Just finished watching Ken Burns' incredible 10-part Vietnam history. The parallels with this tour de force are eerily, hauntily stunning. Trillions spent, thousands of lives snuffed out...For what? So very, very sad and so very, very preventable...Will we ever learn???
36
Credit GW Bush and Dick Cheney and their willing enablers for these two deadly and unnecessary excursions that have ruined so many people's lives both here and there. Billions of dollars spent and they still couldn't catch bin Laden.
6
Iraq and Afghanistan failures are not failures of the Pentagon. They are the failure of our politicians who send troops into ill-advised or impossible situations. The highest rank in the military is a civilian, the president. We have still not learned the lesson never to engage in a land war in Asia.
7
Brad Pitt's movie "War Machine", while a parody, actively details the story of the failure of the generals to accomplish anything they promised. Jake Tapper's "The Outpost" told the story of soldiers sacrificed to literally stupidity on the part of leadership--while in true military fashion blamed junior officers for the debacle......What a complete waste Afghanistan has been! The latest General says all is well and going as planned-and just this week the Taliban took over a major town. TIME TO DECLARE VICTORY and come home.
6
Depressing to have the impression that US Army is fighting on behalf of the Afghans instead of training and advising. If so in large part, USA soldiers are little more than mercenaries in scope and effect. If not, how many years of conflict on the same soil must pass before this becomes factual & true.
I say 3 years maximum.
3
Very good article. For emphasis, I would have worded a section slightly different, though. My small edits are marked with *.
An uncountable tally of civilians — many, *many,* times the number of those who perished in the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001 — were killed. *Even more* were wounded or driven from their homes, first by American action and then by violent social forces American action helped unleash.
5
I truly find it incredible how much our soldiers are able to go through in able to fight for our freedoms and the freedom from tyranny for other peoples. But I find it disgusting when small minded, ignorant, fools try preaching to the world that they are fighting for nothing and that we should stop. These stories of the men in Afghanistan and Iraq are very real, but their tragedies were not caused by terrorists outsmarting our generals. Incompetence in the high level positions, was the real cause of these failings. Had the various Presidents not pulled out of Iran to early, or told the media plans for operations before they took place, or restricted their commanders to strict and predictable operations; the United States would have won the war and safely guided their governments into democracy long before these events had to take place. Our men aren't fighting for nothing. They're fighting against tyrannical dictatorships and terror groups who not only wish America harm but their own citizens as well. We had control of Iraq, but President Bush pulled American forces out and left the new government to crumble. Similar events of incompetence are spread throughout the entire war on terror. Until now we had been losing ground against terrorists, but the newest president has reversed the field and is now exterminating terrorist groups throughout the Middle East. Fewer soldiers are experiencing these horrors now that competence reigns in the military.
3
Don't forget that this country never attacked us. A small group of people crashed a few planes, and we retaliated by invading a country we thought they were hiding in. We destroyed Afghanistan just to kill Bin Laden, and then we destroyed Iraq to get Saddam. The carnage has spread from there to Pakistan, Syria, and half the world now that our mistakes have given birth to ISIS. I wonder if any country has inadvertently killed more civilians or destroyed more communities in all of human history than we have since 2001?
15
Madness. The word itself, "war," has lost meaning. It's become little more than cavalier toying with lives by people guaranteed to be thousands of miles from where the shrapnel flies. Worse is that, at the next election, the power-seeker who uses war to hoist himself into office will yet again be cheered by millions, only the tiniest few of whom have skin in the game.
4
Riveting. A must read for all of us VA employees that are on the front lines of treating these brave souls for their “invisible” combat wounds.
5
Like Vietnam, no president is willing to do the right thing and say these wars can't be won. The continuing loss of life and waste of money is criminal.
11
Good work Chis Chivers...this report should be copied and sent to every General serving and retired...and every politician.
"Lions led by donkeys"...that's how a German General described British soldiers during WW2.
American soldiers are lions...brave,well trained and well equipped, but the same cannot be said for their
Generals.
Did the Generals know much about Afghanistan?
The fact that they had to rely on a Punjabi speaking
Canadian officer for their intelligence in 2006-2007
speaks volumes. This officer is now the Minister
of Defence.
Many years ago I traveled with a former French Foreign Legion officer in East Africa.
"We never go anywhere without someone who speaks the local language and knows the culture."
Next, please analyze the history of the anti-malaria drug mefloquine.
ref "Why is the US Army still taking mefloquine in Afghanistan?" by Dr Mark Rowland Phd 2007
ancient Canadian
7
This brilliant reporting is overshadowed by the political spin: that there was “little to fight for but one another.” When it becomes “worth it” to kill another man with whom you have no personal dispute is not a question Americans will ever agree on.
We can’t evaluate these wars without considering the counter-factual question of what would have happened if they hadn’t been waged (which is a different question than whether they were poorly waged). The Taliban, Al Qaeda, Isis—these groups behead people, engage in systematic rape, burn men alive, and not least, harbor terrorists intent on destroying our country. There’s no “war bad—peace good” option. War was, and is, upon us. How many 9/11’s happen if America doesn’t act? How many men are burned alive? Many of us see these images on TV and can’t abide with America standing idly by. If we had suffered another 9/11 or if ISIS were spreading un-checked, would it be worth it?
These fighters are there for us, and they signed up to defend you and me and all the greatness, beauty, and tragedy of this great nation.
The deceased novelist Pat Conroy ended his book “My Losing Season” with his regrets about protesting the Vietnam war without first serving his country, as almost all of his Citadel classmates had:
“I have come to a conclusion about my country that I knew then in my bones, but lacked the courage to act on: America is a good enough country to die for even when she is wrong.”
2
Arguably the longest US war is Israel and Palestine.
Considering the relevant circumstances should Israel be characterised as effectively an agent of US foreign policy?
Or must a US war be overtly conducted by US persons?
Cuba 1961?
Any number of Central American countries?
For example Nicaragua in the 1980s?
9
A tremendous article. Sadly, "Afghans" could be deleted from Chivers' writing and "Vietnamese" could be inserted in much of the article, then dated 8/12/74, and it would have fit the time back then.
When will Washington ever learn?
9
An Ode to America’s Fallen Soldiers
Sadly except for family and friends another American soldier already forgotten, like all soldiers are forgotten, like the 36,914 soldiers who died in the Korea War, like the 58,220 soldiers who died in Vietnam War, like the 293 US soldiers who died in Desert Storm, like the 4,486 U.S. soldiers who died in Iraq and like the 2,345 U.S. soldiers who died in Afghanistan and the millions of U.S. soldiers wounded in these wars.
Other than a family member, or perhaps a friend, today you can't find a single American under 40 who knows about the US wars in Grenada and Panama and they certainly wouldn't know that 19 American soldiers died in the Grenada war or that 26 American soldiers died in the Panama war. And for what did they die? That too is already forgotten!
27
Last I heard, Osama Bin Laden is dead, Al Quaeda a shadow of what it once was, and the former Taliban government no longer in power.
You are confusing the Afghan mission. It is not to control the whole of Afghanistan, but rather to keep the Taliban and other terrorists elements off balance, and to periodically deliver smashing blows when they mass their forces. We need troops in Afghanistan to prevent Afghanistan from reverting to a hub for terrorists from which they can launch attacks around the world.
If you want to look at what will become of Afghanistan if we are to tuck tail and run, simply look at the rise of ISIS in Iraq after Obama pulled out all American forces. Admittedly it was uncertain how long American forces would have had to remain was; however, prior to our midnight retreat, we had destroyed Saddam, the Baathists (disciples of the Nazis) and our former enemies, the Iraqi Sunni populace had befriended American forces and turned against Al Quaeda in western Iraq and actively took part in military ops against Al Quaeda. By pulling out w/o a game plan, Obama left the Sunni at the mercy of radical Shiite elements, and many of our former allies, in fear turned ISIS for protection from Shiite reprisals.
We must not allow Afghanistan to revert to a hub for international terrorism. With but a few thousand troops and a few dozen aircraft we keep the Taliban off balance and buy time for pragmatic alternatives to emerge in Afghanistan.
7
in many ways this is worse than Vietnam. now we have crowned every single soldier as a warrior-hero and our society has shifted to one where the military is king and god has blessed it.
it's so past time to bring them all home and stop this nonsense.
24
Even during the Vietnam War, the Pentagon was clueless in evaluating insurgences and revolutions in other countries. General William Westmoreland and Robert McNamara wore their egos on their sleeves as they refused to admit that the war was going badly early on, long before Richard Nixon won the White House in 1968. As President Johnson absorbed the bad news coming out of the combat zones, McNamara and Westmoreland used every PR trick in their dark books to convince the president to hold firm. The myth that created the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution accelerated the war with a lottery draft, and all for an unwinable war.
And so, 17 years after the start of the Afghan-Iraq war, the Pentagon — and from all indications — Westpoint Military Academy — have yet to learn the lessons of Vietnam as they mire our troops in another unwinable conflict abroad.
In Vietnam, the enemy fought for liberation from ruthless dictatorships; in the Iraq and Afghanistan, it all about religious hatred amongst factions within Islam.
Someone said, you can kill the enemy but not their ideas. Vietnam was about someone's idea of freedom. In Afghanistan, it is about who will represent Islam as the source of absolute power. Religious fanaticism will not cede this war. They are patient. They recede into villages and reappear as opportunity presents itself. They have been at this since the 8th century. They have more patience than the American people and NATO.
Do we end it now? If not, when?
12
It's not the Pentagon, it's Americas foolish, incompetent leaders that we've had for decades-- many of whom have never spent a single day in the military.
4
Soto stands in the wreckage of 9/11 and vows to defend and fight for his country. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, a young boy exactly the same age stands in the ruins of his village, collecting pieces of his family blown to pieces by a NATO air-strike, and vows exactly the same thing.
One is a hero defending his country with honour, apparently, and the other is a terrorist cockroach, a jihadi whose whole religion should be wiped out - who knew?
I hope you guys are watching Ken Burns' epic documentary on Vietnam, because the only difference here is that with a volunteer army, the corrupt politicians and arms manufacturers in the US, Europe, Afghanistan etc. can keep this going literally forever, and all of those senior officers Soto knows betrayed him will make fortunes out of it....
How strange that a country with a saying like 'no parent should have to bury their child' can't wait to begin wars to do exactly that.
12
War is hell for every living thing. Soldiers and civilians die. High ranking officers are offered up as they must be the reason since they are wantonly stuupid and send soldiers to die with no feelings of pain or regret. Battle plans fail. I just wonder what solutions to the global problems we face any of the well meaning critics can offer. I read none.
1
Has no one in the Pentagon or Congress or the White House read the Pentagon Papers?
3
Superb storytelling by Childers and exquisitely moving photography by Tyler Hicks, taken at great risk to life and limb. Thank you for continuing to shoot photos in the midst of a deadly situation.
7
Outstanding story. It reminds me of all the terrific literature that came out of WW 2, written by former enlisted men, who experienced war first hand and disdained the professional, carreerist officer corps . Sometimes things never change.
