Four Afghan War Veterans Look Back, and Ahead

TEA TALK - Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, right, speaks with U.S. Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, left, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, as they enjoy a cup of tea at a local store in Nawa district’s marketplace, Jan. 2, 2010. The two leaders reviewed progress in Nawa and met with district council members, citizens and U.S. Marines. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Brian A. Tuthill

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — One of them, an Army Ranger who served three tours in Afghanistan, led a team into a treacherous mountain ravine to recover the remains of 16 American commandos shot down in a helicopter crash. He still remembers how only their boots had been taken off their bodies by the Taliban.

Another, a captain in the Oregon National Guard, held a town in the southern Afghan province of Helmand with a ragtag Afghan Army unit for three chaotic weeks in 2006, only to see the Taliban sweep back in after he got orders to move on.

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My Comment: My contacts in the British and Canadian arm forces are telling me the same thing. Futile operations, forces spread very thin, difficulty in trusting Afghan forces, feeling the loss of fellow soldiers, mixed with moments of feeling that something is being accomplished for the good while coupled with a sense of pessimism that success may still not happen.