So, how's the war going?

Every so often a package will arrive with letters sent from school kids. The letters are intended for any of us over here. It can be quite comical to read these letters. Usually they will read something like, "Hello, this Johnny from Anywhere, USA. Thanks for being a soldier. How is the war going? Have a great day!" We have a little fun reading these and laughing about just how blunt kids can be. So, just how is the war going anyway? I'll give you what I know which is just a tiny slice. After all, my mission is simply to provide medical care. And, I am just a FOBBIT! (fobbit = someone who never leaves the forward operating base aka FOB)

Here at Bagram you can see easily many signs of the "The Afghan Surge". A giant new hangar is being built to store our C-17 cargo planes. Many of the C-17's here are from my home base in Charleston. I often wish I could just get on one of those and go home! Oh well, that's not going to happen anytime soon. New housing is going up each day. Some day soon deployed soldiers will be able to live in a new connex village just down the way from my B Hut Village. Connexes are those large containers you see on the back of an 18 wheeler or stacked on a giant ship. Over here they are stacked up and then snapped together like legos. Living in one is the lap of luxury on deployment. There are also warehouses being bulit and lots of activity in the industrial part of this base. Basically, this base is being built up tremendously. It's clear that we are here to stay for a long time. Just like Korea, Japan, and Germany we will probably have thousands of troops in Afghanistan for decades to come. This is the honest truth. Thinking otherwise would just be naive. We are here to stay!

The offensive in southern Afghanistan is well under way now. Originally, the media was reporting that our marines were not encountering much resistance in Marjah. I knew better. One of my patients was in the thick of it down there just hours before being brought to our hospital. He described intense fire fights. This young guy was the expert marksmen for his company. He told stories of "taking out" lots of Taliban while constantly being a target himself. The stress level was incredibly high even for this experienced marine. Eventually, it all got to him and he suffered a stress induced seizure. Upon making it to his bed on our ward, he pulled the covers over his head and slept for probably a day. I've seen weary soldiers do this all too often. When that blanklet goes over those eyes and they don't talk for a day, well, you just know that a trip home is absolutely necessary.

The news has reported that the number 2 Taliban leader is now captured. Obviously, this is a good thing. On the other hand, civilian casualties continue. There is a report on the internet today that 27 civilians were killed yesterday in a NATO airstrike. Unfortunately, these casualties are inevitable. And, we know that at times the terrorists will use "human shields". It's insane, sick, and evil. Overall, we are now fighting a war based on COIN - counter insurgency. We are out there trying to win hearts and minds, so that the people of Afghanistan rise up and take control of their own country. Sounds simple, but it is extremely hard to do this. Each day when I interact with Afghans at our hospital I have to remember COIN. For me this means treating people right all the time no matter what. I am sure that I fail at this often. More importantly, our troops are out in Afghanistan interacting with the locals every single day doing their best to make a small dent in this complicated war.

So, that simple question "How's the war going" is not so simple after all. Every day I pray for peace and justice. Can those 2 things go together in this world in the year 2010? I hope so.