5
I don't blame the Generals I blame the Presidents for continuing this war at the expense of the American people.
1
My wife hates when I put things on the refrigerator. For a long time I had a New Yorker cartoon, cut from the magazine in the early 2000s, that showed a couple sitting in their car with a cop walking back to his cruiser and the driver, the husband, with a perplexed look on his face holding a ticket saying, "FLAG-LESS IN A PATRIOTIC ZONE." In the background? Lots of cars zooming around with flags flapping in the breeze. At the same time when I was out running errands and was walking back to my car, if I passed a car with an American flag on it our those yellow ribbons proclaiming that "I support out troops" I would steal it. I collected a shoe box full of them and eventually mailed it to my nephew. For a long time I drove around with an upside-down-American flag on my tailgate window. And just today in this very paper, I read a review of a new book "Cherry" praised by critics as "the first novel of the opioid epidemic" penned by a former solder suffering from PTSD. This nightmare has to end.
11
Just think of how much good our tax dollars could do to make this world a better place if our government didn't spend so many billions of dollars on "defense."
13
This is nationalistic propaganda: the writer uses names, emotions and biographical details to humanize the American soldiers while the Afghans are neglected, painted as a uniform evil enemy to be eliminated.
Soto's story is not special, but rather a classic. The impoverished and ignorant child of a colony (Puerto Rico) laps up the idealistic narratives of the metropole and goes to fight its imperialistic wars, killing many in other more impoverished occupied countries.
Soto decided to kill teenagers trying to defend their homeland from a hugely stronger invading force. That is his truth. Unfortunately, neither the New York Times nor the U.S. have been able to honestly contend with the horrors of American imperialism, though they urgently need to.
9
@Basant Tyagi How long have you lived in the US? I'm an immigrant as well (from Germany, which makes me particularly sensitive to propaganda and wars in general) and it didn't take me very long to realize that this is the modus operandi with everything that the US does with regard to the military and wars. The enemy is ALWAYS portrayed in a dehumanizing way. Off the top of my head, I can remember maybe two or three occasions on which an American person articulated sympathy or empathy for "the other side." Occasions like Memorial Day or Veterans' Day make me nauseous, precisely they're not being used to get real about the atrocities of war, but to blindly continue to perpetuate the heroic narrative of the "good guys" vs. the "bad guys."
7
@Basant Tyagi Don't be so quick to judge. Soto, like so many others, question the validity of this war. We are all on an individual journey. Some, like Soto, choose the warrior's life. I commend him for his courage and his intellect. Respect.
11
@Daniel Thanks for your reply. I was born in New York to Indian immigrant parents and am against nationalism in general. There are Americans I know who are empathetic and clear-eyed about the U.S.'s wars, but unfortunately people with this view represent a small and sidelined minority.
In every country in the world there are some who oppose national aggression and jingoism; however, the way national politics operate leaves these people's views unrepresented.
2
I'm a candidate for congress, strongly opposed the invasion of Iraq, fight constantly against political complacency, am in 3rd place in the primary but still might win. If I get to Washington I pray I can make a difference. www.andymartin2018.com. Wish me luck.
8
You don't win a war by dying for another soldier. The counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan is built on a falsehood, one written by Petraeus: Money Is Ammunition. Thank God it was not the maxim of the OSS in France in 1944. We sent a US Army dental aid/reconstruction aid mission into the Nerk Valley on March 17, 2009--for the first time in the history of Afghanistan, the Pashto villagers in the Nerkh Valley got dental aid, dentists and nurses and medicine. That was a 10th MTN reconstruction aid mission--win them over with money, win them over with doctors and nurses and medicine, gratis. The Nerkh Valley was dominated by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, pre-Sept. 11th, and was still owned by the Taliban and Al Qadeda in 2009. So. The Pashto thanked us with IEDs for the dental care on June 1st, 2009. Blew away Jeff Hall, O.B., O.G. and Matt Wilson, who were all part of another reconstruction aid mission in the Nerkh Valley. The Australians do not send uniforms to Sumatra to hunt down and kill Al Qaeda, they send spies. The Austrailans are fighting a clandestine enemy by clandestine means and the Aussies are winning in the Strait of Malacca. Core lesson since September 11th: Don't send grunts, send counterterrorists. The enemy can see uniforms coming from 10,000 miles away but they can't see a clandestine counterterrorist coming at them from ten feet away. Stealth wins, not money, a lesson lost on the Pentagon and the CIA. We did not buy off the Gestapo, we killed them.
9
And George W. Bush and L. Paul Bremer are safely painting pictures in Texas and Vermont. And I guess Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are still wondering what we don't know not to know.
10
Why?
Just why?
3
Too bad the US can't, say, elect a Nobel Peace Prize winner as President and give him eight years to end these wars.
2
The author states that the ideological reasons for invading and occupying Afghanistan and Iraq have not been fulfilled. I disagree. The reasons were to start endless foreign military occupations intended to enrich the industries that supply the services and materiel. They are most certainly not 'wars'. A war would imply congressional oversight. This is why Bush Jr. beamed with glee and declared 'Mission Accomplished' after the invasions were executed. Bush fulfilled his duty and turned the treasury spigot on for the military industrial complex. It has been running like a busted fire hydrant ever since.
13
@Frederick absolutely war generates temporary money supply, Nazi Germany was not saving the mark any other way and look at us “those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it” and “only the dead have seen the end of war” it makes too much money supply each human dead is one less without gold and art pieces so each passing makes the price/value about gold and art go up..
1
that is some amazing photography and a heart breaking story..
no more war--it doesn't help anyone ever. too much pain, can make a man go insane..
3
This is not the first time I have heard of the response by young people to 911 - joining the military, fighting to keep America safe from terrorists. A friend's son did just that and survived an attack that took away both legs. Those of us from the Vietnam generation watched these decisions and remembered the propaganda around that "conflict" to justify an unwinable situation. My admiration and respect for those who serve is undaunted, but I say..deja vu all over again. Except that Vietnam was in our faces on the nightly news. Not so much with Afghanistan. So this beautifully composed piece is a much needed revelation. The question is: now what?
17
Dear Cj,
I recognize all too well the challenges we witnessed in Afghanistan and the difficult to understand strategy that our troops were trying to implement. Thank you for describing the grit and emotion at the level of frontline fighters, and for imbuing them with the sense of honor and courage and determination and fidelity that I came to know so well. I hope that other readers and Americans who have been previously detached from the sacrifices our people and our nation have been making over these past two decades will reconsider our continuing presence in Afghanistan and bring our forces and resources home to their family, friends and loved ones. Semper Fi!!
2
This may be the most beautiful piece of NYT writing- the most powerfully human & true- that I have read in a long while. Continue to speak Soto. To sing. The voices of author & soldier have lifted up a story of war that is a force in itself. The healing force of a truth.
10
Agreed, this is why I pay for the NYT. Journalism at it's finest.
4
It is clearly time for the US to end these wars and to send its troops home.
This has had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of Americans troops and worse, has not achieved the kind of security gains that the neoconservatives who pushed for them claimed. Worse, it has made the world a more dangerous place in many cases, and in the case of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, has damaged America's reputation.
Going forward, I think that we should have a discussion about who fights in these wars. By that I mean, often American solders are often those who join for economic reasons (at least outside of the officer core). They join because of poor employment opportunities in the civilian sector.
It seems to me that this is a poverty draft rather than the idealized "all volunteer force". Perhaps a different form of conscription, say if your household income is in the top 2% or your household net worth is in the top 2%, your child MUST go to war. No exceptions. Furthermore, such people should be deployed in units likely to sustain casualties, such as infantry patrolling IED areas (ex: not safely in the Green Zone). Anyone who has "conscientious objections" can do roles like combat medic or clearing IEDs. That would quickly level the field and ensure that this is not a rich man's war, poor man's fight. There are lots of rich people making capital gains on defense industry stock for example.
I wish Mr. Soto all the best in his dream of becoming a professional artist someday.
13
Thank you for telling Mr Soto’s story, because for many of us the war seems remote and only occasionally crosses into our consciousness of our daily lives. The writing and photos are incredible and help me understand a world I have not experienced, but helped make me feel like I had a ringside seat.
17 long years and what do we have to show for it?
Mr Soto and your comrades in arms, thank you for your service.
4
Thank you for the superb writing and photography! With the benefit of hindsight, could cyber resources and/or drones have saved soldiers' lives?
2
A big difference between Vietnam and these more current wars is the draft. When a much larger percentage of young men (no women) could be drafted, the media covered the war. Now a tiny percentage of the population serves voluntarily in the military and fewer in combat, and the media has largely forgotten about them. Nixon greatly harmed this country when he ended the draft and effectively gave our presidents a free pass in conducting these wars without everybody's skin in the game.
18
@virginia283
"..Nixon greatly harmed this country when he ended the draft and effectively gave our presidents a free pass in conducting these wars without everybody's skin in the game..."
He and his predecessors almost destroyed a country by conducting an illegal war. The draft galvanized a generation vehemently opposed to the conflict; Nixon ended the draft in an attempt to counter the anti-war movement.
2
@virginia283
To resurrect the draft in this day and age when we've embraced diversity, we can't just draft men. And are you suggesting we should bring back the draft just to give the media something to write about?
@virginia283 For once, I wish someone who was eligible for the draft would make the argument for it...or as you might understand, someone with "skin in the game."
2
My first reaction to this story is to thank Soto and his brothers for their service. Korengal was about as tough assignment in Afghanistan as there was. My second reaction as a trained infantryman was that this kind of guerilla war has been going on since Roman times, even before, and while it’s heartbreaking to lose brothers to unseen enemies, it is hardly something unique to this war. My third reaction is to ask why we would punish officers and generals experimenting with new ways to fight the way in order to win it. Not every experiment will work so why would you punish an officer or a general who tried something new? It’s also the nature of war that tactics and strategy change and the fact that some of the nameless officers and generals decided the tactics and strategy to defend Korengal Valley were no longer working after four years should be applauded. It’s certainly a big change of mindset from the officers and generals in the First World War.
5
Mr Soto is one of the people that make America great. He weathered the storm, questions authority while remaining loyal to his tasks.Though scarred and saddened he has the courage to "live another day" and strive to be a member of society. Peace brother.
25
Endless war, endless supply of soldiers will be needed for the combat overseas.
We, the people, need to cut off the Military Industrial Complex at its knees, and end this insane war.
37
@Ken:
I'm a Korean War vet and I vividly remember Eisenhower's
farewell speech warning the nation, as president:"..be be aware of the power of the military industrial complex"
What better example of that power- than an all volunteer army and no draft!
The rich get richer lower classes enlist ,as I did -"to get the GI Bill
And the rest of the nation wave flags and endlessly greets me "With thank you for your service"
The people who voted for Trump are of two types:
1.Business who wanted their business tax cuts they arguably not stupid !
