AUGUST2020NEWSLETTER

The Army’s at War; America’s at the Mall!!

By Jerry Hogan

After leaving the Army I became good friends with my previous Commanding General and one of his most serious expressions was how “the Army was at war but America was at the mall”. Think about that for just a moment.

In 1990 the United States started the buildup of US forces in the Middle East to address the invasion of Kuwait by the then ruler of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. In January of 1991 an allied force, led by the United States, moved into Kuwait and then on to Iraq to retake Kuwait and overthrow Saddam Hussein as the ruler of Iraq. This effort was named Desert Storm and included 697,000 US troops. The effort was successful in reaching Bagdad, Iraq with the loss of 299 US military personnel. Hussain escaped the initial invasion and was eventually captured nine months later. Since then US forces have continued to be in Iraq and surrounding countries; a period of 29 years.

Then on 9-11-2001, the United States was attacked in New York, the Pentagon, and an aircraft that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. These attacks resulted in 2,977 fatalities and over 25,000 injuries. It was quickly learned that the man responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks was named Osama Ben Laden. This man was located somewhere in a country somewhere on the other side of the world called Afghanistan. The country was under the control of the Taliban, an organization that was created in opposition to the countries often changing governments. Mass-killings of Afghan civilians, destruction of heritage religious symbols, and establishment of severe personnel restrictions on it’s civilians were effected by the Taliban rule. In addition, and most important here, they allowed the establishment and operation of Al-Qaeda training bases in the country where most of the recruits came from the Taliban.

The US made the decision to destroy those training bases, kill the Al-Qaeda members, and annihilate the Taliban.

Very quickly a team of US Army Special Forces Green Berets parachuted into Afghanistan and made contact with Afghan opposition leaders. Through targeting devices the US team would direct high flying US bombers to release their bombs and rockets on specific targets coordinated with their Afghan allies These bombing raids would then be followed with ground attacks by the allies. These series of actions led to the fall of the Taliban in the North and in all the cities. A new government was formed at the end of 2001. Unfortunately it did not all end there and we still have US forces in country 19 years later.

At the height of US forces in Afghanistan there were about 100,000 men and women. That dropped to 34,000 in 2014 and then by 2017 it was down to 11,400. About 2,500 US military have lost their lives in Afghanistan and since 2009, over 100,000 Afghans have been killed. It is hard to understand the strategic significance of Afghanistan, what our objectives as a nation are in that country, and how long our servicemen and women should continue to endure 6 and 7 repeated deployments. While rationale can be made for why we continue our presence in Iraq and surrounding countries, is difficult to explain our continued operations in Afghanistan.

There may be some hope. A temporary truce between the US and the existing Talban was signed on February 29 with final resolution targeted for later this year. There are four major points that need agreement: 1. Taliban guarantees that it will not allow foreign armed groups to use Afghanistan as a launch point to conduct attacks; 2. Complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan; 3 An intra-Afghan dialogue; and 4. A total cease fire.

So as a nation we have been committed to war for 29 years in Iraq and 19 years in Afghanistan. We have lost the lives of many US personnel during these 29 years. Our servicemen and women are going through countless repetitive tours of duty in these war zones. It’s hot, miserable, and people are shooting at them trying to kill them. Their families are left alone somewhere back in the States. Their lives are much different than those of us who go to the mall for something to do (once COVID-19 goes away). It’s time to get out of these wars.

Jerry Hogan is a former Rockwall County Judge

And can be reached at jerryhogan@sbcglobal.net

More than 240 sea turtle nests marked at
Campamento Tortuguero Punta Sur of Cozumel

Staff of the Direction of Conservation and Environmental Education (CEA), of the Foundation of Parks and Museums of Cozumel (FPMC), have marked more than 240 sea turtle nests in the Campamento Tortuguero Punta Sur.

The camp, which is located in the Parque Ecológico Estatal Laguna Colombia, has marked nests belonging to white and loggerhead sea turtles.

Ricardo Peralta Muñoz, project coordinator of Conservación y Educación Ambiental (CEA), explained that each season, the Fundación de Parques y Museos de Cozumel (FPMC) maintains a program to protect nesting females and hatchlings.

He says that the beach with the greatest number of nests this year is Playa Celarain since it has a wide extension and a history of being a preferred nesting area. Peralta Muñoz noted that the storms in June caused the natural loss of some beaches in the eastern area of Punta Sur, an area restricted to tourist activities due to its ecological importance, which has caused white turtles to nest in higher numbers... Read more>>>

Current Status of Coronavirus in Cozumel

More than 240 sea turtle nests marked at Campamento Tortuguero Punta Sur of Cozumel

More than 240 sea turtle nests marked at
Campamento Tortuguero Punta Sur of Cozumel