Dear Mr. Biden,
First, a note to my 750,000 (+) fellow Afghan veterans and their families; like many of you, the events of the past week have left me somewhere between rage, disbelief, sorrow and a profound sense of loss. Hear me when I tell you that the failings of government (decision makers who know more than they understand) and the frailties of the human condition do not in any way invalidate the honorable service and sacrifice of our brothers and sisters who toiled on the plains and in the mountains of Afghanistan over the past two decades.
Following the dark days of the attacks on our country on 9/11, we volunteered to step into the fray and take the fight to the enemy, while doing our best to lift a people who had known only conflict, despair, oppression and subjugation through unabated warfare for the previous decades. Let us not forget that 80% of Afghanistan’s current population was raised during the American presence in that country and has experienced the inextinguishable spark of self-determination, representative governance, educational opportunity and justice driven by due process under the law (however flawed). These concepts were foreign ideals, incomprehensible to an ethnically and geographically compartmentalized population with 80% illiteracy, 20% child mortality and an adult life expectancy of 37 years prior to our arrival. Despite the president’s most recent sophomorically dismissive mutterings suggesting otherwise, the mission was always to first close with and destroy the enemies of our nation, then deny Afghanistan as a safe haven for those who would attack us. We accomplished the latter by working to build security, good governance and economic opportunity for its people the past twenty years. If the second phase of that mission has proved a bridge too far, consider our continued occupations of Germany, Korea, The Balkans, Japan, Africa, Kuwait and Iraq, then so be it. Our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen can be proud of their dedication to this mission and the sacrifice of our Gold Star Families was not in vain.
Our selfless service and blood spilled in this desolate land has given birth to an alternative viewpoint to the Afghan peoples’ understanding of the human condition and cannot be taken back or suppressed by the Taliban or any other oppressor. This is our legacy in Afghanistan and it will remain undiminished as an example of the promise America represents to the world.
Mr. Biden. One of an Army Private’s first lessons in leadership is that a leader is responsible for all that his “team” does or fails to do. Let us not attempt to obscure this entirely preventable catastrophe unfolding on the streets of Kabul with the vagaries of strategic decisions to leave Afghanistan. Few would argue with that bus having left the station, but as is always the case in strategic decision making, it matters greatly HOW you accomplish strategic objectives. We learned as junior officers about Ends, Ways and Means in completing operations in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous decision making environment. Exactly how we’ve moved from the planned departure from a theater of war to Afghan civilians falling to their deaths from the sky and being crushed in the wheel wells of C-17 aircraft is beyond comprehension. How is it possible that we don’t even know how many or exactly where American citizens are in Afghanistan; is it 5,000, 10,000, 15,000? The State Department as the lead government agency is more befuddled and overwhelmed than even the Department of Defense.
Our Secretary of Defense, who leads the most powerful military on the planet has conceded publicly that we “lack the capability” to get our own citizens and Afghan allies out of the country…what a far cry from the days when the United States liberated entire continents of evil regimes and saved the world from certain doom. I expected to hear Secretary Austin and General Milley take responsibility, acknowledge their failures, then assure the taxpaying citizens of the United States that they will move mountains to bring our Americans and allies home safely, vice a mealy-mouthed shrug and more vagaries. It’s disgusting and a national humiliation with our collective credibility and security on the line. How can we as a nation now stand against Chinese aggression in Taiwan or Russian aggression in the Ukraine? How can we defend our strategic interests from an unenviable position of not being liked/trusted, respected or feared (the worse of all strategic positions)? Have we officially relinquished our historic role as the shining city on the hill with nothing to salvage from our crime infested cities, porous borders and flagging economy? Don’t count on Taliban generosity as they chant “death to America” as sub-human sociopathic predators, void of any spark of humanity.
And don’t blame the Afghan people, Mr. Biden. The Afghan people have paid with their own blood and sacrifices, including more than 60,000 Afghan soldiers who gave their lives during this conflict for their country. When is the last time you were mortared or stoned by extremists for standing in line to vote? When is the last time an American citizen was murdered for possessing a voter ID card as many Afghans were on the Jalalabad Road in 2004 during their voter registration process? Spare us all of your self-righteous condemnation and judgment of a people who have suffered beyond your ability to comprehend.
You knew. You were told and briefed on the growing operational hazard and velocity of the Taliban take over. Your administration’s planning and execution of this operation has been an amateur hour, clown show and an abject failure at every decision point. Do not blame everyone else and stand up for your claim that the “buck stops with you.” Nice catch phrase, but rings hollow as you walk away from the podium and true accountability from the American people.
Our veterans, allies and the American people want to hear a cogent plan of action to rescue this debacle. We demand a well-articulated course of action that includes the full accountability and safe extraction of our citizens first, then the protection and deliverance of tens of thousands of Afghans who placed their confidence and trust in our nation. Should we fail in achieving this end state, America and the world will suffer in very real terms far beyond the horrific realities presented on our hourly newsfeeds over the past several days.
Finally, sir, while your administration has chosen to busy itself with peripheral issues of political expediency since your inauguration, the world around us is changing rapidly, and not to our favor. Be mindful of the divisiveness and derision you are sewing among our own people in contrast to your early rhetoric as a “unifier.” Our country will need unanimity for its very survival against its growing adversaries sooner than you can imagine.
In short, get your shit together. Take responsibility and fix it. Do not sully the service and sacrifice of an entire generation of Americans with your leadership failure and dereliction of duty in securing the safe return of our citizens and allies from Afghanistan.
Colonel (Retired) J. R. Mosher
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