Slower Times in Bagram

The days have been long and hot here, nearing 100 degrees. It's not quite the 120+ of Jalalabad or Kandahar, but a bit warm nonetheless. It's also been quiet here - not so downrange. A great story coming out from Puli Alam recently, where several EOD soldiers assisted in stopping a Taliban attack directed at the regional mayor. Details will come out, but can you imagine being beneath a window in which the last Taliban is holed up, securing a Claymore mine to a stick, raising it to the window and detonating it to take him out? Easy Silver Star material after you hear the details - I'll post them when I am able. This is heroism under fire beyond much I've heard here so far.

Elections are coming in a couple of days now. Ramadan follows immediately after. I keep reading newsclips that say Pakistan is slowly picking off key Taliban leaders on their side of the border. A recent US airstrike took out one of those leaders and several of his lieutenants. One can only hope that this degrades their capabilities to the extent that they cannot rally themselves enough to hurt the election process here, which would be seen, if successful, as a great PR victory for the Taliban. Funny, the capstone event for which I was in Iraq in '05 was an election, as well.

When Ramadan starts it is hoped that operations will die down, but there is no guarantee of that. The Taliban won't slow operations even on their holy days. The last night of Ramadan, the Night of Power (Eide al Fitr), is a dangerous night - coming around September 20th. It is a night of great religious fervor and (for peaceful Muslims) celebration. The greatest danger to US and coalition forces would certainly be that night, a night where radical militants might seize the opportunity to make clear the pathway to heaven through greater fighting efforts or suicide attacks. Martyrdom in this time is a great honor for them.

It saddens me that, despite all of Jesus' teachings to the contrary, the church once assured people who died fighting for the Holy Land that they would gain access to Heaven in a similar manner. Fighting war is a last best effort to regain peace, not a religious mandate and not a key work made for salvation. I am proud to serve in a military that looks toward a time when we will beat our swords into ploughshares and there will be an end to war.