I remember coming home that day from work, when my husband met me at the door and told me that we invaded Iraq. Unlike many Americans, I didn't buy into the claims of the WMDs, the terrorist link or the pre-emptive war rational. And despite the fact that Hussein was an evil man who needed to be gotten rid of, there were other ways to do it. However, that wasn't my first concern, the question I had was "what about Afghanistan?".
My concern was that Iraq would overshadow Afghanistan. After all, we knew that the Taliban was harboring Al Qaeda, we knew there were terrorist training camps located here. Once we knew who attacked us, we knew where to hit them. And when we did, the world was behind us.
I knew then, what we are seeing, or should I say, not seeing now. The focus had shifted from our war on terror to the war for oil. How eerily prophetic my question was to my husband that day.
It was May 16, 2007 that I received an email from General Wesley Clark on behalf of VoteVets on his upcoming advertisement. I wanted to cry when I read what it enclosed:
It was 2005 in Afghanistan. Marines were ambushed. Men were being hit. Army artillery officer Mike Breen and his unit were holding off the enemy, but they were running out of ammunition. Breen kept calling for helicopters to re-supply them, but the helicopters never came.
Where were the helicopters?
The helicopters, the equipment, and the troops are stuck fighting George Bush's war in Iraq. As I said before the invasion, military action against Iraq would distract us from fighting those who attacked us on 9/11: Al Qaeda. George Bush and Dick Cheney constantly trumpet their capture of Saddam Hussein, but where is Osama Bin Laden?
As I reread that today, I still want to cry.
On June 2, 2007, a 22 year old Army Specialist from New Lennox, IL became the 383rd casualty in the original war on terror. I searched the archives of CNN.com for that day. A few stories of Iraq, a story of a NATO soldier and his translator being killed in Afghanistan. No mention of this young soldiers death.
With the exception of Pat Tillman's death, there is little mention of the death toll of our men and women in uniform, 383 as of June 2nd. While John McCain and Lindsey Graham were being followed by hungry reporters as they took their casual strolls through the marketplaces of Baghdad, there was little mention our troops in Afghanistan and the progress they were or weren't making.
Wesley Clark's email confirmed my initial fears. Over the past few years, the administration tied the hands of soldiers and their commanders in Afghanistan, never giving them the chance to achieve a "mission accomplished". Supplies, personnel and support have been diverted to maintaining a war for oil, thus making the war on terror insignificant. Politicians, like Graham and McCain make trips for photo ops to Baghdad, but discuss Afghanistan infrequently. Now, like Iraq, Afghanistan and our soldiers there are stuck in a state of limbo.
It's time for our Democratic leaders to take charge here also and not just in Iraq. Or will it take 3500 dead in the original war on terror before they'll address it?