True Bravery

A brief respite from the China silliness. A high school acquaintance is serving in the Army in Afghanistan. He wrote to his friends back at home to fill folks in on the achievements of the US and Afghan forces in the region that you would never read about in the international papers.

To offset his frustration, he sent a letter to the news organizations to share the positive events which he ran by a reporter from one of the news services. The reporter explained that "reporters" don't decide what to report; they are told by the rumpled suits back in corporate. Corporate decides based on what the public wants to read.

My friend politely disagreed. I would have impolitely disagreed.

He wrote that his unit is working for the Afghan National Army (ANA) now. The ANA and the Afghan National Police continue to gain the trust of the locals and continue to increase their capacity and capability as security forces.

The number of deaths is not a useful military statistic in a counterinsurgency fight he explained, and the press' preoccupation with casualties is misplaced. The key to a counterinsurgency fight is winning over the population. Whoever wins the population, wins the battle. Each individual supporting you is an individual who won't pick up arms against you, and since the population is relatively static, that individual isn't replaced by an enemy. Each person in the community who's support your enemy wins is another person fighting against you. And the environment is changing for the better.

Each day more and more of the Afghan population decide they want the Taliban out of their community. The only offerings of the Taliban are death, destruction and oppression. The Afghan people have seen what the American troops and the Afghan government offer: medical clinics, schools, hope. They are choosing hope. The people are telling the Taliban to get out of their communities. My friend was in awe of the bravery of individuals to take these positions when the lives of their families are at stake.

"The people do not want oppression and continued violence; they want their children to go to the school of the parent's choice; they want to work in a place of their choosing; they want to go to sleep at night without fear of a night letter left on their door or an attack against their home; and they want to live the life of an honorable Afghan. That is the story that needs to be told."

I think most Americans would like to know about the good things their Armed Services are doing. Most Americans value and respect the men and women of the US Army, Navy and Air force as the best and most honorable people that America has to offer. Most Americans are aware that without our best in uniform, there would be no more 4th of July celebrations, no Labor Day, no McDonald's, no WalMart, no Nascar, no NFL, no martinis, no Anheuser Busch, no Fred Flinstone, no America. These people volunteer to be in harm's way, to wear heavy, hot, protective uniforms in 120 degree weather and to live thousands of miles away from their families for extended periods of time so that the rest of us can enjoy normal lives.

I didn't do it. I didn't have the guts.

And I thank God for my friend and the thousands of others like him who are willing to do what I am not. God bless them all.