If you called it "mowing the grass" - ever wondered what joke term the Taliban had for it?
I was the Task Force Commader in Kabul in 2016/17. I took the Ambassador down to Kandahar Airfield. The whole base that used to house tens of thousand became a base of 600 people. They were tearing it down piece by piece. I remember walking around the perimeter with one of the close protection operators and staring out into the desert thinking - we were not here - we were here - we are preparing to not be here....
That's really interesting. When I was deployed in '02, there was always lots of old Red Army paraphernalia for sale at the various bazaars, stuff like bayonets and belt buckles. I think that's what I'd be curious about, whether in ten years from now the whole NATO involvement is reduced to a form of war tourism.
I matured enough from my time in Afghanistan that I began to understand risk and rewards better than I did at the beginning of my time.
I kept my thoughts to myself. Like a pro-skier going down a gnarly slope, I started to question of the risk and rewards for my guys and I. We protected Canadians and our allies for sure, but it seemed impossible to make any real progress as each soldier, operator or pilot was really there to “get some” and not much more.
If you called it "mowing the grass" - ever wondered what joke term the Taliban had for it?
I was the Task Force Commader in Kabul in 2016/17. I took the Ambassador down to Kandahar Airfield. The whole base that used to house tens of thousand became a base of 600 people. They were tearing it down piece by piece. I remember walking around the perimeter with one of the close protection operators and staring out into the desert thinking - we were not here - we were here - we are preparing to not be here....
That's really interesting. When I was deployed in '02, there was always lots of old Red Army paraphernalia for sale at the various bazaars, stuff like bayonets and belt buckles. I think that's what I'd be curious about, whether in ten years from now the whole NATO involvement is reduced to a form of war tourism.
I matured enough from my time in Afghanistan that I began to understand risk and rewards better than I did at the beginning of my time.
I kept my thoughts to myself. Like a pro-skier going down a gnarly slope, I started to question of the risk and rewards for my guys and I. We protected Canadians and our allies for sure, but it seemed impossible to make any real progress as each soldier, operator or pilot was really there to “get some” and not much more.