2.The stupid working class who Trump catered too by saying :A. I will drain the swamp and
B.I will close the borders
The rest is history and the last chance for voters to admit their mistakes is to vote the Republican out of congress in the NOV elections
What about Trump?
Trump will impeached in 2019 after the people Mueller indicted are convicted
1
“Nothing” generates fat profits like a war.
“Nothing” will burnish a career officer’s record like a combat posting.
“Nothing” will make a civilian politician look tougher than bragging they support our troops.
What will end these wars is the white hot hatred of soldier’s families who realize the service/wounds/deaths were for “Nothing”.
Support our troops by getting the home NOW!
40
If only this were The Pentagon Papers of our time.
16
"Why is it that in war, the bankers always win?"
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón
16
A totally wasted—and wasteful—loss of lives on both sides and expenditures. Terrorism cannot be stopped any more than hatred can. It has existed throughout human existence.
11
@SmileyBurnette
I still never really understood why when "terrorists" blow up civilians in a market or a building it's "terrorism" but when the US drops bombs on a functioning Doctors Without Borders hospital or on a civilian wedding party, we're still the "good guys".
2
"Why is it that in war the bankers always win?"
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón
6
From most reports, most soldiers since WWI have fought for each other, not for some notion of "country," or "freedom." A few weeks in the field and all those exalted notions melt away.
Reading about Henry A. Wallace, it's remarkable how he predicted endless war as WWII was winding down.
He could see the truth of the old quip: "A bayonet is a weapon with a worker on either end."
14
After 6 years of economic sanctions against Iraq Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was asked if 500,000 dead Iraqi children over that time was 'worth it' to contain Saddam Hussein. She said, yes. It's worth remembering that the problems of terrorism are not going away anytime soon, and peace is not the result of inaction and inattention to the real dangers from the middle east.
5
@RoadKilr war is so totally insane. the worst invention of the human race.
6
So Trump has chosen to continue these wars even though there is no end in sight and no winners.
2
It is a racket. The war biz has jobs in every state. War profiteers own most of our elected people. Witness the recent vote by our elected people to throw another gajillion dollars into the war machine. War and war stuff is a major export.
12
The Graveyard of Empires.
8
I served three tours in Afghanistan, 33 months, most of which was as a combat advisor with Afghan forces. I was there when we were under-resourced because all the attention was on Iraq, during the "surge," and during the "responsible drawdown." I was neither young nor poor. I volunteered for each tour. I lost friends, I lost Afghans, and I lost faith in you. The comments below are so emblematic of why I lost faith in you. So full of pity and self-righteous indignation, so short on actual understanding. So lacking in any real desire to understand. You broke faith.
If I tell you the truth, what I know to be true from having seen with my own eyes and done with my own hands, you don't want to hear it. You hear what you want to hear, like the headline of this article, which has nothing to do with SGT Soto's well-written story. So many cry, "Respect!" but then go on to express pity.
Your self-righteous indignation and pity don't feel like respect to me, and they can't possibly feel like respect to SGT Soto as he sorts out the loss of his friends. You reinforce what you think you know, complain about the "M-I-C," and blither about "the graveyard of empires."
The NYT puts political statements on a soldier's story of sacrifice and you buy it, clamoring for those sacrifices to be rendered moot; wasted, to satisfy your needs. Who are you, that a veteran needs your self-serving pity?
Great writing, CJ. Really. But Soto was used as a tool for the political spin on this story.
9
@S Dreadman As a fellow vet of the Afghan war this is the only comment on this entire page worth reading.
1
@S Dreadman
Ok, so what is there for us to understand (that we're missing) about what's been going on in Afghanistan the past 17 years? I don't really get what your point is about that. Is it like we're not trying hard enough?
3
@S Dreadman
What is the truth that you could speak but we don't want to hear? What is the political spin you see in this story? Do YOU have a plan for how to win this war? And what would winning constitute?
You have a forum here to say what you think should be said, the NYT will publish your words. So say something. You don't like the spin of the article, you don't like us, and you don't explain why. Please explain.
3
Our soldiers have done their best. Irregular warfare is a great leveler and, like cyber attacks, diminishes the advantage of the stronger power. We should have learned that lesson in Vietnam. The credit for catastrophe goes to the foreign policy establishments of both political parties who, like the ancient House of Bourbon, never forget anything and never learn anything.
One possible silver lining of a Trump presidency is that with the notable exception of John Bolton he seems to be ignoring that entire pack of scoundrels.
6
No doubt this unwinnable Afghan war could may give life to a proud human being such as Mr Soto. And to a bright writer's piece of war literature. What else? Aside reader's memories are one thing, History will not be complacent though.
"They continue today without an end in sight, reauthorized in Pentagon budgets almost as if distant war is a presumed government action."
Reauthorized in secret...with almost no oversight. No business could operate this way, or last for long...
I hope Soto and all his fellow combat soldiers find a means to make peace with their time spent fighting a lost war.
Iraq and Afghanistan will go down in the history books as The US's Lost Wars. No way to win, but incessantly fought due to the hubris and naked arrogance of a nation that cant seem to let go. Cant let go of fights with people and places we cant figure out how to overcome. That in reality, cant be overcome.
We will never overcome the Afghani peoples. Be they Taliban, al Qaeda, or of ISIL, or whatever insurgent group comes next, or just tired old regular non-combatants.
We don't belong there, they don't want us there.
We fight to take ground we simply give up the next day, week, month. Why? Because we cant hold it! No more then we could hold a "hill" in Vietnam. Because to us its just a hill, momentarily strategic - but to the locals, its their home. We have no vested interest in the Korengal Valley. (Now if it was oil rich...well...?)
We, as a nation, have to learn to let go. Too many lives depend on it...
7
Between 2004-2005, I was based with the U.S. Army called LSA Anaconda - U.S. Army and Balad Air Base by the U.S. Air Base located at Balad, Saladin Province, Iraq. We were getting a minimum of 2 rocket, Vehicle born IEDs (Vbeds), or mortars during that period. We informally called the base mortaritaville because being pounded daily.
There were 3 times when I almost "bought the farm". I lost a lot of hearing on a massive Vbed in my left ear and wear a hearing aid. Thankfully, I hid behind HESCO Barrier in time to avoid getting wounded by shrapnel and thankfully not getting a Purple Heart!
I was a contractor in Iraq from 2005 to 2013 after my 2nd war service in Iraq. I saw the war ratchet up and then when the Obama Administration came in, they were determined to pull people out of Iraq. I was one of many KBR flight line workers were unloading many people from outlying bases when they landed at Baghdad West Airport (BIAP). I personally saw the last jets that took almost all of the troops from BIAP in December 2011. Then as I was leaving Iraq, the place was heating up again.
I still watch news from Iraq and there is no end to the brokenness of the country. The war continues and there won't be any end to the savagery.
RTHB Jr.
2 wars with the U.S. Army in Iraq- 1991 &2004-2005
Contractor 2005-2013
4
great wrting
2
The author writes and I quote:'The policies that sent these men and women abroad, with their emphasis on military action and their visions of reordering nations and cultures, have not succeeded. ' But 'the policies' do not matter at all. Continuous war is THE policy,justifying a stellar war budget from which many powerful actors rap luscious fruit.Continuous war justifies the maintanance of countless armies and a huge armada navy that allow the USA to dominate the globe. Forget 'the policies' look at THE POLICY.
7
A timely article that reminds us we are still at war after 17 years and that the war seems futile and endless. The current Trump administration has a way of making its predecessors look a lot better than they were-- at least on war and foreign policy. Both Iraq wars and our long war and occupation of Afghanistan have been strategic mistakes costly in blood and treasure to both the countries attacked and ourselves. At most we should have briefly punished the Taliban back there in 2001 for not handing over the Al Queda, declared success and flown home. We keep repeating the same mistakes. Why is it the people who get to run our government know so little about the world?
3
This extraordinary article should be read by everyone. It encapsulates the feelings of frustration that should be felt by the vast majority of us over the utter senselessness of what we have been involved in over the past twenty years. Sgt. Soto and all of the other young men and women who have suffered and died in the name of the so called battle for democracy are owed a never ending debt of gratitude for having borne the brunt of a misplaced and mismanaged attempt to accomplish the impossible. It's about time to put a stop to the losses that are robbing us of our children.
5
As Pete Seeger sang we are once again caught in the Big Muddy and the big fool says to move on. The establishment has learned little from its military misadventures since World War II, failing to heed President Eisenhower's apt warning about the danger of the self-serving industrial/military complex. Our only hope is a younger generation that sees this fatal hypocrisy that drives us to war and, by voting, forces a fundamental change in the reallocation of resources from war to environmental security.
3
Great story, writing, and photojournalism.
As for the Afghan war, what a waste. Killing OBL was a fine goal, the rest has been futile.
This account from the grunt level, draws out striking parallels to Vietnam and makes me question if America has forgotten all the hard lessons of that war.
The accounts of the changing objectives, goals, and commanders, reminds me of Brad Pitt's movie War Machine. A so-so movie, but with a dark undercurrent, masked by humour, of the realities described by this author.
No, Soto is right, there is no real accountability. Bush and Cheney and the neo-cons like Wolfowitz, Cohen, Boot, Kagan, etc. all remain seemingly unrepenntant, many of them still welcome in Washington, DC.
By 2008, the American people at least tried to bring political accountability by voting for President Obama. But the bipartisan military-industrial complex did its thing and Obama allowed himself to be absorbed by it. So while American people voted for Obama twice, he failed to extricate the US from the neo-con wars, instead ending his presidency with the shameful distinction of longest wartime president in US history. Having continued Iraq and Afghanistan his entire 8 years, to hand them off to Trump. And having doubled and tripled down on the intervention-first, regime change nonsense in Libya and Syria, thereby sending a flood of refugees to destabilize our allies in Europe and unwittingly strengthening the far right. Perhaps awarding Mr. Obama the "peace prize" was a little premature?
Hillary "Iraq War Authorizing" Clinton had claimed to learn from her Iraq War "mistake" but then joined Obama in supporting the Libya and Syria interventions. Her by now somewhat infamous comment: "We came, we saw, he died," about killing Gadaffi and the destruction of Libya.
Much of mainstream media seem to treat skeptics like Rand Paul as an outlier. And so it goes. The lessons of Vietnam ignored. But, hey, shareholders & executives at Lockheed probably doing alright.
3
Wonderful article and photos. I think the Times' coverage is an important contribution to every American's understanding of what we face in Afghanistan. Robert Soto's experience in the Korengal Valley illustrates the dilemma that will prolong our effort there for decades: the American public does not endorse a level of violence and escalation that would give our soldiers a chance at decisive action. For example, permanent detention and relocation of tribes in Afghanistan clearly allied with the Taliban, as they are in the Korengal Valley, would be a decisive effort. There is an obvious before and after when you do something like that. Everyone from Pvt to General can tell if it worked or not. However, its too costly and disruptive for Americans to support. Instead we are left with a holding action aimed at preventing terrorists from using Afghanistan for staging and training while also keeping civilian casualties to a minimum. I believe this difficult balancing act has been done well for the last 17 years, and Mr. Soto can be proud of his contribution. His story facing danger, hardship, and regret with restraint is a wonderful tribute.
