Richard WarnickRich’s Pick: NYT Takes a Hard Look at Afghanistan
In today’s New York Times Magazine, Elizabeth Rubin has the best article I’ve read in some time about our guys in Afghanistan — she embedded with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Americans have gotten caught up in ancient local rivalries. Progress is slow to nonexistent. The only way to find the enemy is by using our soldiers as bait. They have to rely on air strikes and heavy weapons, because there aren’t enough infantrymen– but Afghan civilians always get hit. The most common question: “What are we doing here?” Everyone knows Iraq gets first priority on everything, despite the desperate situation. Some rely on pills to keep from cracking up.
It didn’t take long to understand why so many soldiers were taking antidepressants. The soldiers were on a 15-month tour that included just 18 days off. Many of them were “stop-lossed,†meaning their contracts were extended because the army is stretched so thin. You are not allowed to refuse these extensions. And they felt eclipsed by Iraq. As Sgt. Erick Gallardo put it: “We don’t get supplies, assets. We scrounge for everything and live a lot more rugged. But we know the war is here. We got unfinished business.â€
February 24th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
All you had to say was New York Times and you story lost all credibility.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Right o, Ken.
And for the same reason, I reject everything as uncredible that you post in connection with something stated or a position or belief held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Nut Jobs!
February 24th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Kinda like, ‘Bush administration sources were quick to point …’ Eh, Ken? Such falshood as will follow are a given, I understand.
The true story of the tragedy that is Afghanistan would stun you, so leave the NYT on the shelf, get your news elsewhere, but don’t pretend it’s what the admin is touting as a ’success’. Maybe an oil pipe to Pakistan, but nothing rosy, I assure you. Lotsa death and opium amid the rubble.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Ken, I wish you were right because the American soldiers who died while the NYT reporter was with their unit might come back to life, along with the Afghan women and children who were killed. Unfortunately, this is the real world.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
[...] an article by Elizabeth Rubin in the New York Times Magazine revealed that combat troops in Afghanistan often rely on [...]