Afghanistan: An Individual Soldier's Perspective Parts I - III

[projectvxn]

This thread originally appeared on Above Top Secret in August of 2013. Reposted here due to the addition of Part III. Parts I and II were written while I was deployed to combat in Afghanistan.

And he is going to enforce what they tell him to enforce, and if a freedom fighter gets in the way.

He is simply going to kill him or her.

PART I

Many of you know that I am currently deployed to Afghanistan. I want to share something with you that I went throughout here very recently, if for no other reason than to understand my perspective, irrespective of one's feelings on the political and social implications of the war. This isn't a commentary on that. It is simply my experience. If you wish to opine on the political issues of this war, be my guest. If you wish to rail against me, by all means, do so. But know this, until you've had to do what I have, don't pretend to understand, or be able to second guess my perspective on things. The quote above is from a former member, I remembered this post in particular because I've heard so much garbage like this on ATS before. This is sort of a response to that post. At the very least, you'll have my view of this on record:

My second mission was a medevac chase mission. My helicopter is responsible for protecting the medevac bird from enemy action.

The call came in and we rushed to the bird. We were up on comms and taking off on the mission when the details came in:

"Patient is pediatric". I thought...OMG, they hit a kid?

"Be advised patient is a 6-month-old infant."

That's when my heart sank. I couldn't believe it. IED hit a civilian vehicle wounding this little girl to the point where she had damage to her face from shrapnel and had her leg severely damaged in the blast, which led to it being amputated. It was a remotely detonated device. Meaning someone had control of it and knew what they were doing. Probably using civilian casualties to try to draw ground guys into secondary devices, but that is speculation on my part.

She survived. She could have easily died.

The "Freedom fighters" are anything but. I don't expect anyone to agree with the war. Hell, there's hardly any support for the war to continue among troops themselves. No one wants to be in this crap hole country.

But at the end of the day, the people we are fighting are NOT the good guys. They are NOT freedom fighters. They are murderers and terrorists and fucking child-killing monsters. They are tyrants who brutally subjugate women-denying them jobs, education, and any sense of self-worth.

The post quoted above admonishes the notion of a soldier killing this enemy. The Taliban.
I admonish the sentiment of the post entirely. I do not hold a reservation for them. I have no respect for them as a fighting force. They are without honor. Killing them would not disturb my sleep in the slightest.

There you have it. My perspective as I understand it. From my own experience. Make of it what you will.

[projectvxn]

Part II



This part will focus on the Afghan National Army, heretofore referred to as the ANA.

The ANA:

Built in the aftermath of the US-led invasion, the Afghan National Army is a conglomeration of the several tribes that make up Afghanistan. Plagued by political corruption, tribal infighting, and insurgent infiltration, they have had a long, hard road thus far, and the road ahead is harder still.

Every day these soldiers wake up in the morning, pray to Allah, and put on the uniform of Afghanistan to fight the resurgence of the Taliban and the foreign insurgents who help them. They do not have the assets we do. They know full well that when they go out and fight the Taliban that they may not be coming back. Their families are in danger. If they are wounded in action their golden hour is non-existent. So even if they suffer a survivable wound, they may not make it off the battlefield fast enough to stave off infection, or blood loss. They know this, and yet they still choose to take up the responsibility of protecting their nation from the slavery offered by the Taliban.

The relationship between NATO forces and the ANA has been both beneficial and tumultuous. They have received excellent training and have been equipped reasonably well for a startup army. But sometimes the lack of understanding of cultural differences by NATO personnel has led to what is referred to as Green on Blue attacks, as well as unanswered grievances and infiltration by insurgents. By and large, our relationship with the ANA has been a good one. They have, for the most part, taken the leading role in the defense of Afghanistan over the last few years.

While our generals and diplomats raise concern over their readiness to go it alone entirely, I believe, from watching these very capable patriots work, that they are far more ready than we give them credit for. They are keenly aware of what is at stake. They know the dangers, they know the benefits. I remain cautiously optimistic that the ANA, with all of its faults, can hold on to Afghanistan. They must, the choice to fail is simply not there.

I have a lot of respect for these soldiers. They are the real heroes of Afghanistan and should be hailed as such. The sacrifices they make on behalf of their people despite the hurdles they face is something no other professional army in the world can lay claim to, to include our own.

US-led NATO forces have sacrificed a lot here in Afghanistan. Lord knows I have lost good friends out here and I will always remember them. To me, if the ANA can stand and fight on their own, much of that sacrifice will have been worth it. But at the end of the day, we're going home. Afghanistan is not our country and we do not face the same dangers that the brave soldiers of the ANA do. I pray for the ANA. I wish them good luck. And may Allah stand with them in the fight for their nation, for they are the real freedom fighters of Afghanistan.

[projectvxn]

PART III (9/11 Edition)

9/11 was a business opportunity and my friends and I were part of a protection racket with no purpose. I take pride in my military service for the personal changes inculcated through training and experiencing war first hand. But the war itself became an even bigger lie when we killed bin Laden and then stayed...

