Knox County Commissioner Kyle Ward on Afghanistan:
Kyle Ward
In 2011 and 2012 I was a member of the joint special operations task force in Afghanistan. We ran top secret missions out of the eastern part of Afghanistan. I can’t tell you about what we did, but I can tell you about the men I served with. I served alongside American heroes and it was the greatest honor of my life. Unfortunately, some of these heroes lost their lives during our time in Afghanistan. I also served beside brave Afghani special forces and interpreters who died for the dream of a free and democratic Afghanistan. It is now clear that that dream won’t be realized anytime soon. I learned over the weekend that some of the Afghani men I served with were killed and that we couldn’t or wouldn’t get them out, I’m not sure which. Their wives and daughters most likely were married off or sold and their sons made into boy soldiers, killed or even worse, trafficked into slavery.
I probably got over 100 calls from friends over the past week asking what I think of Afghanistan. I’ve been asked if I think they will attack us and when. I’m angry and disappointed that we didn’t learn our lesson from the Iraqi withdrawal. I think Afghanistan is lost, and there is now a greater potential for international terrorist to come out of Afghanistan and Iran backed extremists to flourish there. I’m more angry about the people we gave up on. For 20 years we worked with the afghani people and I’m afraid that most of those who helped us will now be killed. I think war is the worst thing in this world, but we gave up on freedom and now we see what the results of that looks like. The rushed withdrawal and abandonment of the men and women we served with for decades taints the international reputation of America as champion for all that is good in this world. I am deeply saddened by this callous and mismanaged withdraw from Afghanistan.
Knox County Commissioner Kyle Ward (wearing his 40 under 40 mask) and I