Michael Barron
5
@michael b
'Relocation of tribes', moving people like pieces on a chess board is the prerogative of the Americans, I understand. Relocating the Americans would be my choice.
5
Thank you Mr. Chivers, very well written. Took me back in time. As combat veteran of the Viet Nam (an unrighteous war) war I could relate to much of Sargent Soto's thoughts and emotions during his time in Korengal and his return.
I too, was silent, avoiding questions and answers I did not want to repeat to those who could not relate or understand. I rarely confessed after my discharge ('75) nor do today my involvement in that war. Wear no hats, no patches only a tattoo commemorating my time served and those fallen on my shoulder, hidden by my shirt sleeve.
I am proud to have served, and with those who can relate and understand...my brothers in arms.
5
Nothing changes while we have an all volunteer military and relatively few people are impacted by these never ending conflicts. Universal conscription with no exceptions would expose people from all walks of life to the horrors that Mr Soto was subjected to. Corporate CEO’s and political power brokers might re-evaluate their thinking if their own children or grandchildren might be forced into a clearly questionable combat outpost for a tour of duty. We might see the second coming of sweeping anti-war protests just like we saw during the Vietnam War.
6
@roy wait
Same old song and dance...been going on since this nations inception. Those that profit off war, rarely have to risk much IN the wars...
Funny-sad how these days when "we" do push back on these pursuits, those involved are branded anti-American...just like always...
We never learn do we...?
1
Last paragraph was both hair-raising and soul-crushing. Incredible piece - thank you, C.J., and our men and women in uniform.
5
Mr. Chivers, thank you for writing this and previous articles which so clearly show us the face of war that we, who have not directly experienced it, are sending our soldiers to fight. And thank you Mr. Soto for your service, but also for allowing your story, your pain and your survival to be told by Mr. Chivers. It helps the rest of us understand what war is and what it does to the men and women that we send to fight in a war. Mr. Soto, my best wishes for your successful future.
11
Mr Soto lives with memories of lost friends and colleagues. No person should have that as a nightly visitor. Mr Soto’s question about the generals is well asked. Have we as people of democracies learned nothing when our soldiers experience direct understanding of decisions made at another level. Thank you for writing about this brave young man’s experiences. It certainly shows his humanity.
6
First and foremost I wanna give thanks to Mr Soto for his services and all those who did their tour in Afghanistan and Iraq and those who have fallen in battle. I salute to those military personnels and to their families who miss them. I am a Veteran myself and this war has to and must end ALREADY. US has already caught and removed those leaders responsible for the attack on US soil why continue this war? Mr Soto and my son have one thing in common whom is currently in the Army 82nd Airborne Div was also still in school when 911 occurred. My son also went to Northern Iraq. Which I thank God for his safe return and those who deployed to Iraq. I tip my hat and give two thumbs up for this story.
8
OK, so Mr. Chivers already has a Pulitzer, but this is the kind of reporting and telling that deserves another.
An amazing piece. You feel like you are right there with the soldiers (I'm sure they, having actually been through what men go through in war, would not agree with that sentiment, but still, for those of us lucky enough to avoid war, it brings it to us, and us to it). Remarkable work. One feels for those lost (and their families) and for those who came back, like Mr. Soto, but likely will spend a lifetime dealing with what they went through.
And the senior officers Mr. Soto speaks of? Guess they keep on doing what it takes to get promoted and posted to the "right" postions. Someone, the grunts on the ground, has to pay the price for their self absorbed greed. Some things never change?
9
Thank you for an excellent article, and I wish Robert Soto a long, happy and peaceful life.
6
Chivers. Outstanding and illuminating: thank you. Should be required reading in schools and in the military. Can't wait for the book publication.
3
An incredible story of soldiers fighting for a cause they don’t understand. Sadly it’s been a pattern since the Korean War. It also brings to mind a disturbing thought. What if these wars are purposefully being prolonged to allow the US and other nations a semi-permanent training ground? A place to keep troops combat trained and officers experienced?
4
@Waleed Khalid I have often had the same thought. Plus I believe the war is prolonged because it will make the eventual attack on Iran easier.
This is a story that needed telling. Its focus on the lives of grunts who take the heat while generals and politicians wring their hands illustrates what war is and what it is not. George Bush's war will never end, and it will continue to provide a marketplace for military officer advancement and equipment sales while grunts live in dusty outposts and die for nothing. This is a brilliant piece of journalism and photography.
8
Beautiful writing, very sad and unending story of the American Militarism.
I felt for Soto and now have a good impression of what the regular American family of few means goes through for the love of their country and the deception of the wars they fight.
Thank you C.J. Chivers.
6
Beautiful work, thank you. I'm just sorry it was necessary. This war has to stop.
2
This is a beautifully understated and thoughtful piece of journalism. The soldiers and servicemen and their families are the ones that will continue to pay the price of policy at a very humble and human level.
10
Sad, so sad!!
1
This is a classic example of how politicians; especially those who have never served in combat; are clueless about what these warriors go through. There was a case for going into Afghanistan after 911. Then Bush, Cheney, and other fools in that administration had the mad dream of invading Iraq. Not because there was a need; but because they were totally delusional about transforming the Middle East. So off go the soldiers to do the dirty work of war so the brave oligarch in the White House could look like a hero. Thousands of casualties later; who bears the real price for such insanity. The men in uniform; not the business suits in Washington or Wall Street. As Usual!
11
Let's make one thing perfectly clear.... The Pentagon DID.....NOT.... FAIL...... Lay all... ALL the blame on the political inability of those in the executive and legislative branches to do what was necessary to accomplish the mission... As a retired LTC, our mission was poorly defined and limited by the politicians.
Look.. The military's job is 2 simple things... (1) kill people (2) break things... Any and every other thing is irrelevant. If you ask the military to do anything but those two, you (as a government or political pundit) is misguided and flawed. End of story.
9
@Ruben Not only the politicians failed. The Pentagon did fail too. Look, tribes with the same purpose you well described (1.-kill people, 2.-break things) took (or is taking) over an Army in the real field.
@José Ramón Herrera, I have to disagree. The military succeeded, rather easily, by invading both countries and removing their military and governments very quickly. Nobody had seen anything like it before. But now the politicians are asking the people of those countries to become a happy democracy, which they are not. And asking the military to become a police force, which they are not. As the article made clear, the military is only losing because they aren't allowed to fight. And as the article made even more clear, this strategy is guaranteed to fail. We should have left immediately, and the longer we remain, the more people die needlessly on all sides.
Nam was foolish, too. The M-I-C likes to rattle its toys. We are simply rattle rattlers. "No reason to get excited, the thief, he finally spoke. There are many here among us, who feel life is but a joke."
7
Reminds me of Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes, shades of the Vietnam experience. Will we never learn from the past?
4
Well we told you so. On February 15, 2003 over ten million people, in over 600 cities, on every continent on the planet demonstrated against this endless war. We, the world, knew that nothing good could come of this. All the destruction, all the lives squandered only served to produce more chaos, more misery. When will they stop spilling good blood after bad? When will they listen?
36
That `s Iraq you are talking about.This article is about Afghanistan.
@John Grannis..."When will they listen?"...they have and don't care. To change would save countless civilian and military lives, and would decrease profits.
2
Sir, it appears that your one day of protest was as feckless and insufficient as the strategies of these wars. These soldiers can’t smugly say “I told you so,” they have to fulfill the oaths they took - they didn’t give up after one day. But it appears that most of the protestors got tired very quickly fighting for what they believed - giving up and going about their lives - that is perfectly within their rights as “citizens.” Just don’t pretend you’re not part of this - we all played a part in his failure - some of us know it and others point fingers.
This well written and engaging article that describes reasons and the "enduring consequences of war and the human cost of undertaking this action," as written by James Wright in another NYTs article dated April 11, 2017 titled "The Baby Boomer War." Mr. Wright relates this to the Vietnam war but can easily be applied to the active military engagements the US is involved today. At the end of this article, which is well worth your time to read, James Wright writes:
"Understanding this is essential: Those with responsibility to send the young to war need always to consider the enduring consequences of war and the human cost of undertaking this action. Winston Churchill, reflecting on the Boer War, understood it a century ago, and the Vietnam generation experienced it a half century ago. As Churchill wrote, “The Statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.” He argued, “Let us learn our lessons.”"
As for me, I will do a simple act to honour these brave men and women of the Korengal and read "Catcher in the the Rye." It's a fitting title to this tale of war and suffering and like the character Holden in this book, I too would like to misinterpret the meaning of "catcher in the rye" to mean saving our children from losing their innocence. But this time saving them from the hell of war.
7
"The Pentagon's wars/failures???" Pathetically biased, how about the Bush/Obama administration failures. They are the geniuses that dictated the terms of those wars, set pullout dates, limited troops and weeping usage, strangled the initiative leaders on the ground required in order to win. Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya's failures were much more political than military. Stop trying to make the Pentagon, and by extension the military, the scapegoats!
3
This is an outstanding article, best I've read in a long time on Afghanistan. Some of the comments here take the broader view of the war in total (or war itself in total) but this article is really about the kind of war most of NYT's readers cannot comprehend.
This ain't about 4 qrtrs., or the big game: this is about being in a place totally foreign to you, with nearly everyone and everything against you, conniving your death and that of your comrades, day-in day-out, 24-7, for a year or so (assuming you don't become one of the casualties along the way). I would never assume to tell these veterans that I understand, because I was never there, but as I spent time in the An Hoa Basin area of Quang Nam Province, RVN, in 1969 I can say yes, I know exactly where you are coming from. 2009 seems pretty much the same old as 1969 was, and I'll bet 2019 will be as well. Seize, secure, patrol, find mines, get shot at, get motared, rocketed (get wounded/killed, get sent back home) - wondering all the time who thinks some of the dumb stuff up, only to eventually leave.
It's all futile, because the butt don't understand the head, and the butt's in charge. If the specialists, PFC's, LCpl's and Sgts had a more direct input into the management of things, you would find they are professionals, they understand the problem and will solve it for you if you only stay outta the way. If you waste them, they will professionally fight for one another, pack survival.
19
When will we acknowledge that fact that these never ending wars ar motivated by the our government's need to keep funding the military-industrial complex at increasing levels. I mean, if you're going to ask tax payers to keep paying for new toys, training etc., you have to convince them, or, at least, a significant portion of them, that it's essential. Right? And senators & representatives of both parties are equally to blame for this squandering of both lives & money.
7
Money talks. We sell more than half the weapons sold globally every year. It's hard not to see that the US is simply sowing seeds for the next "hotspot" (we no longer declare war anymore) so the US can once again stock up on our weapons and venture to another country. Presently we have active armed forces in 70% of the world's countries.....I look at Niger where our Congress did not know we had soldiers. We had 5 separate forces. What happens when we come in to advise a country going thru turmoil with more powerful weapons, more technology, and as an alien presence? (Look at how we vilify unarmed, desperate for safety illegal aliens here as threatening.) All we do is escalate the battle, escalate the killing power. When we started the war on terror, it was several countries....now it's in multiple countries and continents. What would we do if foreign soldiers arrived on our shores? Believe they only want what is good for us (and not what is good for them?)
