Before I came to Afghanistan I had a completely different view of what was going on here. I thought it was a struggle between us and the people that wanted their freedom against those that want to cause hate and misery not only for the people of this country but ours. That line in my mind prior to coming here was very sharp distinct line….. Well that line is a lot blurry than I could have ever conceived. I recently read an article in which platoon of Marines were going out on a patrol with a bunch of Afghan Army soldiers and one got stuck in the mud shortly after leaving the wire and didn't want to continue on. He refused to continue on with the patrol, this in itself is a slap in the face of all the Marines outside the wire who put their lives on the line everyday. One of the Marines came back looked at the embedded reporter and said "Make sure you write this in your report: The ANA are garbage."
This is my first trip into Afghanistan and I don't know how accurate this Marines perspective of our counterparts is. I will say over all that we as individuals we do not fully trust them and nor do they probably trust us. I constantly hear Marines talk about how they don't trust them. You would think after 10 years we would be a little farther in our trust amongst each other. From my perspective we are far far from where you would think we are. One thing I do see is I hear politicians and high level DOD civilians speaking of how the Department of Defense needs to tighten down their budget. There are constant emails circulating about how there is a possibility they want to take away our 20 year retirement, or how they want to reduce or cut back certain benefits. Change the Health benefits of retirees. Can the Department of Defense cut back? Yes. I'm not here to argue you that point. However when it comes to those very benefits that were laid before me some 13 years ago to gain my commitment to join and furthermore to continue service and talk of them being changed or taken away. That is a pill I can't swallow. Not when I see before my very eyes the millions and millions of dollars we have spent and continue to spend here in Afghanistan. When WW2 vets came back from fighting no one in their right mind would have considered altering their benefits. How is it ok now after 10 years to speak of such a thing? We don't ask to get sent to conflicts and wars; we get issued orders by those elected officials that authorized it in the first place. Now that it's become too expensive to pay back that investment of time taking, blood, sweat and tears from the individual soldier, sailor, airmen and Marines and families have given we want to speak of cut backs. Insane! I'm not going to argue we need to curb the spending. But let's ensure we do what is right for those that protect the very freedoms…………..
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