Sitting here listening to the Alan Jackson song "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" . It's making me cry. If that had not happened, we would not be here right now. Thousands of American men and women and even more Afghans would not be dead and injured. We have 6 children on their way in right now who got hit by a mortar. We have a young man right now who is fighting for his life after being shot through the forehead. His wife doesn't even know yet. They are still putting a team together to notify her. Heart breaking.
Where was I when the world stopped turning? I was in London with my family and parents. We heard the news from a scraggly looking guy in the subway and we thought he was messing with us. The headline on the newspaper said "America Going to War!" Bush had not even spoken yet, but the world knew that we would not stand for an attack on our homeland. I went into a bathroom stall and cried quietly. I knew we were going to war and I knew it would be quick. I just assumed I was going (and I did 9 months later). But that's not why I cried. It was because of the senselessness and the magnitude of the loss. I instantly knew that this was my generation's Pearl Harbor. When we invaded and people were saying how quickly it would be over, I was saying we would be here at least 5 years. Little did I know it would be no less than 8. I have no idea when this will end and how we will know that we have "won" or that we are finished. This country is not Japan or Germany. These people have been fighting for a thousand years and are insanely patient. They are loyal to no one who is not family. They will do whatever it takes to protect their family and if that means letting the Taliban protect them and set up courts because the central government can't or won't, that is what they will do. The enemy will wait us out for as long as it takes.
I am glad to have come, but I'll be glad to be going home. I can see there are areas and ways we have made a difference, but I don't think it will matter in the long run. When we pull out, the enemy will say they drove us out. If we stay, they will say we are an occupying force...history has shown that when there is an occupying force in Afghanistan, the factions band together to get them out. That's what we are starting to see here- some cooperation between some of the bad guys (there are at least 3 groups). They will do whatever it takes to get us out.
So that's where I was when the world stopped turning. And this is where I am now. I hope I am where I think I will be next week.
2 comments:
I was in the middle of midterms for my first year of medical school. It was impossible to study...I was terrified.
I was a hundred yards away (or less) from the World Trade Center. I walked into my building at the EXACT time the first plane crashed. It did NOT sound like a 747 flying into the tallest building in the world, it sounded very metallic like a crane tumbling over with its load. When I looked across the street I thought a bomb went off. When someone told me a plane flew into the WTC I thought they were crazy. "How do you not see the WTC?" Again the hole in the WTC did not look like that of a 747--I thought a cessna or something. When I walked away to call my mom the second plane hit and everyone knew this wasn't an accident but an attack. Scary, scary day.
Some innocence was lost that day along with a certain comfort level, but I believe it is coming back. For me personally, my life has gotten better with an incredible wife and an adorable baby.
I believe things WILL get better in Afghanistan. It's a slow and arduous path, but we're doing the right thing and as you point out we are making a difference.
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