Joel Stein: Elmo Is an Evildoer

From: Schwaiger, Richard T USA MAJ USA 219th ASG [mailto:Richard.T.Schwaiger@afghan.swa.army.mil]
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 1:09 PM
Subject: FW: DASH-A 08-06: ANA Basic Trng

Here’s a simple article I think all Americans would and should find interesting. For some reason the general media organizations don’t seem to report on this type of topic that may be perceived as positive. They actively are choosing to not report this information. If ever public accusations should be leveled against a person or organization for misleading the American people, it’s our own media that has the most to answer to, not the current administration. The military presents the material as a public press release, but the media don’t report on it. They also could easily have their reporters find similar material on their own, especially since it’s more prevalent than the negative news they choose to broadcast and publish. However if it doesn’t involve dead or wounded U.S. military personnel, any civilian casualties, anything damaging or controversial to U.S. foreign policy or the administration, or any Hollywood-like explosions they don’t seem to be interested in reporting it.

Americans would be amazed at all the positive activity and development going on in Afghanistan and especially the attitudes of the Afghan people…if they only had a chance to be exposed to it. The past 6.5 months have validated what my thoughts were before deploying. The only people who have the information to make an accurate assessment or form a fact-based opinion of the current conflicts the U.S. is involved in are those people who have deployed to those locations (i.e. Afghanistan, Iraq, Djibouti, Guantanamo Bay, and many other locations of conflict or where there’s a need for a U.S. military presence around the world). These soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines have invested and continue to invest a significant amount of their lives in these locations. Some of them have even given their lives as the ultimate sacrifice. Why on earth would they voluntarily and willingly do this? I don’t expect everything they’d say would be positive, but it’d be much more representative of the actual status. They know the situation on the ground. It’s certainly not a bed of roses otherwise we wouldn’t be here, but it’s also not the quagmire or stalled action portrayed on the U.S. evening news, on the front page of most newspapers nor on their editorial pages. The information available in the U.S. and throughout the world has been actively filtered by a relatively select few media owners and editors. They wield substantial power and influence in the pursuit of profits (remember they’re businesses like Ford, Proctor & Gamble, AT&T, etc.) while portraying their professionals as the honest, objective, gumshoe reporters who just report the facts (albeit the ones they select and how they choose to portray them).

Don’t you wonder what goes on in the life of some typical Afghans during their daily activities? A young mother, a businessman, a student, a civil servant, a soldier, a laborer, or children. What do these people think about the U.S. and Coalition Forces presence in their country? How have their country and their lives changed during the past several years? What do they think about their future? You’d think that after almost 5 years that knowledge would be researched, published and commonly available and known to you. We’ve invested a lot of time, money, and the lives of U.S. military members in the effort. However it’s much, much easier to find out which celebrities are having affairs, what dress a Hollywood star wore to an awards banquet, and other trivial gossip which frankly makes little if any contribution to society. That’s a disappointing testament to our culture and supposedly progressive enlightenment.

Here’s a link to the CFC-A (Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan) website. http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil/ Spend some time reading the reports and stories on it when you can. It’s real and accurate information. Believe me, the Army isn’t sending troops around the country and into harms way just to pose for a few choice photos for an article. I personally know some of these soldiers and their units’ missions. These are just a sampling of the missions and achievements that are being executed and realized every single day for the past several years. Why isn’t your favorite newspaper or television news program reporting it to you? I suggest bookmarking the site and periodically checking it out.

Okay, I’ll step down from my soapbox. However now that I’ve seen and experienced these discrepancies first-hand, I feel it’s my duty as an American to help inform my fellow citizens in the absence of objective and accurate reporting. As a soldier in Afghanistan I’m an ambassador of the United States of America; in American I have a similar obligation to be a representative of what’s happening here.

The comments below were made by members of the U.S. Army leadership directly involved with assisting the ANA (Afghan National Army) to become a professional army.

Rick

P.S. The views and opinions above are mine and are not to be construed as official U.S. Army or military policy or opinion and all the other standard legal disclaimers…

P.P.S. I encourage you to consider forwarding this information to friends, family, and co-workers who you think would benefit from it, especially if they’re of voting age

Subject: FW: DASH-A 08-06: ANA Basic Trng

About 900 to 1000 ANA soldiers graduate from Basic Training every month. Month by month the ANA is truly becoming a professional National Army. No longer are they identified with different tribes, instead they are part of one Army that has a mission to defend their nation and their people. The ceremony in the attached article depicts a commitment on their part to serve and bleed if necessary in their commitment to the nation and their religion.
Before moving on to advanced individualized training, Afghan National Army trainees celebrate the completion of basic training with a ceremony routed deep in tradition and faith. The new soldiers complete an 18-kilometer road march around Ghar Mountain. Upon completion of the march, they are cheered on and greeted by new recruits who have just begun their training. The next morning, the soldiers take their oath of enlistment, swearing their allegiance to Allah and Afghanistan. The ceremony marks the end of one training, and the beginning of much more for ANA members.