We, soldiers, whether in active service or in the reserves, on land, at sea, or in the air, should be fundamentally indifferent to the words uttered by politicians. In democratic countries, politicians change on a regular basis, and soldiers ought to remain steadfast regardless of their views. At times, however, a soldier’s soul cannot hold back and cries out, not for itself, as in my case, but for the country, for families, and for those who have fallen in battle.
President Trump said of his allies: “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan [...], and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
Political commentators are outraged and quite rightly expect an apology and a show of respect to veterans. However, I look at this statement a bit differently. No one needs to thank me today for our operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Persian Gulf. Our American friends, American soldiers, our brothers in arms, who fought with us for the same ideals, for world peace and democracy, expressed their gratitude every day and after every operation. The US had been attacked, the twin towers collapsed, along with America’s security, and they needed us, not only in military sense, but above all as friends. In difficult, sorrowful and uncertain times, you want to have friends by your side, so Poland, along with other democratic countries, stood with the Americans. We were there. We slept in the same tents, ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together, breathed the same lung-burning Afghan air, we prayed in their chapels, they prayed in ours, and we fought together, us for them and them for us. And in the most difficult moments, we stood together over the coffins of our fallen brothers. We were there for one another as friends 24/7, 365 days a year, for 20 rotten Afghan years. So no one needs to thank me for anything today, because we did it for our American friends, not for the president.
But perhaps we need to look at these events from a slightly more “American” perspective. We don’t understand the American narrative, and President Trump doesn’t understand that sending Polish troops to Afghanistan was a collective effort of the entire nation. Polish taxpayers paid for it, and it was a considerable expense for our country. Sending soldiers to help the Americans meant paying their wages, purchasing additional equipment, ammunition, dealing with logistics, transport and accommodation. I could go on and on listing what else we had to pay for. Poland spent over 6.5 billion zlotys on the war in Afghanistan (2002–2021), engaging over 33,000 soldiers and civilian personnel. We all paid for it. It was us, the Polish, British, German, Czech, Danish, Lithuanian, and other nations, friends of America in battle and in business, who paid, but above all, fought, and died, in the war against global terrorism. Terrorism that hit the US.
We will dwell on President Trump’s unfair words for a long time. However, we must keep in mind that he is primarily addressing his voters, the American people. We have a different approach to history and wars. I believe that our motto, “God, Honor, Fatherland,” excludes thinking about war as yet another way to do business, and I truly hope that many Americans have a similar attitude.
I still remember the enormous mess hall on the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) aircraft carrier, where we were stationed in 2002, prior to the invasion of Iraq. From the deck of this huge ship – full of aircraft, packed with electronics and state-of-the-art equipment of the time – we carried out maritime interception operations in rotation with Navy SEALs. We ate our meals in the mess hall wearing Polish uniforms. We were often surrounded by American sailors who patted us on the back, hugged us with gratitude, but also with a hint of disbelief, thanking us for being there with them. And what do I hear today? Did this powerful American aircraft carrier also stay “a little back, a little off the front lines,” Mr. President?
autor zdjęć: arch. prywatne
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