“How many more men must die in support of a mission that is not succeeding and behind an array of more than seven years of optimistic statements by U.S. senior leaders in Afghanistan? No one expects our leaders to always have a successful plan. But we do expect — and the men who do the living, fighting and dying deserve — to have our leaders tell us the truth about what’s going on.” Lt. Col. Daniel Davis
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis
For those of you who do not know already, there has been much recent discussion in the military community in regards to a column written by Lt. Col. Daniel Davis in the Armed Forces Journal entitled “Truth, lies and Afghanistan.” But who is the man behind the words? Let’s look.
First, let’s recap his thoughts. In the column, Davis paints a picture of his time in Afghanistan describing an experience far less “rosy” or optimistic than statements made by U.S. military leaders:
“What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by U.S. military leaders about conditions on the ground.
Entering this deployment, I was sincerely hoping to learn that the claims were true: that conditions in Afghanistan were improving, that the local government and military were progressing toward self-sufficiency. I did not need to witness dramatic improvements to be reassured, but merely hoped to see evidence of positive trends, to see companies or battalions produce even minimal but sustainable progress.
Instead, I witnessed the absence of success on virtually every level.”
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