Unwelcome anniversary

[aadler]

It’s been a while since I did one of these retrospectives. To some extent, it was because — upon ‘aging out’ of the Army — I was no longer able to directly participate in the kinetic response to the events of 23 years ago, and so felt any opinions I might offer would come from a place of lesser authority. Also, after 10 years I simply had much less to say on the subject.

Mostly, though, it was disillusionment.

Obama wasted all our progress in Iraq because he simply couldn’t be bothered to consider the importance of a status of forces agreement. Biden did even worse in Afghanistan — horribly worse, catastrophically worse, criminally worse — and there has never been and will never be an accounting.

I gave 11 years to the Global War On Terrorism (let’s not kid ourselves, it was a war against aggressive Islamic global murder), jumping at everything for which I could volunteer: four overseas deployments, foreign language school, multiple stints at the National Training Center and the Joint Readiness Training Center, whatever schools were available … I loved what I was doing, I miss what I was doing, what I was doing carried enormous meaning for me.

It was for nothing. All of it was for nothing.

Courage doesn’t matter. Dedication doesn’t matter. Effectiveness doesn’t matter. Success doesn’t matter.

All our enemies have to do — and well they know it — is to wait for another fvcking Democrat to slither into the White House and throw it all away.

It’s GOOD I’m not part of that effort anymore. What it’s been turned into would make me sick to my stomach.