{"id":35574,"date":"2019-07-07T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-07T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/07\/afghanistan-remains-a-dangerous-place\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:00:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:00:57","slug":"afghanistan-remains-a-dangerous-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2019\/07\/07\/afghanistan-remains-a-dangerous-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan remains a dangerous place"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/04\/gibraltar-detains-supertanker-filled-with-iranian-oil\/\" target=_blank>Tensions with Iran.<\/a> The historic Trump-Kim border meeting. Turkey buying Russian anti-aircraft systems, threatening the NATO alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is, as usual, so much going on in the world of national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But there is one place on earth right now that Americans are most in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is Afghanistan, the place of this nation\u2019s longest war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recent deaths of three more service members and two more contractors serve as a painful reminder that while much of the nation might have forgotten, Afghanistan remains a deadly place for the men and women who serve there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since October 2001, when the U.S. launched Operation Enduring Freedom in response to the attacks of 9\/11, more than 2,400 U.S. troops have perished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far this year, 11 have paid the ultimate price, either through combat or non-combat incident under investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To the Gold Star families who have lost a loved one, the cause does not matter, only the sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And to the nation at large it should not matter, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Men and women are put into harm\u2019s way, in the public\u2019s name and on the public\u2019s dime. It is a price born by too few and ignored by too many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it is a calculus the commander in chief, whoever sits in the White House, must take into account when deciding to continue to spend American blood and treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recently, President Donald Trump said while he wanted to pull the plug on America\u2019s troop investment in Afghanistan,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/07\/02\/trump-pentagon-leaders-want-to-keep-troops-in-afghanistan\/\" target=_blank> he was dissuaded by military leaders<\/a> who convinced him otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe problem is, it just seems to be a lab for terrorists,\u201d he told Fox News host Tucker Carlson, echoing a long-held belief by many, but not all in the military, that if we don\u2019t fight the enemy in Afghanistan, we will fight them here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are still some 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the vast majority trying to help the Afghans help themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But while Afghan troops have taken the lead on the fight, their nation remains the most dangerous place on earth for ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So as negotiations with the Taliban continue, let us not forget that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And remember these names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Master Sgt. Micheal B. Riley, 32, and Sgt. James G. Johnston, 24, died June due to injuries sustained by small arms fire in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/off-duty\/gearscout\/irons\/2019\/06\/06\/the-commander-of-us-forces-in-afghanistan-rocks-a-1911-as-his-personal-sidearm\/\">Afghanistan\u2019s Uruzgan Province<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sgt. 1st Class. Elliott J. Robbins, 31, from Ogden, Utah, died June 30, 2019, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, from a non-combat related incident. U.S. Navy veteran Kevin Yali, 27, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/news\/2019\/06\/he-always-wanted-to-serve-his-country-nj-man-serving-in-the-navy-killed-in-afghanistan.html\">died June 19 in Afghanistan from a mortar shell<\/a>. And retired Chief Warrant Officer Four Christian H. McCoy, 49, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/us-death-afghanistan-christian-mccoy-special-forces-veteran-1446279\">was killed June 24 in Afghanistan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are a lot of issues in the national security space competing for our attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Considering the human cost is the least we can do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The recent deaths of three more service members and two more contractors serve as a painful reminder that while much of the nation might have forgotten, Afghanistan remains a deadly place for the men and women who serve there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":69063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[23,89,14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3204],"class_list":["post-35574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-middle-column","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HCZD7DJ3WNAOPLWBNNUFGEJIHM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2019\/07\/07\/afghanistan-remains-a-dangerous-place\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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