Lone Survivor: Afghanistan Now

 
Lone Survivor, a book published in 2007, is Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell's story of a 2005 Afghanistan battle. It is highly relevant to the current debate over our involvement in that distant, mountainous land.

I just got done reading Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell. He tells the gut-wrenching story of ill-fated Operation Redwing, a special ops mission in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan that went horribly wrong for Luttrell's four-man SEAL team.

If you want to understand what's going on in Afghanistan, read this book. If you want a white-knuckle story of heroism under unimaginable conditions, read this book. If you want to reaffirm your faith in mankind, read this book. It will make you proud of your armed forces and proud to be an American.


There's a reason why they call them Special Forces
You will come to appreciate just how elite our Special Forces are. Luttrell starts out by giving us his account of SEAL training. Many big, bad, brave men just can't take it and voluntarily drop out as they are pushed beyond the bounds of an ordinary human's mental and physical capacity. Those who survive get pushed even farther, requiring them to reach deeper than they thought possible.

Later, we learn why the training is so tough: Real missions are even worse, especially when things go bad. Luttrell's team found themselves facing off against a teeming, seemingly endless swarm of fierce Pashtun fighters in the worst of conditions on the steep rocky slopes of the Hindu Kush. Once you start reading about the battle, you will not be able to ungrip the book until it's over.

Prayer Works, and Choosing Life has Consequences
Interwoven into the story is a quiet testament to the power of prayer, although this is not a good candidate for the Christian Ladies Book Club, scattered as it is with salty language and blasphemous outbursts common to such men. It is also a story of people, Americans and Afghanis, who choose life amid the violence and then must bear the horrible consequences.

A Rare Glimpse of Afghan Village Life
In the last part of the book, Luttrell provides an intimate, village level view of the Taliban-Pashtun dynamic in the remote regions of Afghanistan. These are a fierce and honor-bound people who dislike all outside intrusions. It is not as simple as us versus them. Everyone is armed, it's all tribal, and the lines between villager and fighter are blurry. It is a symbiotic relation between the Pashtun people and the fighters that spring from them. The Taliban is a potent, but mutant offshoot, and Al Qaida is not a natural ally.

It's Not Hopeless
This is a pessimistic view for those hoping to turn Afghanistan into a Central Asian "Little America." That ain't gonna happen.

But still there is hope. Hope for a patient strategy of prying the Al Qaida foreigners loose, restoring traditional tribal lines, funneling some cash and quality of life upgrades through the chieftains, and otherwise leaving their culture and traditions undisturbed so long as they do not tolerate plotting terrorists among them.

Finally, there is hope for an America that produces heroic lions like these great men of the Special Forces and their brothers and sisters of every race, creed, color, gender and religion who volunteer for the regular forces.  Go read this excellent book.

Group Picture on Left:
From left to right, Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson, of Cupertino, Calif; Senior Chief Information Systems Technician Daniel R. Healy, of Exeter, N.H.; Quartermaster 2nd Class James Suh, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell; Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Eric S. Patton, of Boulder City, Nev.; and Lt. Michael P. Murphy, of Patchogue, N.Y. With the exception of Luttrell, all were killed June 28, 2005, by enemy forces while supporting Operation Redwing.

Picture on Right: GM2 (SEAL) Danny Dietz, of Littleton, Colorado, killed in Operation Redwing

Operation RedWing - Lt Murphy
American Special Ops - Operation Redwing
Patriotic Websites of America - Dietz
Sepia Mutiny