(We posted this up on the campaign website, but wanted to share it with the My Left Nutmeg community as well.)
On Monday night, I returned from a congressional delegation trip to Afghanistan. I truly believe that in order to deeply understand a foreign conflict like those in Iraq or Afghanistan, you need to see it for yourself. Of course, with your military escort never more than a few feet away, you have to take what you're seeing with a pretty big grain of salt, but there still isn't anything to compare with talking to generals, soldiers, and local citizens in person.
So I want to give you a short, behind-the-scenes report from my recent trip to Afghanistan. For me, the trip reinforced my view that it is time to begin withdrawing American combat troops, and I'm interested whether my observations or the news of recent days has changed your perspective on the war. You can let me know here:
Our day begins with a very early 4am wake up call for a 6am flight into Kabul. Ugh. We land at an airport in mourning. Two days earlier an Afghan pilot turned on his colleagues and killed eight American service members and one contractor. We are whisked away to the Embassy Compound, where we settle in for a long morning of briefings. After a classified CIA briefing, we meet with Ambassador Eikenberry and the State Department. I've never seen this many people at a briefing - Eikenberry is surrounded by 25 staffers. Seems like they are sending a clear message that we’ve ramped up on both the civilian and military side.
That afternoon, we head over for a meeting with General Rodriguez, the second in command to General Petraeus, who had been called back to Washington to discuss his new appointment to head the CIA. Rodriguez gives the same bleak assessment of relations with Pakistan that we heard from Eikenberry. I ask him, "What if Pakistan remains a safe haven for Taliban? Can we still beat them?" I know what the answer was to that question when I was in Afghanistan two years ago - no. Today, Rodriguez says we can. Interesting. Two years ago, Pakistan was the key - today we can win without them – or despite them. I’m skeptical.
As we prepare to board helicopters to head off to Bagram Air Force Base, I come to a realization - not once since I've been here has anyone - military or civilian - mentioned a 2011 schedule for beginning the troop drawdown. 2014 is the year I keep hearing. Back in the U.S., my constituents heard President Obama say we would begin the withdrawal this summer, but there is a different assumption working here.
Touching down at Bagram, we quickly eat dinner in the dining hall. I sit next to Sam Chitwood, an army chaplain from Glastonbury, who talks about the enormous toll the war is taking on soldiers. He seems like the right guy for a tough job - down to earth, compassionate, and a good listener. We then head over to the Special Operations Command Center. Although I can't share anything from the classified briefing, I can say that in retrospect it was pretty incredible to be sitting in the room out of which the Bin Laden mission was likely run, and to be the last congressional delegation to see the Bin Laden wanted poster on the wall.
Friday night ended on a very somber note. Before we boarded the Black Hawks back to Kabul, we were asked by the commanding General to take part in a "ramp ceremony" for a young man from Wisconsin who was killed in action the day prior. This is the ceremony accompanying the loading of the casket on the plane back to the United States. Unfriendly chills ran down my spine as we helped walk the casket onto the plane - a sobering reminder of the cost of this decade-long war.
Saturday, April 30th
After a private meeting I requested with leaders of the NGO community operating in Afghanistan (CARE and Save the Children), we board a C-130 cargo plane headed to Herat province in western Afghanistan. Many congressional delegations come to Afghanistan and never leave Kabul, but we want to see the "Afghan surge" in operation. So after a 90-minute plane ride and another 15-minute helicopter ride, we arrive in a tiny village not far from the Iranian border. Here we meet with an elite group of Army commandos who are trying to stand up a local police force. They are clearly making some progress. The local tribal elder tells us that he needs the U.S. forces there to help them build up a security force so that they can repel the Taliban when they return from Pakistan for the expected summer offensive. But because the Taliban is targeting policemen (two had been killed just a few weeks ago), he says he’s having a hard time signing up recruits. And the killings will continue, because as soon as the assault ends, the Taliban perpetrators just retreat across the border back to Pakistan.
As we walk through the town with the tribal leaders, we notice the fields on either side of the road filled with a beautiful blossoming flower. "What is that crop?" asks one Congressman. "Poppy," says the Afghan. "The Taliban makes us grow it for them." I think to myself, why on earth would the Army bring us to a town full of poppy production? But then I realize, there's really no place they could bring us that doesn’t have poppy. So, with one hand we're building up an Afghan police force to repel the Taliban, and with the other, we're building them irrigation canals to help them grow poppy which raises money for the Taliban. This couldn't be more backward.
We eat lunch with the soldiers, including their team leader, Sergeant Tony Cerutti of Morris, Connecticut. Tony is a remarkable guy - totally committed to both the mission and his guys. He's intense, but also seems to have an even keel to him that exudes natural leadership. These guys are lucky to have him in charge, and Connecticut is lucky to call him our own.
We hop back in our helicopters and begin the journey back home. We decide to cut our visit to Herat a little short so that we can return to attend the memorial service for the nine Americans who were killed at the airport. The ceremony brings many of us to tears. They read off the unit's roll call for the final time, pausing to repeat each dead soldier’s name three times before moving to the next name. I'm shaking as I stand up to do my part, leading our delegation up to the line of empty boots and dog tags hanging from rifles to pay our last respects. Among the dead is Raymond Estelle, a father of three, originally from New Haven. Almost all of the fallen have kids.
As we head out of the ceremony, I pull out my blackberry and look at the picture of my son. With only 1% of Americans serving us in the armed forces, we sometimes forget that these select few are just like us - fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. And when they sign up, they put their lives on the line. I leave Afghanistan surer than ever that we must now begin transitioning combat control of the country away from U.S. forces. Too many of the most important factors to the future success or failure of the Afghan state are beyond the military's control - the corruption of the local governments, the safe havens in Pakistan, the revenue-producing poppy fields - to continue to ask Americans to die for a fight that is largely out of our hands. It is time for us to shift our role to standing up the Afghan military to take our place. But no matter my thoughts on our future strategy in the region, I know that no other nation in the world has soldiers better trained and more determined than ours. Nobody.
As we prepare to board helicopters to head off to Bagram Air Force Base, I come to a realization - not once since I've been here has anyone - military or civilian - mentioned a 2011 schedule for beginning the troop drawdown. 2014 is the year I keep hearing. Back in the U.S., my constituents heard President Obama say we would begin the withdrawal this summer, but there is a different assumption working here. 
As we walk through the town with the tribal leaders, we notice the fields on either side of the road filled with a beautiful blossoming flower. "What is that crop?" asks one Congressman. "Poppy," says the Afghan. "The Taliban makes us grow it for them." I think to myself, why on earth would the Army bring us to a town full of poppy production? But then I realize, there's really no place they could bring us that doesn’t have poppy. So, with one hand we're building up an Afghan police force to repel the Taliban, and with the other, we're building them irrigation canals to help them grow poppy which raises money for the Taliban. This couldn't be more backward. 
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