I propose we send in the nuns. Somali gunmen shot an unarmed Italian nun in the back in Mogadishu a couple years ago. Afghan military forces shoot our men in uniform in the back of the head when they are unarmed.
I propose the Pentagon request the Vatican supply a battalion of consecrated sisters to assist us in Afghanistan.
But wait! We will not provide every uniformed American military combatant with a weapon. We will provide "Guardian Angels" to watch over them whilst they sleep.
There are reasons the PTSD is so severe. Some of it has to do with the manner in which our men and women are no longer allowed to wage war and due to limp and unhealthy policies generated for an asymmetrical battlespace.
I propose that the Pentagon be cleansed. Deeply and thoroughly. Then cleanse the State Department. To the baseboards. Also cleanse the White House. Election is a'comin.
Send in the nuns. Bring our troops home.
How do we inform American families if their child was merely an unarmed sacrificial lamb, a poster child for "good will" when there is none in Afghanistan? How do we express our "gratitude" as a nation to the parents who have learned that the child who took and kept an oath, was betrayed by the unhealthy policies of men who also had the same oath pass their lips?
How many remember the number of days in which American embassy personnel were in captivity in Tehran because the US Marines at the embassy were ordered to lay down their weapons?
444
Fifty-two hostages were taken. Most of them were in captivity for 444 days. Our blame was in asking a U.S. Marine to lay down his weapon in a hostile environment.
Please talk back. Tell me how you feel regarding unarmed combatants in a highly volatile geopolitical environment? How do you feel about our sons and daughters sleeping at night in a combat zone without their weapon next to their rack?
LCDR Tammy Swofford, USNR, NC
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