A sad moment ...

[szh]

I literally received this a few minutes ago from my cousin's son ... he makes damn good sense as always. Please read it.

Just as an FYI ... like myself, Waqar is a Muslim. He is married to a wonderful girl, Maureen, who is Irish Catholic. Their marriage in Washington, D.C. about five years ago, was conducted by both a Catholic Priest and a Muslim Imam going through the multiple religious observances. A joyous occasion for all of us present.

I certainly hope and pray that Waqar and Maureen and the rest of his generation - and later ones too - continue to know, deep in their souls and their being, why it is important to be human first and anything else (political or religious or ethnic or other) second.

The rest of us (particularly the old farts like me and others everywhere in the world) can do a lot better ... we need to learn the same respect for each other as human beings.

Rest in peace, Captain Ben Sklaver.

Z

Maureen and I lost one of our best friends from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy this past Friday, when Ben Sklaver was killed in a suicide bombing attack in Muscheh, Afghanistan. Ben was a captain in the U.S. Army. He was in the civil affairs unit, which means it was his job to go into the places that none of us want to go to, and bring clean water, medicine, and books, and build wells, hospitals, and schools, for the people who need them the most. We don't know much about how Ben died yet, but he died alongside a fellow soldier and his translator, which makes me think he died doing what he did best: trying to talk to people and make friends.

I met Ben on the first day of Fletcher, and we were close ever since. He was ridiculously funny, a genius at crossing cultural and linguistic barriers, and always ready to talk and listen. A diplomat in the truest sense of the word.

Ben was also intensely loyal, not just as an American, but as a friend. When Maureen and I first started dating at Fletcher, Ben told her, "I'm so happy for you guys! You look really happy together! You just make sense. You belong with each other. And by the way, if you hurt Waqar, I'll break your legs." So those of you who have been wondering how I managed to marry a woman so far above my league can probably thank Ben for scaring the living daylights out of her.

Ben obviously had an impact everywhere he went, because yesterday his whole hometown stopped to pay their respects. The police shut down several freeways and the center of town for his funeral procession, and people of all ages and colors came out to line the streets, waving flags and saluting. It was one of the most moving things I have ever seen, yet I wish I never saw it.

One thing that Ben and I frequently talked about was how stupid and irrational it was for Muslims and Jews to fight all the time, when we have so much in common. Ben broke fast with me during Ramadan, and I celebrated Yom Kippur with him, and we always wondered why the rest of the world couldn't grow up, act like adults, and do the same. I remember once, not long after 9/11, he told me how he heard some people speaking ill of Muslims and Islam, and how he interrupted them and said, "well, let me tell you about this guy I know named Waqar..." So I'd like to return the favor, albeit a bit late. The next time you hear someone speaking about the massive global Jewish conspiracy, or someone speculating about how all the Jewish workers were evacuated beforehand from the World Trade Center, or someone trying to justify the use of suicide bombers in Israel and Palestine because the victims are Jewish, interrupt them and tell them about my friend Ben, who died bringing clean water to Muslims in a village in Afghanistan, because they didn't have any, and he did.

[szh]

Some relevant links:

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/news...shtmlh ... ti...7.txt

Z

[AZhitman]

Wow.

I got nothing. Beautifully done.

[telcoman]

Wow, so sad!

Only the good die young

I'm currently torn between wishing we GTFO of there or send in more troops.

I can understand why this is such a difficult decision for our President.

Afghanistan is beginning to look more and more like Vietnam every day.

Telcoman

[AZhitman]

I'm currently torn between wishing we GTFO of there or send in more troops.

As am I.

As much as I hate to admit it, I just don't know what is right or wrong anymore in this instance, and I'm genuinely torn.

[nissangirl74]

Moving story. I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend. Sounds like Ben was a very good man.

I'm currently torn between wishing we GTFO of there or send in more troops.

What we don't need is to keep our kids who are over there in jeopardy. We either need to send a million more troops or GTFO. Trying to fight as they are is like trying to put out a raging forest fire with a gallon bucket of water and a spoon.

[telcoman]

Moving story. I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend. Sounds like Ben was a very good man. What we don't need is to keep our kids who are over there in jeopardy. We either need to send a million more troops or GTFO. Trying to fight as they are is like trying to put out a raging forest fire with a gallon bucket of water and a spoon.

