Another Christmas in Afghanistan

Dec. 26, 2010

Surrounded by the joy of the holidays, it’s easy to forget the 150,000 young American and Allied soldiers whose Christmas dinner will come in the form of a "Meal-Ready-to-Eat" – today’s version of "C Rations." Watching the snow fall this morning from my warm kitchen, I thought of those brave men and women patrolling the cold, hostile hills and valleys of Afghanistan. I wondered what they thought of the Afghan world they were experiencing this holiday season.

How to describe it? I’m often asked what I found most interesting about Afghanistan. One of the biggest eye-openers was seeing (and smelling) life in a small village, remarkably similar to such villages in the 15th or 16th century, cold hovels with their filthy bedding. That’s the foot soldier’s view. That’s the world to which we’re trying to deliver good government, democracy, and development. The President chose his words carefully last week when he said the military effort in Afghanistan (interesting how we avoid the word "war") is "on track" although the gains are "fragile and reversible."

The "military effort" is but a small part of the task. Our soldiers can dominate a piece of territory, at least for a while. But how do we then translate this into good governance? Heck, we have a hard time delivering good governance in Detroit, let alone Kandahar.

Now we are hearing a rising tide of commentary from the pundits and even from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs that the real problem is in Pakistan. If that has become the new focus of the "military effort," it should come as no surprise then that recent news reports trumpet a rift between the CIA and its Pakistani counterpart and the "outing" of the top CIA man in Islamabad. This apparently grew from a drone strike near the Khyber Pass that killed 56 Pakistanis – all "militants" if official pronouncements are to be accepted at face value. But I can’t help but think some women and children were among the "militants". I wonder what Christmas wishes their extended families have for the USA today? I admit to being burdened by my own experiences long ago in Vietnam.

I recall the first time the 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division – my unit – secretly ventured across the border into Cambodia to "deny sanctuary to the enemy." Five years later, by the time we had withdrawn from Southeast Asia, Cambodia had become a Khmer Rouge killing field and 2 million innocent people were soon dead. The instability that led to those dreadful events began with a small incremental and secret expansion of the US bombing campaign and eventually the limited "incursion" of our troops into Cambodia itself.
Now, we seem gradually to be broadening this war’s scale, its geography and its cost – lives and treasure both. Since Congress finally has settled its trivial obsession with "don’t ask, don’t tell," perhaps it will begin to focus on the real issue – the war.

We cajoled NATO last month to agree to conduct combat operations for four more years. Four more years. Longer than World War II. Four more years at current rates will cost at least $800 billion and perhaps 1500 more American lives (in addition to another 15,000 seriously wounded). When do the American people get to decide whether our vague objectives justify this heavy toll? Happy Holidays.

Jack Segal made forty visits to Afghanistan from 2002 to June of this year as the senior civilian advisor to NATO’s Afghanistan Commander. Prior to that he served at the White House and in diplomatic assignments in Russia, Israel, Greece, southern Africa and Washington. His wife, Karen Puschel, also served abroad with the State Department. Their daughter, Maya, attends Traverse City’s Pathfinder School