In last week’s presidential debate, former President Donald Trump said the U.S. military’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden’s command was “the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.”
As a veteran of brutal combat in Afghanistan, I totally agree. We look like fools to the world, and Biden still doesn’t recognize how his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan has demoralized the finest fighting force on the face of the planet.
Biden falsely claimed during the debate, "Truth is, I’m the only president this century that doesn’t have—this decade—any troops dying anywhere in the world like he did.”
Did he forget about the 13 service members who were killed in that mockery of our military nearly three years ago? And, as predicted, the radical, violent Taliban recaptured the capital of Kabul in just 10 days.
At a congressional hearing, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, called the withdrawal from Afghanistan a “strategic failure.” In his heated hearing, Milley also said U.S. military presence in Afghanistan helped protect Americans from future terror attacks here.
I deployed Afghanistan multiple times and spent many difficult days and long nights in that cursed country. But my most harrowing experience by far came when my unit came under siege in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley–known as "The Valley of Death" because so many Americans lost their lives there. We were actually there to shut down a U.S. base, but when the enemy emerged from the valley in wave after wave, we fought for our lives for the next 72 hours straight.
Our nation sent our best women and men to free Afghanistan from the grip of tyranny. Many of them did not come home. Failing to remember their sacrifice is scandalous.
Biden also falsely claimed our military is the strongest it ever has been. But he is wrong about this too and reports say otherwise.
In 2024, the U.S. military is expected to have a record low in recruitment, with the smallest active duty force since 1940. In 2023, only the Marine Corps and the Space Force met their recruiting goal despite increasing bonuses and relaxing standards.
We can’t keep service members for many reasons and top leaders are just biding their time until their enlistments and contracts are up. Too many in our officer corps and senior enlisted are just trying to finish out their career to garner their invaluable benefits.
Above all, our service members have to deal with a progressive political component which has nothing to do with its primary function, namely combat readiness.
The radical focus on “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” is a threat to our national security and emboldens our enemies. Biden’s DEI efforts decrease our readiness, and as a result, our military is quickly losing its way.
Will Thibeau, the Director of the American Military Project at the Center for the American Way of Life, in a House Oversight Committee hearing warned of the threats of continued politicization of the military by saying, “History is littered with examples of militaries whose consideration of political ideology precipitated a collapse in military professionalism.”
The military is one collective fighting unit with one common mission with one uniform. Yet, the injection of leftist politics has brought division among our ranks that consistently degrades our war fighting capabilities.
Mountains of evidence show that our military is weak, at least weaker than that during the last administration.
We have record levels of suicide among service members across the board. Twenty-two veterans a day end their lives. Recently, the Pentagon reported that U.S. soldiers are almost 9 times more likely to die by suicide than by enemy fire.
During the debate, we saw one candidate make wildly false claims that deny the reality of the struggles and symptoms we see every day.
Since 2011, our non-profit, SOF Missions, has served active duty and veterans left behind by leadership. Our team of dedicated medical and mental health experts–empowered by donors–step in and provide free medical care to veterans due to the overburdened and mismanaged Veterans Affairs Department. We work in suicide prevention and strive to provide tools which build resilience and help troops reintegrate into civilian life.
Our military heroes need hope now more than ever. Since the collapse of Afghanistan, the active duty and veteran community have been in disarray. Today, more than ever, they need leadership that will rebuild our military, and preserve the future of our American veterans.
Dr. Damon Friedman, a decorated veteran of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in special operations. He is the recipient of the Spirit of Hope Award from the Secretary of Defense and founder of SOF Missions, which works with veterans with PTSD.