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American Soldiers Did Their Jobs. It’s The Politicians That Failed Them
The Federalist ^ | August 20, 2021 | Shawn Fleetwood

Posted on 08/20/2021 12:36:01 PM PDT by Kaslin

While our troops showed up and did their jobs, the same can't be said for our nation's political and military leadership.


Ever since he was a little kid, Brent Taylor possessed a strong desire to serve his country. Growing up playing games such as “cops and robbers,” the future Utah Army National Guard major understood from an early age the difference between good and evil, while also harboring a passion for protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. Coupled with bedtime stories exploring world history and family vacations to U.S. historical sites, Brent’s destiny to serve his country in the American military was pretty much written in stone.

After unsuccessfully trying to convince his mother to sign his enlistment papers at age 17, Brent finally fulfilled his dream to serve a few years later. Deeply affected by the terrorist attacks of 9/11, he began speaking with recruiters in 2003 and went on to enlist later that year. Over the course of his 15-year military career, Brent held various positions ranging from commissioned officer, to military intelligence sergeant, and ultimately major in the Utah Army National Guard. This also included serving multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“He was the guy who, if there was a need for help in a deployment, he wasn’t trying to dodge it,” Brent’s wife Jennie told The Federalist. “He was usually the first one to sign up, and really all of his deployments were voluntary. It wasn’t like he was just looking for a paycheck or free health care in the military. He really was fully invested.”

Brent’s final deployment came in 2018, when the Utah Army National Guard major was sent to Afghanistan to serve as a military advisor to assist in training Afghan commando units. As a way of improving his troops’ physical fitness, Brent regularly led his unit on a “ruck march” every Saturday, viewing the exercise as an important way to cultivate interpersonal relationships among his men.

Tragedy struck later that year, however, during a routine march in November 2018. While leading his team on a hike around the outskirts of Kabul, Brent was shot to death by one of the Afghan troops in his unit in what was later confirmed as an insider attack. Killed at the age of 39, Brent was survived by his wife Jennie and seven children, including an infant daughter who will grow up never knowing her father.

“I just remember the shock when they told me he had died on a ruck march, like are you kidding?” Jennie said. “He’s been through all these different interactions with terrorists and all kinds of battles and things, and they killed him on a ruck march.”


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; afghanistanwar
more in the link
1 posted on 08/20/2021 12:36:01 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Just like Vietnam


2 posted on 08/20/2021 12:37:00 PM PDT by Signalman
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To: Kaslin

It’s their own officers that are keeping them from rescuing Americans in Kabul.


3 posted on 08/20/2021 12:42:53 PM PDT by Little Ray (Civilization runs on a narrow margin. What sustains it is not magic, but hard work. )
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To: Kaslin

Yup. Just like this one: Police do their job. It’s the judges and DA’s that let us down. It also can motivate cops to act out when they get a bad guy they believe the courts will just let out.


4 posted on 08/20/2021 12:50:42 PM PDT by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
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To: Kaslin

Who would have thought that could possibly happen. The wall in Washington is a constant reminder of men and women abandoned by their government from DC in days gone by.


5 posted on 08/20/2021 12:57:08 PM PDT by kempster (w President of all time.)
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To: Kaslin

It is ALWAYS the politicians who fail.

They no longer run in order to represent citizens; being elected to a political office is simply a means for fame and fortune.


6 posted on 08/20/2021 1:06:23 PM PDT by joethedrummer
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To: Kaslin

Just like Vietnam.


7 posted on 08/20/2021 1:25:58 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (“Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.” ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn )
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To: Kaslin

As ever.


8 posted on 08/20/2021 1:37:49 PM PDT by .44 Special (Taimid Buacharch)
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To: Signalman

BS.


9 posted on 08/20/2021 2:53:56 PM PDT by Lumper20 (Get the border wall built and get back to work on the keystone.)
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To: Kaslin
While leading his team on a hike around the outskirts of Kabul, Brent was shot to death by one of the Afghan troops in his unit in what was later confirmed as an insider attack.


A Farmer walked through his field one cold winter morning. On the ground lay a Snake, stiff and frozen with the cold. The Farmer knew how deadly the Snake could be, and yet he picked it up and put it in his bosom to warm it back to life.


The Snake soon revived, and when it had enough strength, bit the man who had been so kind to it. The bite was deadly and the Farmer felt that he must die. As he drew his last breath, he said to those standing around, “Learn from my fate not to take pity on a scoundrel”.

10 posted on 08/20/2021 3:22:35 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
Taylor was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[5]
 
 
 ...Afghan Special Forces soldier, Asfar Khan, who Taylor was helping to train, fired two to three shots, hitting Taylor in the back of the head.
Taylor was killed and the other service member was injured.
His personal security guard, a U.S. Army member who was on the hike, was shot in the back but fired back at Khan.
Other Afghan members killed Khan immediately after.[10][11][12]
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_R._Taylor
 
 
 
Now we'll never know what Asfar thought about Mormons and their religion.

11 posted on 08/20/2021 3:33:05 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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