Perpetual war, corporate economic engine and somehow peace talks are never as hyped as new weapons are. The US is arrogantly misguided.
12
"An analysis conducted by the RAND Corporation has shed light on the scale of U.S. military deployments since 9/11. Since 2001, 2.77 million service members have served on 5.4 million deployments across the world with soldiers from the Army accounting for the bulk of them. In total, all services contributed 3.1 million troop-years of experience and 58 percent of those years can be attributed to the Army. According to RAND, 1.33 million individuals deployed with the Army between 2001 and 2015 (including the Reserve and National Guard), along with 563,000 from the Navy, 518,000 from the Air Force and 367,000 Marines. Around 225,000 soldiers who served with the Army deployed at least three times or more.” Niall McCarthy. https://tinyurl.com/yaq3xwkg
13
@Gretna Bear .
And what another side of the ledger?
How much money wasted?
How many civilians killed or wounded?
How many combatants killed or wounded?
How much environmental damage?
How much destruction of infrastructure?
All of it triggered off by an admittedly horrifying terror attack. An attack that fully met it's goals of embroiling the globe in a never ending conflict. The terrorists succeeded. America is seriously and perhaps mortally wounded in the process.
The invasion of Afghanistan could have had a better outcome. But then along came the farce of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Human Threshing Machines, Mobile Chemical Weapon Labs. An perversion of truth followed on that drove a decision to invade Iraq.
George Bush, Tony Blair and our own John Howard should all be called to account in an international war crimes tribunal hearing.
3
@Gretna Bear Impressive account by RAND... And at the end the U.S. Army to be routed by tribes, yeah, just tribes. Perhaps you could say the same about Vietnam... the U.S. Army routed by villagers...
1
My son did a tour at a remote outpost like this in Afghanistan as an E6 in an E7 slot running infantry patrols from their outpost. On an earlier tour in Iraq his concussion and TBI from an IED that destroyed his humvee was not recorded, they were a tad busy and when he woke up he was back in combat and felt recovered enough to fight. So no purple heart and no VA help on the lingering TBI issues.
His experience is typical. Two tours in combat, mounting injuries that caused him to be on profile (unable to run on injured knees from too much overuse, many parachute jumps in training and walking rough mountain trails carrying almost his body weight in gear and supplies. ) So he had to leave the Army career track after 13 years, so no pension. The VA told him they have no record of his combat related injuries. Typical.
14
Have him get with a good vet group to appeal. Basically, “What a reasonably prudent person would decide from the evidence” and have the doctors who treated him make a choice in support of his claim. ~
1. Without a doubt combat (or service) occurred.
2. Most likely combat (SVC) occurred.
3. More likely than not combat (SVC) occurred.
4. More likely than not not combat (SVC) occurred.
5. Not likely combat or service occurred.
The courts have ruled in favor if any of the first three and what a reasonably prudent would concur.
His wear and tear and TBI are not likely from his civilian exposure and most likely from combat.
Any former NCOs or officers supporting his account and credible enlisted will likely be enough.
Go for it!
1
We could have maintained our early victory in Afghanistan if we hadn't gone into Iraq and if we hadn't listened to the DEA claiming that the War on Drugs is the same as the War on Terror.
The DEA was out there confiscating Afghan hashish, which had been the traditional Afghan pain and PTSD treatment as well as a Sufi spiritual aid for thousands of years. Great way to turn the rural population against us.
And opium cultivators were attacked even when they were anti-Taliban and supporting Karzai. That was nuts.
Our war in Iraq served as a convenient and effective propaganda tool for the Taliban because now we could be cast as Crusaders on a campaign against Muslims in general.
We certainly managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Afghanistan. No way were we going to win those three wars at once. We should have just stuck with the first one, told the DEA to take a hike, and admitted to the world that Saddam did not actually have WMDs.
22
Great journalism albeit heartbreaking to read the futility of it all.
When will the USA stop picking unwinnable fights? Blood and treasure wasted on never ending wars.
Sad to think the lessons contained in this will be lost on the next round of politician and generals.
Thats the pattern of the past - no good reason to imagine it will change anytime soon. Sadly.
5
If we had a mostly drafted citizen military--critically one that did not provide deferments to privileged sons and daughters of the middle and upper classes--we very likely would not be fighting endless wars with no articulable strategy. The political power of their families wouldn't permit it given the current state of instant communications.
And perhaps we will someday learn that you can't remake other societies to your liking by military means and that alien occupiers are never viewed by the people under their yoke as benign protectors.
Unfortunately we may not live long enough to see that day.
9
Excllent, vivid, reporting that gives civilians like me a smidgen of insight into what our troops have experienced. I would love to read a piece by an Afghan journalist about the other side, which I’m sure is just as harrowing. Maybe, if military leaders and politicians were forced to read each others’ accounts they could find the courage to truly negotiate a workable peace deal. The waste and destruction of human and economic resources in this - and really, any - war is simply mind boggling.
2
Both heartbreaking and hard hitting. Soto should perhaps run for office. The only way he can perhaps do something about it.
4
The legacy of the neocons, whose bankrupt ideology has failed whenever the rubber hit the road, nevertheless lives on, ending or ruining the lives of countless brave young Americans and citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Will American voters ever take the trouble to learn about what is really going on over there and elect politicians who will end the carnage? Or will we continue to be distracted by our own struggle to survive economically, convinced by internet trolls that we should let odious demagogues do our thinking for us? If this trend continues, the bell will toll for us all.
4
@John Techwriter, millions of people voted for John Kerry in 2004 (against the neocons); and millions more voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012, expecting him to deliver on the promise of the 2008 campaign. By 2008, the American voters did their part. It was Obama who failed to do his. He was elected to end the carnage and to reinvest the wasted trillions from overseas wars back into the US. He chose not to and continued the wars his entire 8 years, ending his presidency with shameful distinction of longest wartime president in US history. So much for the peace prize. Yes, he had intervention-first, hawkish advisors like Hillary Clinton but ultimately the buck stopped with Obama.
3
As a former grunt who served in another endless war in Vietnam, I found reading this piece heart-rending. I had even more difficulty reading the comments. It appears that many still believe that the "great game" itself must be never ending.
That those who have done the fighting in our innumerable escapades are seldom listened to regarding the futility of their efforts speaks volumes of the ignorance and apathy of those whose "safety" they were sent to secure.
As for those who would praise such service and yet acknowledge the lies and incompetence of those who lead us
time after time into one quagmire after another, I ask: what are you going to do about it? When is enough, enough?
Where are the petitions, the demonstrations, the protests?
A second generation may be sent to Afganistan! What a shame on us all.
I offer my thanks to Mr. Chivers for his writing. I offer my heartfelt condolences to Sgt. Soto. I offer a solution: bring back the draft, it seems to focus people when they have some skin and/or kin in the "game". I don't want your thanks;
I want your attention.
17
I see wonderful insights below -- that war is evil and always will be, and grown-up people don't have to submit to it. The military industrial complex is well documented in a book by a former NYT writer. This industry wants to arm ourselves and everybody else and make a killing every day off the killings that ensue. A Peace Department is what we need. Those who bombed NY in 2001 should have been found and tried for their crime. Instead we let them lead us into terrible unending wars against whole countries. Only the war industry has succeeded. We should all look at the Iraq Body Count every day to see what we have done.
8
@Martha Stephens The Department of State is supposed to be the Peace Department.
1
I think you are wrong. Imagine if the US had not responded to the 9/11 attack on home soil? Imagine if the Taliban had been left in power in Afghanistan? Social progress is being achieved in that country. AQ was defeated.
What message would have been sent by inaction? What would it look like if the US and the rest of the moderate world had done nothing?
We know what it looks like. It looks like Syria. A country destroyed. Six million homelesss over poor neighbours. The tyrant still in power and other local tyrants more empowered as well.
1
@Wolf isn't that a false dichotomy? I think we were right to seek out and eliminate the people behind 9-11, who were Al-Quada, not Taliban. Eliminating Al-Quada and OBL was a definable, reachable objective. Trying to turn Iraq and Afghanistan into western, liberal democracies was not, as we have spent the last 17 years finding out.
4
@Wolf: Nonsense. The moment the U.S. leave, the Taliban returns. It is placing your foot in the river and taking it out. They don't want our politics anymore than did the Vietnamese.
3
@Wolf, Social progress has been achieved in quite a few countries without anyone invading them. And nobody had to die in those other countries for social progress to occur. It's nice that Saddam is gone, but the body count on all sides is not remotely justified by a few small gains in social progress. Further, both Afghanistan and Iraq were stable countries until we destabilized them. They didn't have civil wars like Syria, so it's not a valid comparison.
I hope comments are still open when I can think and write more coherently.
This has reached so deeply into my soul, heart, psyche, and I wish to be part of, to contribute even just a bit, to this much needed conversation.
For now, deepest respect to Mr. Soto for all you've done, seen, been through and can speak to.
Kudos to Mr. Chivers for such extraordinary writing.
Thank you both (and Tyler Hicks, photographer) for the raw honesty. It is necessary. Urgently so.
~ 9/11 family member
7
Another gut wrenching story by Mr. Chivers. Thank you, and thank you all who fight and fought in our name.
2
I'm looking the peaceful evening landscape outside my home overwhelmed by guilt. Reading this story make me believe it is time for the many of us who benefit from Sgt. Soto service to pay back and volunteer to help these young men and women to re-enter civilian life. We own you a lot, Sgt Soto.
16
@Cr If there is a VA facility near where you/we/any of us live, perhaps volunteering one day a month would help both the veterans and us. Perhaps the best thing we can do for combat veterans is to not make too many more.
1
I could not help but feeling a sense of deep disappointment about this whole conflict. Anguish over the many lives lost and the mistakes made are what I also felt. How easy it is to send these poor kids so far away for a purpose that was never clear. No matter how advanced our technology if our purpose is not clear and just, our presence in these places only makes them worse. The only saving grace is that we have brave, young men like Sgt. Soto that this nation can count on to defend us. Afghanistan, Iraq, Viet Nam and other adventures that we as a nation have embarked upon, leave us with lessons still to be learned. Above all, these men and women deserve leaders that match the character and bravery of Sgt. Soto. Thank you Sgt we as a nation owe you so very much.
7
Thank you C.J. Chivers for your gut-wrenching accuracy and compassion in telling this story. It needed to be told, and it needs to be read and commented on by every American over the age of 14. You paid tribute to the the thousands who lost their lives in this tragic, endless war.
