A while back I had written Senator Christopher Bond about discouraging him from supporting the escalation of troops in Afghanistan. While it took him awhile to write back, which I was surprised he did (he's got a lot going on), I was glad to get a response. Though it was not the response I was looking for. So I wrote him back, with more questions countering his points he made. I don't have a copy of the original letter I wrote him. It was most likely short and just stated my opinion. I do have his letter and my response, which I will share with you all. If he writes back, I will share that when it arrives.
Dear Mr. Brown,
Thank you for contacting me to express your views on the current situation in
Iraq and Afghanistan. In tandem with my responsibilities as your U.S. Senator and as the father of a U.S. Marine scout sniper who served two tours in Iraq, I remain committed to supporting our troops and bringing them home as soon as possible.
Before American forces liberated Iraq, murder and mass graves were a way of life under Saddam Hussein. Despite our initial success in defeating the brutal dictator's forces, a poor and misdirected military strategy allowed the insurgency to gain momentum.
Now, thanks to the counterinsurgency strategy put in place by Secretary Gates and current Commander of U.S. Central Command, General Petraues there has been steady progress and American troops have returned home. As the Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I understand that while the progress is impressive, our efforts are far from over. Protecting the fragile peace and honoring the sacrifice our troops have made will be no easy task, but it is one we must achieve for the Iraqis and our own security.
This is a critical point for the Government of Iraq. The Status of Forces Agreement negotiated by President Bush and ratified by the Iraqis calls for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraqi territory no later than December 31, 2011. Going forward, President Obama must continue to listen to our military commanders on the ground because they understand the strategy better than any official sitting behind a desk thousands of miles away.
American warfighters' new mission will be supporting and training the Iraqi army, law enforcement, and civil servants. This missions change increases the importance of Iraq's own national security forces. There have already been dramatic improvements among the National Army and police, but we must continue them as they maintain the security necessary for the political process to catch up. Also, after years of war and neglect, much of Iraq's infrastructure has been destroyed and in too many communities basic necessities like clean water are still out of reach. Providing development assistance will help the Iraqis improve their own lives and is one of the most effective ways we can prove our good will.
The right strategy going forward is equally important in Afghanistan. Recently, I joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the White House for an Afghanistan strategy session with President Obama. The President's assurances that he would not return to a counter-terrorism strategy - what I refer to as the "fire and fall-back" approach - is promising. We have seen the deadly consequences of this approach over the last eight years in both Iraq and Afghanistan - innocent civilians being killed and terrorists flooding back into areas as soon as the military leaves.
I am hopeful that the President's promise will mean a renewed commitment to the counterinsurgency strategy he initially supported in March this year. This strategy, outlined by our highest military commander on the ground, General Stanley McChrystal, allows our troops to eliminate terrorists and then stay to protect the civilians and establish a safe community.
Also, McChrstyal's strategy employs "Smart Power" the combination of military might with diplomatic and development efforts. Smart Power is critical to providing the people in Afghanistan the tools needed to earn a good living. One of the most effective weapons against terrorism is a paycheck.
We have seen the success of this Smart Power strategy in the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. For over a year the Missouri National Guard's Agriculture Development Teams have been building relationships and trust at the local level, influencing hearts and minds to reject the negative influence of the Taliban while they provided necessary security to prevent the Taliban from retaliating against cooperating farmers and their projects. Our citizen-soldiers have helped Afghanis build irrigation systems and sells for clean water and make a living through harvesting high value alternatives to opium poppies. As a result, poppy production in Nangarhar has been virtually eliminated and 10 other states are now sending their specialized teams to provinces throughout Afghanistan.
By implementing General McChrystal's Smart Power, counter insurgency strategy, we can bring American troops home in victory and put Afghanistan on a road to peace, but only if we act without delay. Unfortunately, time is not on our side and I believe we must commit more troops now.
Ultimately, if we allow the Taliban and al Qaeda to reestablish terrorist safe havens across the country, no strategy will be successful and al Aqaeda will have the same Afghan base of operations that orchestrated the 9-11 attacks.
Thank you for taking the time to share your views with me. If I can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Christopher S. Bond
U.S. Senator
My response.....
