Letter to the Editor: Rise of the Taliban

Dear Editor:

Your article was the finest example I have read expressing the deep despair felt by our veterans in the wake of the Taliban takeover. “(Fall of Afghanistan Painful to Watch for Veterans,” 9/9/21).

As the mother and wife of two of America’s finest, you captured the essence of this bitter pill they, as well as all 800,000 service members, had to swallow. My heart goes out to each one of them.

Roman Gonzalez, Ian Murphy and Brad Gonzalez epitomize the views expressed by most veterans regarding this endless war.

Concluding this conflict was not in question. The way our President executed the withdrawal was a slap in the face to every soldier who was obliged to follow his orders.

You were able to give color and emotion to these brave men. They have my deep respect for sharing their truth with us.

Thank you again for your excellent article.

Millie Tyson
Downey

Dear Editor:

This may be an overly simplistic take on the situation in Afghanistan, but I can’t resist having a go at it.

Let’s compare two countries, New Zealand and Afghanistan. New Zealand is a nice, quiet, smooth running little country. Why is that? It is because the people that live there make it so. Now if Afghanistan is continuously fraught with strife and turmoil, whose fault is that? The people who live in Norway? The people who live in Germany or Lithuania?

Maybe, just maybe, it is the fault of the people who live in Afghanistan. Why should the American military be given the impossible task of straightening their country out for them? The obvious solution is for the Taliban, and the fine citizens of Afghanistan, to calmly roll up their sleeves, get to work, and straighten their own country out.

Much of what is being written about Afghanistan is Monday morning quarterbacking, picking apart the way we ended our involvement. What could we have done differently over the past 20 years? There is no doubt we would have been much better off providing humanitarian aid only.

As an example of this, there was a 7.0 earthquake high up in the Hindu Kush mountains in winter time, and there was a desperate need for aid. If you provide a warm blanket, some MREs (meals ready to eat), and some temporary shelter, you will have a friend for life. It doesn’t matter about a group’s religious or political persuasion. If the United States had gone this route, we would have spent way less than what we’ve spent on this misadvised venture, with its attendant horrific loss of military lives.

What about the threat of terrorism? Terrorism emanates from the hateful minds of the genus Homosapiens. Consequently, a mind can be located anywhere, whether it is in Kabul, Timbuktu or Bell Gardens. Remember the federal building in Oklahoma, which was blown up by a homegrown terrorist? It is doubtful that Muslim homosapiens are any more dangerous than the species in general.

Jack Russell
Downey