I served in western Afghanistan from 2008 - 2009 and visited several outposts, though none as dangerous as those in the Korengal Valley. I remember the daily reports of American soldiers killed or wounded in action during that period, and a disproportionate number occurred in Korengal. I was opposed to the surge then, and for the life of me I cannot understand why we would allow one more American or allied soldier to perish in this unwinnable war. I lost friends and colleagues that year, their lives were cut short in their prime, their service largely unrecognized. And for what?
Godspeed Mr. Soto. Your courage and sacrifice are awe-inspiring.
29
Towards the end of my Air Force career, one year before retirement to be exact, I was deployed to Afghanistan. During one of our “movements” a quite pause occurred in the armored vehicle, while all of us were staring out the windows, and one of the guys said, “Why are we even here?” At which point, our commander softly responded, “So are kids don’t have come back.” Sadly, as this article details, I’m afraid, one day, I’m going to send my son back over there and for a second time, not be able to tell his mother why. My confidence in our country’s decision to be in Afghanistan wavered while I was there and had only gotten worse, as I watch the years of waste accumulate.
29
@Joe Osborne Thanks for your service. My son and I have discussed his combat deployments and you are spot on. We made a mistake not limiting Afghanistan to a large scale raid to topple the Taliban. We should never have wasted our blood and treasure in a vain attempt to rebuild Afghanistan. My son's blood shed there was a waste. We need to leave there. But we should make it clear that theirs will be the fate of Carthage, if they refuse to make peace.
1
@Joe Osborne Major difference in command structure... infantry we know why exactly we are in Afghanistan to kill them before they can cause harm to America... failed leadership if your soldiers don’t understand the mission...
1
The title talks about failed campaigns, yet the article is about the typical experiences of an infantryman at war. It doesn’t demonstrate failed campaigns. Perhaps it demonstrates the ebb and flow of police actions in combat zones, or even how political decisions can negatively impact combat on both a personal and a campaign level.
Soto’s feelings and experiences have been written about in so many war books, like Helmet for my Pillow, The Hill Fights, Matterhorn, etc.
It was informative, illuminating and well written but it didn’t show failure, it documented the toll war takes on the warriors.
3
If the toll is not outweighed, or at least offset, by some benefits, then the war and the policies for conducting it are a failure.
13
@Buzz A A failed campaign (and a failed war) is all that can it can be called after 17 years. And now that terrorism is taking root in other countries, cultural allies of the country in which we are shredding by war.
@David True, kids in school, one less crazed dictator, hopefully improved military lead by freer governments. The cold war took 50 years before freedom came to Eastern Europe. Korea is still a work in progress 70 some years down the line. The warriors go through a period of introspection and reevaluation of their experiences and what someone feels immediately upon getting back is influenced by public opinions. It also changes over time. How will Soto think about all this in 5 or 10 years? We'll need to check back and see.
Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan are all examples of serious failures in strategic thinking by both our political and military leaders. When those responsible for developing our strategy are ignorant of our real national interests, the culture of the area where they are considering military action, the applicability of our military's capabilities, and the moral courage to dissent when others are proposing policies based on such ignorance disaster becomes far more likely. In Korea we were fortunate to have political and military leaders who recognized that we did not want to broaden the war into China or use nuclear weapons as was the case with MacArthur and some members of the Republican Party. It takes moral courage as well as intelligence to develop effective strategy and since Korea our political and military leaders have demonstrated that they have lacked both.
4
This is the result of not letting those on the ground make the decisions. America is so afraid of civilian casualties that we tie the hands of our own troops to the point that they are ineffective. Look, no one wants civilian casualties, but in wars it happens. If we fought WW2 like we fight wars today we would all be speaking German and Japanese. During WW2 America had to make the tough decisions to break the German government and it's people. We even burned entire cities to the ground along with all it's civilians. Was it terrible? Yes. Was it necessary? Yes. The lefts great hero FDR was the one that ordered the massive carpet bombings in Germany. FDR felt that we had to win the war at all costs. When America liberated the death camps, it was then that the world realized just how right FDR was. If we are going to go to war, then we must allow those on the ground to make the decisions as to who the enemy is, and give them the leeway to take them out. Minimize civilian casualties as much as you can, but for the love of God don't hamstring your troops. That is why we have lost every war since WW2.
7
@Jeff
Yup, we have to destroy more villages to get them to see things "our" way.
Sorry, but I think WW2 is false equivalency. I also don't want policy decisions in military hands-in Korea that proved near disastrous.
5
Chivers' telling of our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, including failed cycles of policies and wasted lives through the experience of Sgt. Soto is nothing short or brilliant. For far too long we have ignored the wisdom of the boots on the ground. In this account it shines through.
12
Trapped in the bubble of Americans writing exclusively for and about Americans. What about the people living under the bombs, people whose homes are turned into battlefields, people killed by anonymous drones while attending funerals? If foreign soldiers invaded your nation, would you not hate them and support those who tried to kill them and force them out of the nation?
21
@Literary Critic, Glenn Greenwald's "The Intercept" provides some of the perspective you are discussing.
2
@Literary Critic exactly right!
One could change the names to Vietnam places and the story would be all to familiar to those who experienced "The Nam."
31
100% @John
Same military strategies. They failed the French, British, Dutch, Belgians etc in countless post colonial debacles.
Vietnam lessons were clearly not taught to US military.
Afghanistan has years of military lessons to learn from. This is a feudal clan culture that has seen off many mighty armies since Alexander the Great.
Forget history and you are condemned to relive it.
4
@John: I agree. I was only impacted as a "waiting wife" during Vietnam, but it was a lasting impact. I am angry at the leaders/generals/politicians who so cavalierly send the young to accomplish useless policies.
The writing is riveting. Well done.
And peace and healing to young Soto, as difficult and sometimes ridiculous those wishes might be.
3
@John Another unjustified war.
9
Well done Chris. Outstanding work. Hope you are well. Never forget 1st Marines or Camp Pendleton. Semper fi, DD
1
This great journalism highlights the hypocrisy of so many members of Congress when it comes to our veterans. How many speeches have we heard from the political ruling classes about the brave service of our enlisted men and women? How many stirring tributes have been given on Memorial Day?
Respecting our men and women in uniform means NOTHING if we keep sending them in harms way on a fool's errand. The continuing resolutions that keep killing our soldiers could be ended if the members of Congress had any intestinal fortitude. But they don't. All they care about is getting elected, then getting reelected, then getting the majority rule and maintaining majority rule. And of course, they care about making sure that the defense contractors make gobs of money.
Trump is a caricature so there's no reason to address his role in this insanity, but the members of Congress, both parties mind you, should hang their heads in shame. And while their heads hang down, they should look at their bloody hands.
25
@ChiGuywonderful i entirely agree
1
The U.S. military leadership described in this article is the same one that never granted me an ounce of respect or dignity my entire three years term of military services in the early 90s. By the way, I joined one month before Saddam invaded Kuwait and US troops have been in the Middle East ever since. The heck with 911 being the starting point of American stupidity, hubris, and the destabilization of the entire Middle East, which in turn has caused governments in Europe to fall too.
13
Thank you to the Times for the great writing and photography. I felt like I was there.
Thank you to the men and women in uniform. You do what you are asked to do and you do it brilliantly.
But no thanks to America’s political class nor to the American voter.
The US has been at war during the whole of my life: Vietnam, Central America, the Middle East, Afghanistan. Some were begun with good intentions, but each develops an inertia, a constituency, and the driving force is money. Money is America’s lubricant. Money is America’s blood. Money flows in the synapses of America’s brain. And wars trigger the flow of money, huge amounts, for cutting-edge technology and contracts that always seem to go to the same guys cause really who else knows how to make these cool weapons?
And now of course, Trump wants all of us to follow the US and dump even more money into the war machine. 2%. 4%. (A bottomless purse for the death merchants, a closed purse for the poor.) and, oh yeah, we’ll also need some more wars.
We, the citizens of the US, paid more attention when there was a draft, so I’d propose we go back to that but it won’t happen, there’s a constituency for keeping it just as is, a voluntary military class who just does their job, and a series of wars generating just enough activity to be profitable --- we gotta use this stuff up --- but not so much as to appear on the radar screen, um social media screen, of the public.
18
The ends (money, power, status) justify the MIC (Military Industrial Complex) means - even Ike knew that back in the 50s. Every General associated with these conflicts has 1000s of young lives on their conscious but it don't bother them one bit.
25
@Dump Drump Absolutely. And a big consideration behind the military ending the draft was that the civilian population would no longer see their family soldiers at tossed at war. These soldiers enlisted of their own free will......nevermind that they were seduced into thinking they were fighting for our country rather than the corporations behind it.
4
Extraordinarily moving; exquisitely written. Thank you, Mr. Chivers and Sargeant Soto. You have both enlarged my understanding of the truth.
28
Withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, give the savings to Mexico, Mexico builds Trump’s wall. Win-win.
5
They don't want us there, just like we didn't want the British here.
25
@Luke Nor did they want the Russians and everyone else who have invaded Afghanistan since Alexander the Great. It's the Vietnam War all over again and that's after everyone said "Never again".
6
You could have changed your last sentence to ‘they didn’t want the British there’. The lessons from the Afghan War during Britain’s imperial past were forgotten, not only did we fail to pacify Afghanistan, we compounded our stupidity by entering a coalition which repeated the same folly 150 years later. Brave soldiers and jingoistic politicians is a fatal combination.
8
Sounds like Viet Nam all over again
19
While the war corporations are destroying lives of our good soldiers and making a killing from the incoherent, endless festering wars of the Cheney junta and others, they spend millions of it to fund the same anti-health care, anti-environment, anti-education propaganda so beloved by the fascist republican party. We'll borrow from China endlessly when it comes to money for killing, but not a penny for viable health care at home. This is America's legacy to the world, to its soldiers, and to its own children. It's despicable. Support our Dupes, indeed.
26
@Wolfgang Rain wonderful thank you
1
Focusing on foreign policy, Chivers declares the wars a failure. True, but what about their success at home? The endless wars have kept the public united behind our troops and ready to spend vast taxpayer money on military hardware. In turn, that massive expenditure has propped up the economy, enriching some arms providers. Sending troops abroad has reduced unemployment at home. For these reasons, the policy of the United States is endless war. It's not really about winning them.
40
"Astonishingly expensive, strategically incoherent, sold by a shifting slate of senior officers and politicians and editorial-page hawks, the wars have continued in varied forms and under different rationales each and every year since passenger jets struck the World Trade Center in 2001."
The majority of Republicans still to this day think Iraq and Afghanistan had something to do with 911. That's why these wars are still going on.
“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”
— Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
76
@William, although keep in mind the American people were so disgusted they appropriately gave unified control of both Congress and the Presidency to the Democratic Party in 2008 and the Democrats squandered this opportunity and we had a Democratic Party President for 8 years who failed to extricate the US from the wars. So you cannot solely blame this on the Republicans, regardless of initial origins and initial response to 9/11. It is a bipartisan tragedy.
3
All of this and I mean ALL of this was predicted well in advance. Remember anyone? Remember when W lied about WMDs to justify and phony war on the wrong country? Remember when our gov't tried to tell us only 1,000 Iraqis died instead it was over 1 million?
