Sure, I’ve been labelled a Conservative for the majority of my life.

But I don’t share the average Conservative’s view of the War on Terror. 

Just what is the average Conservative’s view of the War on Terror you ask?

WHAT I HEARD IN THE BREAKROOM

It was August 2021, and I was walking into the break room of work one day to put away my work uniform. 

The day had been long, the customers had been rough, and I was glad that it was finally quitting time. 

As I hung up my vest and prepared to clock out, I overheard a conversation between two good work friends: 

“You know, I feel really bad about what is happening to the Afghans. I really do. But it’s just not our problem. We’ve got to get our people out. We’ve got to take care of our own. 

“Sure their situation is bad over there for them, but that’s their problem. It’s not ours.”

THE HEART OF A CO-WORKER

I shook my head. 

The speaker was a good friend of mine. Gung-ho, hard-worker, first volunteer for any job, and always ready to make everybody laugh. 

I love this guy. He was one of our best employees. 

But we had such differing views of Afghanistan. 

Why? 

WHY AGAINST THE GRAIN? 

While my good friend’s view may not have been my own, it was the majority view among Conservatives about the War in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the War on Terror in general for the last 10 years. 

If I had heard the refrain spoken once, I’d heard it a thousand times in all my travels across the country. 

This time though, with the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban imminent, with Afghan Allies desperately clinging to US aircraft wings, and with horrific atrocities at the hands of the Taliban becoming more frequent by the day, the view took on a special significance for me. 

How did this view become popular amongst Conservatives…a political persuasion that I call my own? 

And why did I not buy this view if the majority of my compatriots did? 

WHAT THE BROKEN CLOCK REVEALED

Spencer Ackerman is a far-Left journalist who I disagree with on most things. He’s pro-Jihad, opposes the War on Terror, and believes all the troubles in the Middle East are the West’s fault.

However, a broken clock is right twice a day. 

In his book, Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabalized America and Produced Trump, Ackerman hits the nail on the head as to why Conservatives turned against the War: 

“Patriotic vengeance fueled the War on Terror,” Ackerman writes. 

“But the nightmare of the Iraqi civil war…led to varieties of disillusionment…For the right, it was explicable in terms of ungrateful Muslims who were unworthy of American sacrifice.”[2] 

It couldn’t have been our fault, goes the reasoning. So it must be the fault of our local allies. 

I mean, the American Military, Intelligence, and Diplomatic Services did their best, right? 

And they are the best in the world, right?

So if they couldn’t win, it had to be the local allies, fault, right?  

From the collapse of the Iraqi Army in the face of ISIS in 2014, to the collapse of the Afghan National Army in the face of Taliban in 2021, what more proof could we need that it’s their fault? 

A BENEDICT ARNOLD’S INSIGHT  

This line of reasoning leads to only one conclusion, and the one man who can sum it up comes from an unlikely place. 

Tobin Smith is a defector to the Left-Wing who I also disagree with on most things. 

For 14 years he worked as a guest anchor and commentator for Fox News, and when he didn’t get the billing he wanted, he turned his coat Benedict Arnold style to join the Left and reveal the Right’s “secrets.” 

But  for all his faults of opportunism and disloyalty, one thing is clear: Smith understands the mind of the average Conservative. 

In his book, Foxocracy: Inside the Network’s Playbook of Tribal Warfare, Smith summarizes the common Conservative view of the War on Terror without even mentioning it by name. 

Instead, he explains the common view Conservatives hold on our crime-ridden inner-cities in the heart of the USA: 

“Homicidal violence plagues inner cities because those people are inbred animals–let ‘em kill each other but keep them contained in their inner-city kill zone.”[3] 

Substitute “inner city” for “sandbox”, and you magically get the average Conservative’s conclusions regarding the War on Terror in the Middle East. 

It’s the same script. 

Just a different villain. 

Just a different locale. 

But it’s not the script I read from. 

WHAT CLAUSEWITZ KNEW 

You see, my view is a little different. Over the years, I have become friends with many average, everyday people from the Middle East fleeing the horror of Jihadi terror embodied by the Taliban today. 

They came from Somalia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Egypt. 

They are Sunni, Shia, and Christian. 

They were good people with hopes and dreams that had been oppressed horrifically by the forces of pure evil, and had seen friends and loved ones murdered by this savage foe. 

And after hearing the words of my co-worker friends, I saw in my mind the faces of the Adey, Nagib, Mark, Miriam, Hadji, Mustafa, Gizal, Malik, Miriam, Ki-Ro-Los, Kismet, Miriam, and Wael. 

Our defeat wasn’t their fault. 

And they sure as hell weren’t ungrateful. 

And in that moment, I knew why my view was different. 

Because those people are my friends.  

And in that swirling flash of images the words of that old Napoleonic combat veteran Clausewitz came to me:

“Essentially combat is an expression of hostile feelings…Even when there is no natural hatred and no animosity to start with, the fighting itself will stir up hostile feelings: 

“Violence committed on superior orders will stir up the desire for revenge and retaliation against the perpetrator rather than against the powers that ordered the action.

“It is only human (or animal, if you like), but it is a fact.”[4]  

THE DIFFERENCE IN THE DETAILS

You see, my friend just didn’t have the personal connection that I have. 

And so his “desire for revenge” against “the perpetrator” and against “the power that ordered the action alike” just wasn’t there. 

But it was there for me. 

And until I die, it will always be there. 

May we always stand by our friends…whoever they may be.

May we own up to our own faults and not place the blame and responsibility on others, so as to feel better about ourselves. 

And may we learn from our mistakes so that we can win the Victory for ourselves and for our friends. 

Onward to Victory. 

For now and forever. 

Sincerely,

Richard Barrett

Written on 05-22-2022

Published 10-11-2023 at 3:58 PM, somewhere in the USA…

SOURCES CITED 

[1] Image 1

[2] Ackerman, Spencer. Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabalized America and Produced Trump. Viking: New York, NY. 2021. Pg. 107. 

[3] Tobin. Foxocracy: Inside the Network’s Playbook of Tribal Warfare. Diversion Books: New York, NY. 2019. Pg. 83. 

[4] Clausewitz, Carl Von. On War. Edited and Translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Princeton University Press: Princeton UP, 1984. Pgs. 137-138. For a further digestible introduction of this phenomena through the eyes of Clausewitz, see also Milevski, Lukas. “Battle and Its Emotional Effect in War Termination.” Comparative Strategy 39, no. 6 (2020): 535–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2020.1826844.