This - along with the politicians lied, the intel community lied, etc - has been a mantra repeated the last few days on cable news and in print media. 1/
There were certainly LOTS of mistakes over the 20 years of the Afghan war, as outlined in several official governmental reports and well-researched news articles.
There were likely some - many? - mistakes, and maybe even some coverups, corruption, or misleading testimony. 2/
But I'll go on a limb & say the vast majority of leaders - senior, junior, officer & NCOs; governmental officials & reps of State & USAID; reps from the intel community - who served in AFG did the very best they could to serve that nation and its people & represented the US. 3/
"My" war was Iraq. But I visited troops in Afghanistan - US and allied - several times. While I was a "visitor," my view was was based on experience. And those I saw who served there were doing the very best they could to accomplish the mission they were assigned. 4/
Over 20 years, missions changed - expanding and contracting - based on surge decisions & attempts to turn corners. Those leading attempted to understand the culture, the people, the politicians...but that was exceedingly hard.
Most got it right, like LTG Scap, some didn't. 5/
That's the nature of human conflict. It's harsh, complex, confusing. And the nature of a complex insurgency, with counter-terror requirements and an emerging government trying to gain control of a culturally diverse country, is exceedingly difficult. 6/
As I said, my war was Iraq. Having spent several tours there, each tour was different.
The first was conventional warfare. The second was a tough nascent insurgency. The third was working with a growing Iraqi national security organization: army, police, border patrol 7/
All were difficult. When congressional delegations visited, I gave unvarnished reports. Told them which Iraqi divisions sucked, which were doing well, the emerging nation of an untrained police force, a bad Iraqi border patrol
I can honestly say I never "lied" or misled 8/
When ISIS formed, my "bad" Iraqi division folded, the 2 "good" divisions fought then folded, the 1 great division fought to the death. And the Kurds I worked with kicked ass.
Like Afghan vets today, I followed their every move. Cried at the reports of death & failure. 9/
This is a very tough time for Afghanistan, its soldiers, its people...and it's especially tough for those Americans who fought & served alongside the Afghan force and it's people. 10/
The next few days of this NEO (non combatant evacuation operation) will be hard. Likely harder than even the first few days.
But pundits & media ought slow their roll a bit on generalizing & commenting on the honor of those who gave part of their lives in that country. 11/end
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WRT national security & global threats, an extremely dangerous time re US "foes." -Massive Russian strikes in Ukraine -Georgia's "frozen conflict" heating up. -Moldova dealing with Russian troops in Transnistria -Russian economy collapsing...due to Putin's wars --Assad flees to Russia 1/4
-China intimidates Philippines, assaults Hong Kong's autonomy, represses Tibet & Xinjiang, threatens Taiwan, blocks international trade routes -N. Korea troops & weapons in Russia, increases missile capabilities -Hamas destroyed, but Hezbollah, IJ, MB & the Africa terror groups still active. 2/4
-Piracy increases in Persian Gulf and Red Sea regions -US, Mexico & Philippines rated as most active human trafficking countries -Draughts, famine & other climate change factors + outcome of conflicts causes increased migration into US & Europe. -Domestic terrorism indicators rising. 3/4
Watching the Israeli operations in S. Lebanon today, as the IDF releases numerous photos of arms caches found in & near homes. 1/7
These are similar to what US forces found throughout Iraq when we were there.
Using civilian locations provides terror organizations w/ unique advantages:
- difficult to find
- difficult to target
- when found, striking/destroying results in civilian casualties. 2/
This morning, the IAF also struck a 3.5 km tunnel complex between Syria & Lebanon that provided a means of bringing those weapons to Hezbollah.
Between 0900-1100 hrs local time today, Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets & drones into N. Israel. 3/
A few thoughts on what occurred in two different conflicts yesterday...the use of "killer pagers" by Israel and Ukraine's attack on the large ammo cache at Toropets military base 300+ miles inside Russia.
A short 🧵 1/12
First, the pagers.
In this article (gifted) from the @nytimes, the author claims there "no clear strategy" for this coordinated attack.
I disagree. Having used electronic & signals countermeasures in Iraq, the strategy is clear. 2/
Terrorist organizations - unlike conventional militaries who have encrypted signal capabilities - must find ways to communiate. It is important to continue to disrupt & counter this ability.
In Iraq, terrorist use of cell phones allowed US and ISF to glean valuable information & disrupt their networks. 3/