Dear Senator Bond,
Thank you for responding to and addressing my concerns with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. I am grateful for your son’s and your contributions to our national security, because I believe both of your hearts are in the right place. Though, I am sad to say. I do not believe your actions will bring about the results you wish for.
As much as I wish I could believe we entered Iraq to free the people from their ruthless dictator, I know this is not true. For if it is, I ask you, when do we plan on sending military aid to the Sudan, Ethiopia, the Congo, or to reestablish the democratically elected leader of Honduras? If we did go into war with Iraq to free the people from a horrible dictator, why were we told that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction? I understand that he was a horrible person, but then why did we put him in power? You don’t just become a mass murderer over night. It seems we were alright with him being a mass murderer, as long as he was our mass murderer. I do not agree with this mafia mentality of foreign policy.
Horrible mistakes have been made in Iraq since its creation as a British mandate, by the League of Nations in 1921. Since then it has been overthrown dozens of times, from dictator puppets, public uprisings, British invasion, CIA coups, and now the military arm of the American Empire as invaded, currently occupying against the people’s will. We cannot undo the past, but we can change our future foreign policy. You mentioned that the infrastructure is ruined and must be rebuilt. I agree whole heartedly, but does a military presence rebuild infrastructure? What if we spend the money we are using to occupy the country on paying for the rebuilding of the infrastructure, instead of forcing a new broke government to take out loans from our banks and then pay our business to rebuild their country? Is this fair? I know this is not how America conducts its wars, but shouldn’t it be?
Thirdly, are these wars just? We have killed more civilians, in both Afghanistan and Iraq, than “insurgents” (or “freedom fighters” depending on your perspective). We are the ones responsible for the destruction of the infrastructure in both countries, not the “insurgents.” We are responsible for both killing and destroying the lives of children. I don’t know if you loose sleep over this Senator Bond, but I do. Just being conscious that my tax dollars pay for the bombings of homes, schools, and hospitals makes it hard for me to call myself an American. Are we just in doing this? Did killing Bobby, really make a greater life for Suzy because she doesn’t have to live under the Taliban or Saddam Hussein? If it did, well what about Bobby’s life, doesn’t he deserve to live?
Despite the justness of the war, you seem to agree that we need to leave… sometime. I myself believe that eight years in Afghanistan, and six years in Iraq, is long enough to know we can’t have the kind of win, our government is looking for. We beat Hussein, we won, why are we still in Iraq? It cannot be to built infrastructure, guns do not build schools. Yet you say this new strategy “Smart Power” that General McChrstyal wants to implement will work better than the counter-terrorism strategy of “fire and fall-back.” It seems like it should. “Fire and fall-back” was an obvious attempted to make an endless war, something to push the economy. It is no secret that our economy is build around war, it is our back bone. This makes me suspicious of this “Smart Power” strategy, especially since we are sending Blackwater on covert missions in Pakistan. Not to mention the increasing drone attacks in Pakistan as well. Did you know that when children are playing in Pakistan and they see a drone fly over their head they scatter and run. When the children are in groups the drone will sometime identify them as a target and bomb them. Can you imagine having your own little children so afraid to just play outside? This “Smart Power” is supposed to use diplomatic and development efforts, as well as military force. Where are the diplomatic and development efforts? Diplomatically, are you referring to U.S. troops bribing the Taliban, and other war lords, with U.S. tax payer money in order for safe passage through the Afghanistan territories? Developmentally, is all we have done is given farmers another crop besides poppy to grow? This is a step, but we are yet to even begin to rebuild the schools and hospitals we began bombing eight years ago. I’m sorry I do not see these efforts in progress, if you can provide examples I would be gracious to receive them.
Senator Bond I am thankful for your response to my first letter, and am hoping for a response to this one. Hopefully through this dialogue we could both gain an understanding from each man’s perspective. But at this time I do not stand behind the American Imperialism I see today. Our country and our world believe in the concept of self-determination. Invading other countries, either militarily or covertly, goes against this belief. I believe in promoting democracy, but if America is to truly do this, we must not do so only militarily. We must stop supporting puppet Presidents who keep power by corrupting the voting system, i.e. Egypt. We must be a beaming light in supporting Human Rights for the whole world to see. We set the example for the world, maybe that’s why it’s such a violent place right now.
Sincerely,
Daniel Joseph Brown
We'll see what happens next.
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