overall mission.
But beyond that, from a moral standpoint, it pains me to know that there are men and women fighting right now without a clear objective in mind or without a clear strategy in place for accomplishing the mission.
And, even more personal than that, it pains me to know that these men and women are fighting at the same time as I am sitting here writing this blog. I question what I am even doing here. I question if I can ever affect change or make a difference in any way now that I am no longer on active duty. I question what I even hope to accomplish by writing this.
Why am I not over there fighting, leading, serving again?
At times, my own sense of guilt is crushing. I have served two tours in Iraq and all I can think about is I should be doing more. I should be over in Afghanistan right now, doing the work that needs to be done.
I wonder if anyone else shares this guilt? Do civilians even think about things like this? Or do they simply change the channel to the latest reality TV show when a report of eight soldiers being killed comes across the screen?
I think the answers to these questions tell us something about ourselves...and our country.
4 comments:
I can give you an opinion from a civilian! I often don't understand that POV -- wouldn't you want your leader to do the most thorough and thoughtful research and have a complete understanding of the situation before determining further troops and necessities? 8 years of the status quo isn't getting anyone anywhere. The morale is already being lost on the ground with troop deaths rising annually. He needs to make the best possible decision and I would think his care and deliberation would be appreciated.
Previous comment removed due to awful misspellings and I didn't know how to edit!!
I can tell you from personal experience, the troops on the ground want forceful and sure decision-making from their leaders.
As a Captain, if I had doubts about a particular course of action my unit was taking, I would never show those doubts in public. The troops need to know that their leader is in charge and knows what he is doing.
It's fine to have questions and doubts, but the debating should not be done in public.
Also, with respect to the "eight years of status quo" comment - remember that the President announced in March of this year that he was installing General McChrystal as his new commander in Afghanistan and that they were installing a new strategy. Now, a few short months later, we are already reviewing that new strategy again?
That does not look like strong leadership. It looks like someone is having second thoughts. And all the while men are still fighting on the ground.
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