It's Time to See the Elephant

Plus, The Weekly w(Rap)

A great adventure awaits. While I’ve already completed the first leg of my journey, the more exciting parts begin very soon.

In about a week, I’ll be heading to Israel. I’m returning to Zion. It’s been nearly nine years since my last trip. In 2015, after returning from Afghanistan (my fifth deployment), I took my mother to Israel.

The death of my father preceded our trip. It was an emotional affair. We grieved Pops at the wailing wall. We spoke of him in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and the Old City. It was poignant.

This trip, however, will be different.

Zion is at war. And while the Gaza war is slowly winding down, another one awaits with Hezbollah up north. Yesterday, Hezbollah conducted its largest rocket attack on Israel, following a successful Israeli strike on a Hezbollah commander.

I will write a little about the trip on GCV+F. However, it will mostly center around a country at war, specifically trauma, loss, and grief. You can check out my analysis of the war in The Bulwark or The Long War Journal.

Over the last month, I’ve been training relentlessly for this journey to a combat zone. My workouts have been intense, routinely scaring the charming people at my bougie CrossFit gym. I’ve cut down on the ding-dongs. All of my affairs are in order.

Now, the most challenging part starts with the wait. Before any great adventure—whether a trip or a deployment—waiting for it to begin is often filled with nervous excitement and anxiety. Did I pack everything? Tickets? Hotels?

In the end, it will all take care of itself. The nervous energy is building. I’m excited. It will be good to be surrounded by people who understand war. I’ve never felt more at ease than in Israel. Not only because I’m a full-throated Zionist and semi-practicing Jew but also because everyone in Israel must serve in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

When I talk about war in Israel, I never get weird looks. Nobody ever thinks I’m crazy. Almost everyone nods their head and understands. Remarkably, I must return to a combat zone to feel at ease again. But, alas, I’ve spent most of my adult life either in war, training for war, or reading about war. They are a country always immersed in history.

In America, however, we’re shocked when history rears its ugly head to disturb our perfectly constructed reality. We’re blessed with two incredibly weak neighbors and two oceans. Our biggest concern is illegal immigration. Most countries would kill for that type of security.

The lack of gratitude in the United States is alarming. I see it everywhere. From MAGA fools decrying the ‘Deep State’ to over-caffeinated Ivy Leaguers, I find myself estranged from the very people I helped defend. I’m not alone in this feeling. It’s pervasive in the veteran community.

“Bruh, what the fuck is going on in this country?”

I get that text all the time from my brothers and sisters-in-arms.

Honestly, I don’t know anymore. The country that I went and killed for has fundamentally changed. When the best of your three top presidential candidates (Biden, Trump, and RFJK Jr) is suffering from cognitive decline, then perhaps it’s time to admit we have a problem.

But that is unlikely to happen anytime soon. We don’t admit to any mistakes. We are a country so completely divorced from reality that I wonder what planet I live on. We’ve become so tethered from each other, partly because of the All-Volunteer Force, which helped sever the remaining umbilical cord between us. Now, we’re our own little creatures shuffling along, talking about “my lived experience” instead of our “shared experiences as citizens.”

(Civil War Monitor)

When people ask me why the hell I’m going to Israel after spending my entire life in a combat zone, the truth is this: I’m not sure this is home anymore.

So it’s time to see the elephant. It’s time to remember that the West is very weird, indeed. While I’ll always be grateful to be an American citizen, I’d rather live life than live in fear that I may lose it.

---

The Weekly (w)Rap

We had a lot of great articles this week.

Kate Kovarovic

wrote an excellent primer on the Doha Agreement—and why it sucks.

For starters, you may note one glaring omission from the parties to the agreement: the former Afghan government, meaning that the U.S. was treating the Taliban as an equal negotiating power with the authority and intent to comply with the agreed-upon terms.  It’s hard to argue that this didn’t undermine our integrity on the world stage, and it certainly emboldened the Taliban’s advance into Afghanistan by knowing that their good ol’ buddies in the U.S. of A. were reluctant (and contractually forbidden) to intervene.  

