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"A War With No Clear Objective"Army Times August 23, 2010 
Featured on the cover of Time magazine this month is the picture of a disfigured Afghan woman, the result of Taliban cruelty.As upsetting as the image may be, I wonder what the result would be if they covered their pages with pictures of disfigured soldiers, parentless children and shattered families. The result would be more anger over a war with no clear objective, no clear borders and no one clearly in control. Why are they building permanent barracks and facilities in a country we are planning on leaving? Why do high-paid civilian contractors stand around watching Afghan workers make three dollars a day, doing all of the labor? Why do U.S. soldiers wait for hours in line to use a phone or computer in a Morale, Welfare and Recreation facility? They do because it is packed with contractors. The same contractors who treat us like second-class citizens in the bubble of security we provide. In the wake of revelations about misplaced funds throughout the war, why is no one answering for this? I'm sorry that bad things happen in the world. But it's hard for me to care when my own children suffer emotional trauma because of my deployments. And where is the money for the counseling they are supposed to receive? It's in the bank account of the clean civilian contractor who looks down on me from his SUV as he blows dirt all over my buddies and me while we wait for a bus to take us to chow. Staff Sgt. Stephen Rogers Big Rock, Tenn. Page 2--> |
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