We don't have a million more troops.

The draft during Vietnam is what led to large demonstrations in the streets to end the war. The shootings at Kent State was the spark of the s#it hitting the fan. The American people turned against the war in droves after that.

Had we had a draft after going into Irag with false government claims of WMD we would have seen the same results.

Unfortunately it is volunters that are losing lives and limbs in two wars with people that hate us and don't want us in their country.

The use of more and more drones flying over Afghanistan with fewer troops on the ground seems to me to be a better way to go with less loss of American lives.

At the end of This Week with George Stephenapolis every Sunday is a brief segment of Memorandum for all that gave their lives the past week.I look at the ages and locations & it brings tears to my eyes every week.

Telcoman

[AZhitman]

The use of more and more drones flying over Afghanistan with fewer troops on the ground seems to me to be a better way to go with less loss of American lives.

SOUNDS good. Won't work.

You need people on the ground, working with the locals, gathering intel and rooting out insurgents. Period.

But in this instance, I won't bag on you, Howie. That would be my knee-jerk reaction as well. It's just not viable.

I look at the ages and locations & it brings tears to my eyes every week.

Telcoman

As do I.

In 14 days, my oldest son leaves for basic training at Ft. Benning.

I pray he doesn't have to go into harm's way.

If he does, I pray he comes home safe, and I pray that those here at home recognize the risks these men and women voluntarily and selflessly accept.

[telcoman]

In 14 days, my oldest son leaves for basic training at Ft. Benning.

I did mine in Fort Jackson

but that was a long time ago

I guess drag a$$ hill is still there?

I wonder if you still have to stand in formation for hours in the pouring rain waiting to get in the mess hall for s#itty food?

You can tell your son that although he may hate it while going thru it looking back years later it wasn't so bad and perhaps a lot of laughs

I can still remember singing we can''t get no satisfaction by the stones in the barracks with a bunch of drunken guys with a huge pile of beer cans back in 65.


Modified by telcoman at 7:47 AM 11/1/2009

[AZhitman]

...and despite all our disagreement, I still appreciate your service.

I'm pretty sure he'll do fine - He'll make a good soldier, and it's not a bad life for someone in his position with his traits.

[heliochrome85]

In 14 days, my oldest son leaves for basic training at Ft. Benning.

I pray he doesn't have to go into harm's way.

You won't be alone in your prayers for him...

[szh]

You won't be alone in your prayers for him...

Agreed, yes!

I now have more than a few friends whose son's are in harms way ... and I know the anxiety that this causes. I sometimes worry about hearing from them (my friends) ... not always sure that the news will be good. But, this is nowhere like their own concern for their kids, of course!

I have not served myself (except for a summer in boot camp), but my Dad was in the army (different country though ) and know the commitments it takes to make this work out well.

Greg, we will pray that he is safe wherever he is.

Z

[heliochrome85]

dad was in the lebanese civil war...

[WDRacing]

I pray he doesn't have to go into harm's way.

If he does, I pray he comes home safe, and I pray that those here at home recognize the risks these men and women voluntarily and selflessly accept.

If it's not the Middle East it will be somewhere. Hard to stay out of harms way these days homie. Hunter will be an excellent soldier after boot. They'll take him apart and build him into a confident fully functional warrior we'll all be proud of. No sense even worrying about it (easier said). He's gonna be a SOF warrior I bet/hope.

The sad reality of the Afgan/War on Terror is that it will NEVER be over. EVER. It wouldn't matter if we did another draft and dropped in 500,000 more troops. You can't fight extremism, especially religious extremism, at least with the hope of eliminating it.

That's what makes this conflict so difficult to approach. What are the end goals? IMHO it's long past time for us to get out of that cursed part of the world.

BO needs to figure out a way to withdraw and if he's smart he'd uncuff the CIA and green light SOF missions again. We need to fight to win, using whatever means necessary. Not sending over more politicians to talk. You send in people that get results, and stop questioning how they go about getting them. War is hell.

[AZhitman]

Agreed.

Time to skip all this "worldcop" nonsense.

The US Military serves 2 purposes:

1) Kill bad people.2) Break things.

Anything beyond that is a waste of taxpayer money, a threat to troop safety, and can be left to some other entity.