Dear Editor,
I would like to ‘enlighten‘ MSgt Jose A. Bustos, MSgt. USAF/US Army (Ret) LTE 17 May 2024 with his regards to placing “blame” on President Biden for the loss of 13 Marines during the withdrawal of Afghanistan.
IF he were to check the record, he will find IT WAS the Donald J. Trump Administration, ‘negotiating’ with the Taliban, with zero Afghans involved for the withdrawal. When one negotiates only with the enemy and does not include the people we were there supporting, I ask; “What could go wrong?” As each stronghold was evacuated the Taliban moved in, with little to no Afghan resistance (Afghans not knowing what/when/where support was needed). At the FINAL destination, it was the Taliban setting up roadblocks/checkpoints, NOT the Afghans (in their own country)!!
The withdrawal was executed following the withdrawal plan(s) by the Donald J. Trump Administration and Taliban, with no opportunity for renegotiations!! Accordingly, the ‘succeeding Administration’ (aka Biden), NOT involved with the negotiations, were strapped to follow the in place withdrawal plan(s). IF a plan goes wrong, when executed, it would be common sense to review those plan(s) and, when completed, assign any responsibility accordingly. Of course, IF you really DO believe Trump was president, my explanation is mute!!
I have no idea what MSgt Bustos’ career was or how many times he took THE OATH but I took mine first on 26 Jan.1960 USMCR (at 17 years of age) with the last upon my appointment to Captain (Temporary) Sept 1979 and Retiring 31 Aug 1981. That equates, for me, with reenlistments and officer appointments to 10 times over my active service years. When I look back, my first OATH meant as much as my last and, for ALL my purposes, MY OATH HAS NO EXPIRATION DATE!!! Now I ask MSgt Bustos, when did your OATH(s) expire??!! I say that because of this and your previous Letters to the Editor. As a ‘DEFENDER’ of the Constitution your comments appear to be that (in my opinion) of one who has set aside or completely forgotten why we served and appear “POLITICAL”! One current reason for my statement is your quote near the beginning of your LTE: “Donald Trump, actually our current and next president.” IT is not that we dislike Ex-President Trump, IT is because he appears to have broken several laws while he was serving as OUR President, ‘allegedly’ serving us!!
By the way FYI, military “CHAIN OF COMMAND” has Joe Biden as President.
Also, FYI: in my opinion, “hate” is a strong word and has no place in our vocabulary!!!
Please correct me if my impression(s) is/are wrong. Fact(s) now please, not a political response!!
Sincerely,
George D. Nilson Captain USMC (Ret)
Billings, MT