The Afghanistan Papers revealed a lazy justification for continued operations in Afghanistan. A strategic black hole where otherwise intelligent military doctrine broke down into a toxic sludge of "pass the buck" leadership and profiteering.

What we forgot about 9/11 is just how much power we handed these people back then who now endeavor to crush us today.

Those innocent people were sacrificed on 9/11 for what Barack Obama would later call "a fundamental transformation of America" as he pretended to run against the policies of the Bush Administration.

It was all a trap for us and 19 years later it is very obvious that we fell for it.

We must never forget how easy it is to drag a peaceable people into war. Artificially prolonged war. Meaning that no real cause beyond the veneer of propaganda and lies from military leadership and presidential administration's going back 19 years is present. There's no depth here. No cause.

We forgot how to be peaceful and since we have no real enemies we now turn the tools of the Post 9/11 American spy and war machine we created 19 years ago against one another.

My how we have forgotten.

[drussell41]

The relationship between NATO forces and the ANA has been both beneficial and tumultuous. They have received excellent training and have been equipped reasonably well for a startup army. But sometimes the lack of understanding of cultural differences by NATO personnel has led to what is referred to as Green on Blue attacks, as well as unanswered grievances and infiltration by insurgents. By and large, our relationship with the ANA has been a good one. They have, for the most part, taken the leading role in the defense of Afghanistan over the last few years.

It was the threat of Green on Blue that disturbed me the most when my husband was there in 2014-15.

[projectvxn]

The relationship between NATO forces and the ANA has been both beneficial and tumultuous. They have received excellent training and have been equipped reasonably well for a startup army. But sometimes the lack of understanding of cultural differences by NATO personnel has led to what is referred to as Green on Blue attacks, as well as unanswered grievances and infiltration by insurgents. By and large, our relationship with the ANA has been a good one. They have, for the most part, taken the leading role in the defense of Afghanistan over the last few years.

It was the threat of Green on Blue that disturbed me the most when my husband was there in 2014-15.

Indeed. We had a few while we were out there. One happened in FOB Apache. Immediately after the ANA and US personnel were segregated.

[projectvxn]

I had completed so many missions with ANA special forces as well as their coalition partner forces (USSOF teams, SAS, Lithuanians, Australians, Italians, etc.) and had gained a lot of respect for them. I wrote PART II a few months after a firefight in Tarin Kowt we were in and the ANA soldiers there took the fight to the enemy and defended their base right alongside the Australian SF units I was there to support.

I went on several air assault missions against the Taliban with ANA commandos who were every bit as professional as the SAS who trained them.

Long story short, I got to know the ANA both their conventional forces stuck on guard duty the same as me and the special operators taking the fight to the enemy - coming out of the sky like dirty and tough as # valkyries.

I understand now that my experiences with the ANA were not typical. Most ANA units are disjointed garbage units filled jihadists and undisciplined people.

But the ones I was with were generally pretty solid.

It is very clear how deeply my perspective has had to change over time for me to have gotten to this point.

[drussell41]

I went on several air assault missions against the Taliban with ANA commandos who were every bit as professional as the SAS who trained them.

Long story short, I got to know the ANA both their conventional forces stuck on guard duty the same as me and the special operators taking the fight to the enemy - coming out of the sky like dirty and tough as # valkyries.

I understand now that my experiences with the ANA were not typical. Most ANA units are disjointed garbage units filled jihadists and undisciplined people.

That's good hear, that some were outstanding.   Frankly, I've always suspected your last sentence above.

I don't respect the men of this nation, by and large.   Between the way they treat their women and the bacha bazi scene....   ugh.  "Women are for babies and boys are for fun."   Yeah.  I'm thinking fun might look more like dropping alot of them from altitude.

[727Sky]

Salute

[projectvxn]

I went on several air assault missions against the Taliban with ANA commandos who were every bit as professional as the SAS who trained them.

Long story short, I got to know the ANA both their conventional forces stuck on guard duty the same as me and the special operators taking the fight to the enemy - coming out of the sky like dirty and tough as # valkyries.

I understand now that my experiences with the ANA were not typical. Most ANA units are disjointed garbage units filled jihadists and undisciplined people.

That's good hear, that some were outstanding.   Frankly, I've always suspected your last sentence above.

I don't respect the men of this nation, by and large.   Between the way they treat their women and the bacha bazi scene....   ugh.  "Women are for babies and boys are for fun."   Yeah.  I'm thinking fun might look more like dropping alot of them from altitude.

Efforts were made. Success was spotty. 

Thank the Aussies for the favor.

[Snarl]

Salute

Raises glass.  

[Wide-Eyes]

@"projectvxn" 

I was hoping you would post these here.

I don't really have anything to add but I'm interested in what went down over there and unlike ATS, you will get some solid conversation here and it won't just get lost in the archives.

Thanks for sharing. 

[727Sky]

Open Letter To The NFL PLAYERS. The Boycott is coming.

You graduated high school in 2011. Your teenage years were a struggle. You grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Your mother was the leader of the family and worked tirelessly to keep a roof over your head and food on your plate.

