Free Republic

A decision made inside the Pentagon can look very different to the soldier under fire who must carry it out. Sometimes the consequences are a matter of life and death. Washington has no shortage of people who know how to make a decision. What every soldier needs to know is whether the person making it understands what happens after the order leaves the building. Anyone who has served, knows the feeling of wishing that someone several levels above understood what they were asking. I learned that lesson in Ganjgal. My team was trapped under heavy fire, calling for support that...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two members of Congress flew unannounced into Kabul airport in the middle of the ongoing chaotic evacuation Tuesday, stunning State Department and U.S. military personnel who had to divert resources to provide security and information to the lawmakers, U.S. officials said. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., flew in and out on charter aircraft and were on the ground at the Kabul airport for several hours. That led officials to complain that they could be taking seats that would have otherwise gone to other Americans or Afghans fleeing the country, but the congressmen said...

Two videos at link. Badass military heroism: Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer's Into the Fire is this generation's To Hell and Back. Into the Fire A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War By Dakota Meyer and Bing West Random House, $27, 239 pp. Does this sound familiar? 1. A group of Americans on a diplomatic mission to reach out to Muslims are pinned down by al-Qaeda and come under overwhelming fire. 2. They repeatedly call for support fire missions, which are denied because they cannot absolutely guarantee no civilians are in the area. 3....