Dear Editor,
Earlier this month, I observed two quite different events, each prompting feelings of patriotism but in significantly contrasting ways. For me, the word ‘patriotism’ expresses love, devotion, and a sense of respect for one’s country.
On Sunday, August 6, I rose early to watch television coverage of the US Women’s National Team preparing to compete against Sweden’s women’s soccer team in the knockout stage of the World Cup. When our national anthem was played, the US team was largely silent.
Only a few members placed their right hands over their hearts, and almost no one sang. My reaction - It’s unpatriotic! – an embarrassing display of disdain for our nation and, to extrapolate further, a lack of respect for those who fought and died to protect our freedoms.
On the morning of August 7, Congressman Darrell Issa, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, convened a public forum to hear testimony from Gold Star families of the 13 US service members killed on August 26, 2021, during the airport attack at Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan.
This hearing served as the first opportunity given to those families to share their stories and ask for a complete, truthful accounting of the disastrous withdrawal.
Without exception, all of those who spoke expressed feelings of being disrespected by those in charge; President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Defense Austin, and General Milley, who oversaw military operations, were referenced.
The families believe the withdrawal followed a disorganized, chaotic evacuation plan that involved President Biden seeking a political win and acting against military advisement in order to complete the troop withdrawal by the 20th anniversary of the al-Qaeda 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Military commanders have described the events of August 26, 2021, as a suicide bomber attack - a single individual who detonated 20 pounds of explosives propelling hundreds of ball bearings that also resulted in the deaths of an additional 170 Afghan civilians.
It was later reported that in completing the withdrawal, the US left behind more than $7 billion in weapons and equipment. Little acknowledgment has been given to the thousands of Afghan allies that were not evacuated and now suffer under the Taliban regime. Most recent reports now indicate that since the evacuation, our government has sent more than $2 billion in aid money directly to the Taliban.
Darin Hoover, the father of Marine Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, perhaps best summarized the sentiments of the Gold Star family members when he commented on the “zero accountability” taken by those most in charge. “To say that they are satisfied with the withdrawal of our troops is nothing short of disgusting and ignorant... Do what our son did - be a grown-ass man. Admit your mistakes and learn from them so that this doesn’t happen ever, ever again.”
My hope is not only do these Gold Star families get the satisfaction they deserve, but that all Americans receive an honest accounting of decisions made that led to the failure surrounding that fateful US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Certainly, all those veterans deployed to Afghanistan during those 20 years are entitled to explanation and accountability as are all the other Gold Star families of thousands of service personnel who died in the conflict.
Peter Wibell, Rutledge