Academics were a struggle for you and your grades were mediocre at best. The only thing that made you stand out is you weighed 225 lbs and could run 40 yards in 4.2 seconds while carrying a football. Your best friend was just like you, except he didn’t play football. Instead of going to football practice after school, he went to work at McDonald’s for minimum wage.

You were recruited by all the big colleges and spent every weekend of your senior year making visits to universities where coaches and boosters tried to convince you their school was best. They laid out the red carpet for you. Your best friend worked double shifts at Mickey D’s. College was not an option for him. On the day you signed with Big State University, your best friend signed paperwork with his Army recruiter. You went to summer workouts. He went to basic training.

You spent the next four years living in the athletic dorm, eating at the training table. You spent your Saturdays on the football field, cheered on by adoring fans.

Tutors attended to your every academic need. You attended class when you felt like it. Sure, you worked hard. You lifted weights, ran sprints, studied plays, and soon became one of the top football players in the country. Your best friend was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. While you were in college, he deployed to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice. He became a Sergeant and led a squad of 19-year-old soldiers who grew up just like he did. He shed his blood in Afghanistan and watched young American's give their lives, limbs, and innocence for the US.

You went to the NFL combine and scored off the charts. You hired an agent and waited for draft day. You were drafted in the first round and your agent immediately went to work, ensuring that you received the most money possible. You signed for $16 million although you had never played a single down of professional football. Your best friend re-enlisted in the Army for four more years. As a combat tested sergeant, he will be paid $32,000 per year.

You will drive a Ferrari on the streets of South Beach. He will ride in the back of a Blackhawk helicopter with 10 other combat loaded soldiers. You will sleep at the Ritz. He will dig a hole in the ground and try to sleep. You will “make it rain” in the club. He will pray for rain as the temperature reaches 120 degrees.

On Sunday, you will run into a stadium as tens of thousands of fans cheer and yell your name. For your best friend, there is little difference between Sunday or any other day of the week. There are no adoring fans. There are only people trying to kill him and his soldiers. Every now and then, he and his soldiers leave the front lines and “go to the rear” to rest.

When the National Anthem plays and you take a knee, he will jump to his feet and salute the television. While you protest the unfairness of life in the United States, he will give thanks to God that he has the honor of defending his great country.

To the players of the NFL: We are the people who buy your tickets, watch you on TV, and wear your jerseys. We anxiously wait for Sundays so we can cheer for you and marvel at your athleticism. Although we love to watch you play, we care little about your opinions until you offend us. You have the absolute right to express yourselves, but we have the absolute right to boycott you. We have tolerated your drug use and DUIs, your domestic violence, and your vulgar displays of wealth. We should be ashamed for putting our admiration of your physical skills before what is morally right. But now you have gone too far. You have insulted our flag, our country, our soldiers, our police officers, and our veterans. You are living the American dream, yet you disparage our great country. I encourage all like-minded Americans to boycott the NFL.

National boycott of the NFL is November 8th & 15th in honor of Veteran’s Day, November 11. Boycott all football telecast, all fans, all ticket holders, stay away from attending any games, let them play to empty stadiums. Pass this post along to all your friends and family. Honor our military - some of whom come home with the American flag draped over their coffin.  

Add MLB, NBA, and any other sport that kneels to this ??

#BoycottNFL #BoycottTheNFL #NFLBoycott

#BoycottNBA #BoycottTheNBA #NBABoycott

#BoycottMLB #MLBBoycott

#USA #Veterans #backtheblue #StandForTheFlag

#VetsforTrump #TeddyDaniels.

[drussell41]

That's good hear, that some were outstanding.   Frankly, I've always suspected your last sentence above.

I don't respect the men of this nation, by and large.   Between the way they treat their women and the bacha bazi scene....   ugh.  "Women are for babies and boys are for fun."   Yeah.  I'm thinking fun might look more like dropping alot of them from altitude.

Efforts were made. Success was spotty. 

Thank the Aussies for the favor.

I'm thankful that effort was made; even a few successes are better than zero.

[727Sky]

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2020/09...g-weekend/

NBC’s Sunday Night Football Ratings Crash Nearly 30% for Woke Opening Weekend

The Sunday Night Football clash between the Rams and the Cowboys was supposed to halt the ratings crash the NFL has experienced so far in the 2020 season.
Spoiler alert, it most certainly did not halt the ratings crash.
According to DEADLINE Hollywood, ratings for NBC’s only weekly NFL game, were down a shocking 28%.

Putting on the two teams with big national followings, SNF snared a 4.7 in early ratings among adults 18-49 and 14.81 million viewers last night.
In numbers certain to change, that’s a fall of 28% in the ratings and a hard decline of 23% in sets of eyeballs from what the September 8, 2019 official start of SNF snagged in the early numbers of its opening game of last season. While the early Nielsen data lacks West Coast numbers, which is kind of important when you have a team from the mega-market of LA playing, this result is going to be hard pill for the NFL and NBC to swallow.

Not sure but it appears this is one war to change the hearts and minds of the football watching public that is not working..

[F2d5thCav]

@"projectvxn" 

Very well written, thank you for posting these.

Cheers