I see Vietnam being repeated and many ways clearly demonstrating that we never learn from our own history. So the racist leaders who claim to love our soldiers use them as a disposable product then try to break their contract with them when they get back by denying medical coverage due to vast corruption from the same ones who sent him to our forever war.
If we ever get out of this mess we have to put severe limits on the office of the President to stop this in the future.
43
Excellent article. Thank you.
9
Very shortsighted article. These war have meaning and that is to protect America. Obama allowed ISIS to wreck havoc in the Midde East which in turn created the countless lone wolf attacks all over the world to include a lot here in the US. If we allow terrorist to go uncheck more death and destruction will occur. Obama made the biggest mistake in history in the Middle East and the cascading effect will last for another decade of war
@JeffWar you wanted to say Bush made the biggest mistake in History and the Middle East. Both the Iraq war and the withdrawal were signed on by his administration. Both endless disasters. Get your facts right.
9
@JeffWar: you talk about "shortsightedness"
and only look back as 'far' as "obama".
look ALL THE WAY back to the US' inception.
ever since the pilgrim fathers landed on plymouth rock
some people somewhere have been miserable,
starting with first americans - and still going ...
including countless drones thrown w|o us knowing,
while some people continue to make a killing.
4
Tommy Franks should have been court-martialed, not given a medal. If he had taken the lead at Tora Bora instead of standing aside for the local Afghans we could have ended everything right then and there and gotten out of Afghanistan. Instead, this is what we have, primarily thanks to Franks.
1
Humans are being crippled and wounded and dying like it’s a war.
Tax revenue being spent like it’s a war.
Violations of various nations’ sovereignty like it’s a war.
But it’s not a war, it’s crimes against humanity.
15
Obama gets the Peace Prize, Trump gets elected, senior strategists get promoted, get book deals and earn lucrative speaker's fees while soldiers and civilians die, victims of "the unforgiving details of plans that wouldn't work." Is this what it means to Make America Great Again?
17
Fantastic journalism and photojournalism. Simply blown away. Well Done!
8
IT CAN’T BE REPEATED OFTEN ENOUGH:
"the policies that sent these men and women abroad,
with their emphasis on military action and their visions of
reordering nations and cultures, have not succeeded.“
not only have they not succeeded. they have tied the world
into additional gordian knots "... that did not even exist
when the wars to defeat terrorism started.“
and they leave [almost] everyone involved
“a burden of ghosts“ or worse … until the end
of their days and for generations on end.
SO WHY is this kind of foreign [double meaning!!]
policy repeated over & over & over again?
bc of A GAIN.
bc some parties do indeed benefit, ob$cenely.
most wars are fought for resources first,
and to gain political influence, of course.
our northern, i.e. western lifestyles require
LOADS & LOADS of those resources:
oil, precious metals, rare earths and then some.
can’t we ever come to SHARING THEM FAIRLY!
that would require certain degrees of modesty
in certain circles and generosity even. while, sadly,
greed seems to have been the more viable option.
for centuries.
> as to the gift of literature mentioned in the end:
stories are among the most precious gifts to be given.
the good ones appeal to your heart and, at best,
give you a sense of belonging. for more than "1001 Nights".
we need the free press & media to contribute,
relentlessly, to defusing 'hotspots' around the globe.
[pun not intended - climate change might take care
of a number of issues before we will.]
5
The photos are amazing, as the whole article. It takes a lot of courage to shoot photos while under attack, respect!
10
Where are the American protesters against these pointless endless wars?
12
@Red Allover Restore the draft to find the protesters.
5
Where are the voters needed to demand revolutionary change in government that leads us into such disasters?
1
Sobering read.
Religions at the base of so much hate, death, and destruction. This is incomprehensible to me.
I don't think this is what God had in mind.
MB
6
@Michael Bain: i think this runs deeper
or quite outside of religion: spells greed
[among other 'ungodly' motivators].
3
"Where have all the flowers gone...when will we ever learn?"
6
Beautifully written, thanks.
6
Mr. Soto: You are the hero of this story and I pray you find peace within yourself.
Mr. Chivers: Thank you for the loving manner in which you told his story. Your writing deserves a Pulitzer and illustrates the importance of quality reporting.
50
Our Congress needs to have a full fledged "debate" about Afghanistan: what are our goals, what are we doing to reach those goals, how long will it take to reach them and how much will it cost.
After this "debate" Congress needs to vote on it.
8
@Lawrence Clarke why do companies care about what we comment on their message sections? to protect other users from seeing what someone else might write? or to prevent users from saying things that might effect the paper itself, such as truths. Or if the user might comment against a sponsor..
Listen, this entire thing, the comment section itself. is just like the reasons for war...Money.
They create a problem and issue, then have a bunch of people react. they dont care about the effects its having on anyone. Just like the comments section. Its truthfully to make money,and to assure their own brand looks good while doing so.
1
It is for nothing.
6
@Kathy Barker it is for profits
I am so sorry I read this harrowing and compelling and beautiful account this morning. It will haunt me for the rest of my life. When, oh when, will we practice war no more?
Thank you NYT and Mr. Chivers for this extraordinary reporting. A Pulitzer won't begin to recognize the quality and timelessness of this work.
31
As a citizen and voter, I want the government to end the US war in Afghanistan. And develop a sound policy for humanitarian and refugee assistance to protect the families endangered when we leave.
8
This tragically vivid account sheds light on the oft posed Right Wing question: “how are you going to PAY for it? With American lives and trillions of taxpayer dollars. No wonder there’s no money left for anything else. The repeating of this travesty, decade after decade, and continent after continent is the true definition of insanity. At least its bipartisan.
17
@Richard Mays, completely bipartisan. Just one small example, even so-called "progressives" like Bernie Sanders have joined with the rest of Vermont's Democrats in strongly embracing the military Keynesianism of Lockheed's budget-busting F-35 fighter jet and basing it in Vermont's most densely populated area (regardless of impact on health and home values of their constituents).
2
This book underlines one of the great sins of government and that is simply, government involvement, period. Different administrations, different goals, different politics and directions. It is no wonder that our true swamp is the middle east and far east for the past 17 years. Enough is enough.
3
For this discussion that I earned a Combat Medics badge in Vietnam carries a little weight, so may I say that since the military build-up for World War II the US has been a military/industrial complex taking tax dollars to support corporate profits and the careers of generals and admirals. The country has not turned toward peace and social justice for all of my life. We have an empire to control that wastes our resources and young men and women. The absence of a draft has protected the children of privilege. I just came back from a visit to Tanzania and every child in uniform walks each day to school and into the future, which will be not white but brown, black and yellow. America squandered its future.
12
It is much worse than this. We have not 'won' a war since
WW II, we have fought to a draw or walked away from every conflict since then. Oops! I forgot Grenada, we kicked the stuffing out of a small Caribbean nation. Other than that, we don't seem to be able to win our wars. We are paying about $700 Billion per year for a military that can seem to accomplish it primary job.
Since we are not getting our money's worth out of the military, how about if we cut the Defense Dept. budget to $350 Billion and use the remaining $350 Billion per year to make life better here at home? Let's feed our hungry, care for our elderly, house the homeless, repair our schools, fix our roads and bridges, you know, the kinds of things we would be doing if we weren't paying for a military that can't win.
147
@Bruce1253 It's not that the military cannot accomplish its job. Our military is one of the best in the world at its job.
It is not, however, built to be a police force that brings political change. It is built to destroy opposing conventional forces, which it does very well - better than any other on the planet.
Where we as a nation get in trouble is when we send insufficient numbers of troops to accomplish the task of political change. That only gets us into a protracted war of attrition, where the locals have the resources and staying power, while we travel halfway around the world to simply buy time.
If you have a populace that isn't interested in changing, a string of outposts isn't going to force them to change.
That has nothing to do with the ability of our military.
25
@Chris, Results are the only measurement that matter. We have killed thousands of our people for nothing. We have let problems fester here at home for nothing.
Here's a thought - perhaps we should not be sticking our noses into problems around the world. Maybe we should only fight when our very survival is at stake. Then we should do whatever, and I do mean whatever, it takes to win.
Right now we are a force of evil and misery in the world. It does not have to be this way. Use our time, talent & treasure to make our home and the world, a better place.
3
@Bruce1253 I don't disagree with what you're saying. We're paying the price for a foreign policy that is, at best, adventurous. I blame the politicians for sending our military to take on a fool's task.
In my opinion, blaming the military is foolhardy. We have the most capable military in the world when it comes to closing on an enemy and destroying it.
Still, it's hard to get results when the military is being asked to do something it is ill-equipped to do (state-building). What makes the situation worse is that the mission (which is determined by civilian leadership) is largely undefined and unachievable with the resources given.
1
This is such a compelling article, captivating in its writing and photography. But the context lacks the maturity for recognizing the shifting geopolitical realities since 1989. Modern soldiering is a function of managing national security, not fighting declared wars.
We’re sixty years into the Korean War, which started as a national security mission about encroaching communism, transitioning into a national security issue about a hereditary succession of unpredictable despots trying to develop nuclear capabilities. Staying over there ensures they’re not coming over here.
The mission in Iraq and Afghanistan is to manage our national security, not end a war.
The events of 9/11 is the reason they are there. They aren’t coming home. Individual soldiers maybe, but not our presence. Our presence there is the only assurance we have of the bad guys not recapturing a presence here.
If our armed forces feel like they have little to fight for but one another - which, by the way, we’ve trained generations of soldiers to make that their first priority - then perhaps they have their Commander-In-Chief to blame. His preoccupation with stopping the bad guys at our border is confusing the relevance and mission of stopping the bad guys at their own border.
The Pentagon doesn’t vote; maybe the true blame lies in the mirror.
I'd like your perspective on who/what started this. Why did Afghan mountain men decide one day to go terrorising a country half a world away and infinitely more capable? Vietnam petered out...the US went 'there' to keep communism away from 'here'. Is it just substitution, swap Afghanistan for Vietnam and communism for terrorism? Long after the Vietnam war, communism crumbled all right but you have Russia right there - so are you ahead? In this war without end, will terrorism/Qaida/ISIS crumble as communism did? If it does, what will supplant it?
3
@Sumit
What do you mean about the Afghan mountain men terrorizing a country half a world away? The 9/11 terrorists were Saudis.
Soto God bless you, your fellow soldiers,and fallen and wounded comrades. A Pulitzer Prize story. How can we leave? Who can take our place? Something has got to give and soon.
