12 years ago, President Bush announced the Afghanistan War:
"In a televised address that evening, Bush informed the American public that "carefully targeted actions" were being carried out to crush the military capability of al-Qaida and the Taliban, with help from British, Canadian, Australian, German and French troops. An additional 40 nations around the world provided intelligence, as well as bases from which the operations were conducted.
Bush touted the multinational effort as proof that America, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, was "supported by the collective will of the world." He also warned that the war in Afghanistan would likely be only the first front in a long struggle against terrorism. He vowed to continue to take what he called the "war on terror" to those countries that sponsored, harbored or trained terrorists."
It was a Sunday morning as I recall. We were leaving mass and running to a "Pony fall ball doubleheader" that I was coaching and two of my sons were playing in.
Like most people, I was for the attack because of 9-11. I remember speaking with some of the parents at the game about the beginning of this war. It was very common for us to bring radios to hear the Cowboys' game and other sports. We spent a lot of that afternoon hearing reports of attacks in Afghanistan.
I thought to myself: Would these 14-year old boys playing baseball that beautiful fall afternoon be going off to a war in a few years? I couldn't help but think about it!
Frankly, I never thought that we'd be there 12 years later. I never thought that we'd have 100,000 troops there.
Where are we now? The public support is gone. 4 more soldiers were killed over the weekend and the total is up to 2,146.
I was always more comfortable with the Bush approach, or targeting leaders without the huge footprint, than the Obama approach of "surging" and then announcing a "withdrawal".
Also, President Bush gave us updates. President Obama never does, except when he is telling his leftist base that we are getting out.
Today, I'm conflicted. Our youngest son, 11 back then, is in the US Army and may be sent there. I also know that a lot of women and little girls will be slaughtered if we pull out.
Tough choices. I just didn't think about any this that afternoon back in 2001.
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