“…seeking security for our children and our countries”

Nov 11th, 2009 11:29 AM UTC
By James Smith

As a Captain with the South Carolina Army National Guard, deployed to Afghanistan, I witnessed the great strength of America from remote and impoverished areas. I was deployed to serve as a mentor for the Afghan National Police (ANP). My team’s mission was to establish security through embedded operations with the ANP and to build stronger relationships with area villagers. