3 years later, Afghanistan War veterans haven't forgotten – have you?
Without accountability, there can be no lessons learned and no restoration with our Afghanistan veterans or our future military partners across the world stage.
Moral Injury (n.) the distressing psychological, behavioral, social, and sometimes spiritual aftermath that comes from betrayal by leadership and others in positions of power. Witnessing behaviors that go against an individual's values and moral beliefs.
The shrill tone of my cellphone broke through the trance I had been in as I watched the news coverage of Taliban fighters celebrating in the Kabul streets.
"Jane," I answered.
"Everything is happening too fast," she sobbed. "It’s going to be a bloodbath, and everything you and Chris fought for will be meaningless."
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Chris, her husband, had been killed while fighting in Afghanistan in 2011. At only 24 years old, her world had crashed around her with a single knock on her door. She spent years battling through sadness and depression to become a voice for other Gold Star Families.
Even more impressively, she had become an unofficial ambassador to Afghanistan, meeting with high-ranking Afghan leaders, everyday shopkeepers and the Afghan women and girls she championed.
"I’m trying to get a young Afghan woman named Arianna out of the presidential palace," she told me. "The Taliban will not be kind to her when they find her. She’'s alone and scared to death. I’'m not sure what to do."
"I’'m trying to do the same thing with my friend, Nezam. It’'s a mess."
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She sat silently on the phone and finally spoke hoarsely. "My husband, those who died, and all of you guys... don't deserve to be tied to this bulls---. You were there to serve your country and give your lives if asked," she said. "I feel like my heart has been ripped out all over again."
"Jane, you’'ve got this. Focus on Arianna. Tell her story on the news. Do whatever it takes to keep moving forward."
"You’re right. If I can help this one person, it will give me something to hold on to. It’s a life for a life," she sobbed. "And then I can accept that Chris gave his life so I could save this one person."
As I hung up the phone, grief settled over me like a dark cloud. Jane’s voice still echoed in my ears, and the faces of the many Gold Star families I’d met over the years filled my vision. So many buddies had lost limbs, eyesight, or suffered internal post-traumatic stress. My God, what were they all going through right now?
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We’d been sent to Afghanistan to take out the Taliban and keep the promise of "Never Again". Now, our president was pulling out of Afghanistan and handing it back to the same people who had facilitated the 9/11 plot, along with a host of other America-hating terror groups.
How were any of us supposed to cope with our sacrifices knowing that they’d been for nothing?
Now, three years later, thousands of Afghanistan War veterans are still wrestling with that question and the moral injury that's come with it. Over 80% of these veterans feel betrayed. Suicides have spiked, along with a whole host of mental health issues.
A big reason for this is that there has been zero accountability surrounding the wholesale abandonment of our 20-year allies. Without accountability, there can be no lessons learned and no restoration with our veterans or our future military partners across the world stage.
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Our politicians are oblivious to this. The current administration wants to see this month of shame come and go as quickly as possible. But for many Afghanistan War veterans, this month drags on like an oppressive, never-ending heat wave. This is not about politics. It’s not about red or blue, Democrat or Republican. It’s about what’s right.
Our veterans are our moral compass for this nation and always have been. We need them leading us here at home in these challenging times. But, this moral injury during this tough month of August and the three-year anniversary of abandoning our allies is keeping them out of the game.
If we are going to help these veterans move from moral injury to moral repair, if we are going to get in front of the next terror attack at home, and if we are going to repair our standing in the world as a friend and ally to other nations, we are counting on citizens like you to take a stand and demand accountability for this horrific abandonment of our allies.
Will you be a voice for accountability in support of our veterans and the nation, or will you turn the page like this never happened?
Considering the moral depth of this issue, there is no greater question this election year.