But we didn’t only tie our own hands, because we’re overachievers in America!  No, we also tied the hands of our Afghan brothers- and sisters-in-arms, the decent and courageous people fighting for the future of their country.  Given the terms of the treaty, they were prohibited from conducting offensive missions and found themselves without adequate ammunition and support.  There can be no question that this led to the deaths of countless Afghans, including General Surab Azimi, who was murdered—on camera—by the Taliban after he unsuccessfully called for American air support more than 100 times.

We also had another great episode of Shoulder to Shoulder. This time, we talked with an American hero, Dr. Tia Corbin-Myers. Listen to her story for some inspiration.

Kate Kovarovic

and I co-wrote a little thang calling for Biden to step aside.

We’re not picky. There’s a case to be made for countless Democratic politicians, ranging from Wes Moore to Gretchen Whitmore to Gavin Newsom (Will’s least favorite option). We’re sure that they all make sense for the Democratic coalition in one way or another. However, seeing Harris and Duckworth accepting the nomination would send a powerful message to the country.

And what is that message? It should sound familiar to pre-Trump conservatives: we’re a diverse coalition standing athwart history (i.e., maintaining our position), yelling STOP. We’re a diverse coalition that can set aside their differences—as we do here at GCV+F every day—to focus on preserving the integrity of our nation and the liberal international order that our grandparents fought for on the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima. Let’s honor their sacrifices and those of generations to come by selecting a Democratic ticket with even a slight chance of success and the subsequent ability to, in fact, lead a nation.

Harris/Duckworth 2024: It’s time.

Aqsa Rahmani

’s newest Whispers of Aqsa also came out.

We’re not picky. There’s a case to be made for countless Democratic politicians, ranging from Wes Moore to Gretchen Whitmore to Gavin Newsom (Will’s least favorite option). We’re sure that they all make sense for the Democratic coalition in one way or another. However, seeing Harris and Duckworth accepting the nomination would send a powerful message to the country.

And what is that message? It should sound familiar to pre-Trump conservatives: we’re a diverse coalition standing athwart history (i.e., maintaining our position), yelling STOP. We’re a diverse coalition that can set aside their differences—as we do here at GCV+F every day—to focus on preserving the integrity of our nation and the liberal international order that our grandparents fought for on the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima. Let’s honor their sacrifices and those of generations to come by selecting a Democratic ticket with even a slight chance of success and the subsequent ability to, in fact, lead a nation.

Harris/Duckworth 2024: It’s time.

I wrote a Morning Shot at The Bulwark, in which I try to get everyone’s attention on the terrorism threat levels.

Behind the scenes, however, federal law enforcement is scrambling. According to a mid-level DoD official who asked for anonymity to discuss these cases, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked the Department of Defense to provide linguists with Top-Secret clearance to help the FBI translate texts and audio in Philadelphia. The official described the request as “an immense need” and said the FBI needed linguists who could speak Tajik, Russian, Uzbek, Pashto, Dari, Farsi, Turkish, and Urdu. The sooner, the better.

Moreover, according to an early June DHS inspector general report, DHS still needs to improve its screening methods for asylum seekers and noncitizens applying for admission, stating that “the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) did not always complete timely screenings” for 400,000 applicants between 2017 and 2023.

I only wrote two daily rants this week, but they were solid affairs.

Bill Roggio and I had a great conversation with LTG Sami Sadat over at Generation Jihad. Give it a listen.

I’ll launch the next Stories From My Brothers, Tales of the Afghan Security Forces, sometime this weekend.

---

Next Few Weeks

Okay, sports fans, I’m going to give you a little preview of the next few weeks. The team at GCV+F is going to be tinkering around with the site, playing with different color schemes—or something. This ain’t my ball of wax.

Nevertheless, I’ll still be cranking some stuff out, but it will be on Israeli time. Also, some of the articles and podcasts will be a little delayed due to my trip.

We’ve got some great pieces coming out next week. A troop I served with will publish his first piece with us. You’ll love it.

Until Next Time