I currently live in a very liberal town. Most days I like it fine, but occasionally Alexandria feels like another planet. Many people who have never served a single day in the military and have no clue what they are talking about are loudly proclaiming that the war is over because Osama bin Laden is dead. The Chinook that got shot down is viewed as proof that we can never win and we are just wasting lives.
Bullshit!
These same people do not know that we are running a dozen ops like that every single night. They could not begin to explain the purpose of the war, or even how many Afghan Districts are currently under Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) control. The Taliban is losing ground and influence. They are becoming irrelevant and the people of Afghanistan are getting their country back.
If I died in a helicopter crash and Congressman Jim Moran, an otherwise fine man, used that as a justification to "end the war and bring the troops home" before NATO transitioned to ANSF in every single District, my ghost would haunt his feckless ass for eternity.
Every one of the 30 operatives (including 22 Navy SEALS) who died in the Chinook attack was fully aware of the risks when they climbed aboard. Every one had decided the risks were worth the potential gain for peace and stability in Afghanistan. Every one! To suggest that their lives were lost in vain is to place zero value on the gains made by all of their earlier operations and on all of the thousands of similar ops that have gone on and continue to go on. It also places zero value on the service and the sacrifices made by these 30 and all of their brothers and sisters in arms.
Have a look at the Second-Guessing the Doomed Chinook Mission post on the Battleland blog at TIME.com.
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