Time to Throw the Neocons Overboard

Neocons are Progressive community organizers on a global scale. It’s time to pitch then overboard if we want to advance the conservative movement

Operation New Dawn, its name suggesting a skin cream or dishwashing liquid, now begins. (What ever happened to the practice of using terms like Torch or Overlord or Dragon to describe military campaigns?) (Andrew Bacevich - Obama Wants Us to Forget Iraq Lessons)

Professor Andrew Bacevich, who lost a son in the Iraq war, has consistently provided readers a clear-eyed view of American foreign policy. In his latest article, he shows how good intentions can reap unintended (and undesirable) outcomes.

Every time we thought we had “solved” something in the Middle East, another problem cropped up. Taking out Mossadegh let the Shah of Iran back in, angering the Islamists, who then took power 20 years later. Taking out Saddam destroyed the firewall protecting the Middle East from the Iranians. Wouldn’t it have been better to let Saddam take Kuwait?

"But he put his own citizens through giant shredders!"  The neocons shout.

"But women had relative freedom in Iraq and he brutally squashed all that Sharia nonsense," retort the realists.

See? We put ourselves in the position of weighing the pros and cons of remaking the lives of others. We have no business doing that, most especially when the people don’t want our help.

You can’t help those who don’t want your help
“Nation building” only works when the nation you are building wants to be built, like the European nations after World War II, Japan, and later South Korea. We took a relatively light touch in Central America during the Reagan 80’s, and the situation there is materially better because of our efforts.

Rock-ribbed conservative David Freddoso goes even further than the more liberal Bacevich, declaring that nation building in Iraq was not worth it. I can’t go that far.

We did not achieve “nothing.” No matter how ill-conceived the invasion may have been, troops on the ground made the best of a very bad situation. We took out a dictator, killed a lot of bad guys, and at least gave Iraqis a chance to chart a new course. That in itself is quite an achievement, more so for the US Military (especially the US Army) than for our government or any politician.

I do agree with Freddoso on this...

The question we need to ask is whether we really want to do something like that again. It’s a question that Republican candidates for Congress should be asking themselves right now

As someone who has been there as a bit player in a supporting role, my answer is no, we should not do something like this again.  It's time to pitch the neocons overboard.  Hard.  On their heads.

Neocons, like progressives, have Utopian dreams of solving problems, ignoring the stubborn fact that in this vale of tears, nothing is ever “solved.”

War is Hell

Government will increase PTSD benefits, and that's a good thing

I returned from Panama 20 years ago with post traumatic stress syndrome.  I had been through a lot of violence, had seen people killed, and was almost killed myself on a few occasions.  Four Cuban soldiers dressed as Panamanian policemen jamming AK's into my car windows while shouting at my friends and me is one of my less fond memories.


PTSD is Real
You can't put a finger on it like a messed up back or worn out knees, so assigning disability can be difficult.

Author Sebastian Junger was on Bill Bennett's Morning in America the other day talking about his year embedded with a combat unit in Afghanistan.  He wrote a book about it called “War.”  They were talking about PTSD.  Killing, seeing friends killed, and almost being killed yourself are the most obvious causes.  

Other PTSD Factors
Junger went on to mention other factors I had never thought of, but they rang true.  In a war zone there is a sense of urgency and an immediacy of purpose you rarely find anywhere else.  Everything is “in the now.”   

You will never bond with others the way you did under such extreme circumstances.  You're doing an immensely important duty in a very stressful environment.  Lives are literally on the line.  It is an extreme adrenaline high.  Ironically, returning home can be a letdown.

Returning from Panama, it took me months to decompress.  Everything had moved so fast and suddenly I was thrown back into happy, peaceful America. 

I had nightmares for awhile, but they slowly went away.  The heartbreak of seeing that country and its people I had loved so much come to such violence was probably worst of all, but that slowly healed as they put it all back together.  I went about my Air Force duties, played in a Country-Rock band, and although it permanently changed me, I have no lasting negative effects.  What I remember now is all the fun I had before the trouble started.

War is A Life Changing Experience
I didn't have PTSD coming back from my year in the Middle East, just tinnitus.  I did have a hard time ramping down after working non-stop 90+ hour weeks and deploying all over the place installing and repairing communications vital to convoy security, perimeter defense and air-to-ground missions.  It was important, fast-paced work and lives were at stake.  

The picture on the left was taken at the Air Force camp at Baghdad Airport.  When I e-mailed the picture home, my wife remarked how happy I looked.  Well, I was literally having the time of my life.  Those guys with me in the picture were like my sons. I cried when they returned home...

Reuniting with my family was awesome.  Our youngest was three and she didn’t know me, so it took her awhile to warm up to me.  Although I came back with no trauma, life for me had changed forever.  So I can only imagine the hell a returning combat troop must go through.

My experience with PTSD is vastly different than the horrors experienced by our young combat troops coming home today.  I just want my fellow conservatives to know that it is real.  It also afflicts people here in the US who have witnessed violence or experienced a tragedy.

Blood and treasure are not the only costs of war
Couples divorce, families are irretrievably broken, lives are changed forever.  People who have survived combat will never be the same again.  Children will lose parents; spouses will lose their beloved; siblings and parents will be left with nothing but memories.  War wrecks lives and produces a cohort of walking wounded.  For this reason, military action should never be taken lightly.

Balad Burn Pit

I came back from my year in the desert with a persistent cough.  (Yes, only one year.  I was just an Air Force comm troop after all).  After awhile you start to wonder what's going on (Gulf War Syndrome? Nile River Virus? Hammurabi Flu?)

Turns out I had developed some kind of allergy-like symptoms easily taken care of by an over the counter Claritin when needed.

Then I read about this guy and others who say they have debilitating symptoms because of Balad's burn pit. (Balad is northwest of Baghdad, for those who've never had the pleasure taking that blackhawk ride up the Tigris.)

Breathing smoke as a Fobbit is nothing compared to what the combat troops go through, but I can sympathize. I had my own encounters with the Balad Burn pit.  Here's a picture I took, I don't know why...

I can vouch that it really stunk, but so does cordite from a mortar attack when your tent's air handling unit sucks it in as the sirens are going off... There were days when it swept across the base, but usually it just plumed up into the sky...

 

Here's a picture of us putting up an antenna at the Balad tower.  Nothing but blue skies that day!