Rather than celebrating Veteran’s Day, I wish we could celebrate Armistice Day or, you know, the end of all war as we know it. That would be wonderful. I would much rather like to live in a world without conflict.
The unfortunate truth is that we don’t.
We have not rid the world of war. It continues in its small scale fashion at this very moment in conflicts all around the world.
Am I angry that my fellow soldiers gave lives and limbs for an effort that is clearly ending in defeat? Of course. But I am even angrier that our nation’s leaders ignored reality and insisted for two decades that the war was headed in the right direction. Nearly a score of different generals in charge of the war effort, and three presidential administrations, chose to extend an unsustainable status quo rather than acknowledge hard truths. None of them faced any consequences.
Am I angry that my fellow soldiers gave lives and limbs for an effort that is clearly ending in defeat? Of course. But I am even angrier that our nation’s leaders ignored reality and insisted for two decades that the war was headed in the right direction. Nearly a score of different generals in charge of the war effort, and three presidential administrations, chose to extend an unsustainable status quo rather than acknowledge hard truths. None of them faced any consequences.
Once upon a time, President Joe Biden advocated for a vastly smaller military footprint in Afghanistan. We can only hope that, as President, he has the courage to follow through.