13
The real way to honor our US Military active duty and veteran soldiers is to stop pumping $700 BILLION a year into a US War machine that protects and gives power for the expansion of US-based global corporations that mostly don't even pay taxes thanks to sold-out lawmakers, who have given them every loophole to avoid taxes. Do these corporations care anything about the American citizens, who want clean air, clean water, roadways, railways, quality day care, preschool, K-12 and advanced job training, health care for everyone, and a decent retirement? NO. They care only about profits for investors. We seriously need more progressive, grassroots politicians to weed out the corporate puppets and return to a nation more like the one envisioned by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. FDR also had a team of champions, who fought back the Robber Barons who had a banking and investment monopoly that was ruining our civilization here in the USA. Sound familiar? #JusticeDemocrats Stop the #endlesswar cycle in favor of much needed #Infrastructure in the USA. #NoMoreCorporateDemocrats Only 5 Democrats voted against raising the "defense budget" by another $100 BILLION this year. It was the only bipartisan action taken by the two major political parties!
69
@mjpezzi Unfortunately, the military-industrial complex has figured out how to keep the machine running: spread the manufacturing of military hardware across the country to create tens of thousands of job. Not a single member of the House or Senate wil kill, say, the deeply flawed F-35 program. Too many jobs at at stake in too many states and districts. This is all by design to make sure that, once a project is given a green light, it cannot be killed for its flaws such as cost over-runs and delayed deliveries.
1
Interesting and moving article, but I still feel like the article overlooks many facts -- number of Allied forces killed in Afghanistan this year is below 10 and there aren't many troops present there right now. The brunt of fighting is borne by Afghan forces for 2nd year now; they fight for their own country and have requested US and other nations to help them.
All the reasons the author has listed, from displacing tyrants, protecting population, reducing corruption etc. are still valid.
Lumping Iraq and Afghanistan together is not a good idea. These two are clearly different countries, and Iraq is doing better.
War is messy. You often don't know what it takes to lead you to victory and try different things. When mistakes are made, then you correct strategy. Of course -- the premise of this piece seems to be that the Afghan war is unwinnable in principle.
1
@Mihkel Ferschel
Exactly, unwinnable. Afghanistan is called the "Graveyard of Empires" for a reason.
8
@Mihkel Ferschel The USA has long supported anti-democratic tyrants the world over, because democracy is messy-- even messier than wars for profit-- and the corporate oligarchs who control America's Congress obviously despise democracy. Look no further than the tyrant selected by Putin who sits in the Whitesupremacy House today (or at one of his golf resorts). His supporting Republican cabal of grifters just wait for crumbs to fall to their obedient little hands. They care not a whit for what happens in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria, as long as they get their crumbs.
12
If this piece of writing doesn’t stir your soul, I’m not sure what will... as George McGovern said, “I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in”... my generation marched off to this war, myself included, and came home with nothing to show for it but the memories of our dead friends and the crumbled remnants of our youthful innocence. Thank you for telling Mr Soto’s story, because although it is uniquely his, it is also the story of every man and women who stepped off a helicopter into a dark and uncertain Iraqi or Afghani night. Thank you for giving us all a voice. And Mr Soto, thank you sir.
64
@Abbie Saccary Abbie, I met a fellow I worked with at a ski shop in Denver who had been released from the Army for PTSD after five tours of duty. Since we were both former members of our military, we talked. I listened. A lot.
And I thought, who would NOT have PTSD after that many fire fights; after dragging the wounded and dead to countless evac' helicopters. I could not imagine the heartbreak and terror when a friend is killed, and you had no time to say goodby before returning fire at the enemy.
This is what our soldiers are up against. Failed policies created by failed politicians; failed strategies created by failed military leadership at the top; a lack of training in dealing with cultures fighting for their faith.
1
My instincts told me in 2001 that this war would last forever and be lost. No one wins fighting in Afghanistan, yet it was after 9/11 and perhaps, initially, justified. This story matters most to me because it describes Mr. Soto and the other soldiers. It describes how hard they tried in impossible circumstances and what they endured through losing their soldier-friends in battle. It describes the psychological aftermath with which most soldiers struggle. This article is loving in its description of front line soldiers and their direct supervisors: sergeants, lieutenants, on the ground. It precisely describes the flagrant incompetency of the senior military echelon and the impact this incompetence has on the hearts and minds of young American soldiers. I can only salute Sgt Soto and his fellow soldiers.
5
Great writing. Amazing photographs.
Seventeen years of futility with no end in sight. The bottom line hasn't changed. We've lost thousands of soldiers and spent billions of dollars in Afghanistan and Iraq for nothing.
10
This has the makings of an excellent book.
Thank you
Look to the arms dealers and the military industrial complex for the reason that there will be no end to war. Ending war would be unprofitable.
88
It is Vietnam all over again.
Or as they say in a movie "We are the United States Government, we do not learn from past mistakes"
19
America eventually woke up to the horrible realities of the Vietnam War. Today, we are still busying ourselves with getting “ours” or the latest Kardashian scamperings. One difference: the draft in the Vietnam era, while imperfect (see bone spurs), made Americans pay attention. For most Americans, Soto and his brothers are other people’s kids, and willing volunteers. This powerful article should wake us up.
9
@Jk It's not coincidental that Nixon withdrew that last of our combat troops when the 26th Amendment was ratified and the Draft ended the following year. Drafting unwilling soldiers to fight an unwinnable war after giving the draftees the right to vote isn't a winning political strategy. Up till then the draftees had no say in the matter.
1
Jk@
I do agree but as I am not an American, I also see something else here which may not be visible or liked in the US.
When reading this article, I find that Mr. Soto begins to have concerns about the reason of his orders to fight in a place in which the US has no place to fight at all.
The same happened in Vietnam and the same also happened in Iraq and now in Syria.
All these wars were and are fought for no better reason than a show of force, a political show.
Whether this may be the Domino Theory which never worked or the idea that Saddam was behind 9/11 or that some cave dwelling terrorists may be a good reason to cluster bomb an entire country.
The US never had a plan, never a contingency plan and never stood a chance to win.
Their military command knew about this every time and their politicians never gave a second thought as this was an opportunity to picture oneself as a war president.
So I'd start not by reading this article, which still should be read in every school, but by taking the time to see the other side.
Go to Vietnam and take the Cu Chi Tour or the DMZ tour and learn from the Vietnamese how the other side looked like.
And you will learn that the political leadership in the US uses far away wars for their own reasons but never ever for bringing peace or whatever they sell these wars for.
The US has not brought peace or stability to any region it went to war since WW2.
Which is why the US these days is among the most hated countries in the world.
Like terrorism I think the war on terror is often incoherent and hard to identify. One thing is clear, however, the war or terror has prevented a centralized terror network from operating unfettered like al-Qaeda did.
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@Dave I'd argue that our war on al-Qaeda caused the rise of ISIS/ISIL.
So the question is this: Have 17 years of ear and the expenditure of untold blood and treasure been worth it?
Not saying I know the answer - I don't. But that's the only question that really matters.
The followup questions are whether 17 more years will be worth it, and at what point will we stop sending our military on policing and state-building missions.
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Was the six paragraph pro-forma condemnation of foreign policy a prerequisite to run an extended piece about a group of heroic Americans?
Even if so, was it also required to be empasized in the title and lead? As if the merits of the men and women wouldn't be compelling unless framed as contrast to the folly that was their very reason for being notable?
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Context is essential in journalism. You tell a story about a brave soldier. This raises obvious questions: What is he doing there? How did he get there? What is the larger meaning of this man's experience? The writer takes on these challenges brilliantly. And when he asserts that "The policies that sent these men and women abroad, with their emphasis on military action and their visions of reordering nations and cultures, have not succeeded," he is 100% right.
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A very moving article.
Excellent work.
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1968 was the year of Tet and my graduation from college. LSU and Baton Rouge seemed to be a million miles from Vietnam. Yet the war was retold every night by Walter Cronkite, John Chancellor. Dan Rather, David Brinkley, Chet Huntley and so many more talented journalists. The body counts, scenes of complete devastation, body counts and definition of victory changing with each passing season caused all of us to doubt the why are we there and how will the U. S. ever get out.
"Quagmire" became an instantly understandable definition of that war. It may equally be applicable to Afghanistan.
This article from Time magazine could have been a repeat of the news reports from 1968 - 1972 but for the geography. The military mindset, the tactics, the can-do attitude and certain phrases written in the latter years of the Vietnam war which weren't carried forward to today's, seemingly fruitless efforts to "pacify", "fight them over there so that we won't have to fight them here." and "we'll train their army and have them defend their own country" all sound familiar.
Seldom have a subjugated people been bombed sufficiently to love their assailants.
When will the policy makers ever learn from their mistakes?
Rich man's war; poor man's battles. Great theme for a wonderful article.
Thank you for journalism at its best. Under appreciated by many, perhaps, but well worth the read.
Henry Cole Gahagan
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nearly 4 million have been deployed, many have served multiple tours in multiple locations with different degrees of threat. This telling is of those who served in a very harsh and threatening environment. The * that needs to be added, of the million who have been deployed, many have been the 'tail to the tooth,' serving in combat service support or pure support less threatening positions and roles. For that I give those serving in pure combat and or pressed into combat roles my full appreciation.
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Stunning work of journalism and photojournalism. The short sentences in the first two acts had me right there in the Valley, along with Soto. This calibre of writing helps me to understand an experience I never can have, but that impacts me directly.
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In the Viet Nam era, stories like this and television reporting on the war contributed to the end of the Viet Nam in a time frame of much less than 17 years.
As deployment only came to a sub set of young people, and TV and news rarely covered the searing violence of war, eschewing such content for minor content (Kardashians, Tweets, outrageous behavior), the daily violence and futility went “off stage”.
We need this daily in our face.
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Who will finally have the courage to end this war? The Afghan War became our Vietnam War all over again. Didn’t we learn anything from the Vietnam War, it’s senseless, it’s destruction, it’s huge tragic loss of both soldiers and civilians?
We keep sending our soldiers back more another tour of duty and then another, and another. For what gain?
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@Don P
Oh.... I think we learned a lot from the Vietnam war, just not the ones you or I would be hoping for. There's incredible gain, ever wonder where this opioid crisis came from? Aghanistan and Iraq are very critical geo-strategically. There's far, more to it.
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@Don P The bottom line is that we need to end the war machine. It serves no one except the wealthy and corrupt politicians.
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If I chance to encounter Barack Obama, I will say one word,"Afghanistan," turn, and walk away.
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This piece will fit nicely into the soldiers at war cannon. Whether intended or not, it supports the brothers-in-arms, being a part of something motivation that leads many young men into the military. It is ironic that it is anti-war at a strategic level yet creates a kind of old west romance of it all at the unit level.
But the thing about this genre is how, when the lucky ones return home, the men’s lives seem so small, like they’ve come down off of a multi year bender. War is the ultimate drug I guess; pity it is legal and profitable.
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@D Priest
I would argue that it's not ironic, but rather the point.
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I am not a "pacifist" but I am British and American and I served in Falklands War. I grew up with the Vietnam War; my father was a Pacific War Vet who had nightmares and wouldn't talk.
I think that 18 years of "grunts" on the ground vs "the ARMY" in Washington making unrealistic plans today is unforgivable. I feel for Private Soto.
As for what the Government should do about it--I am at a loss for words. Withdrawl? What if the Taliban spreads?
A lovely, heart-rending article.
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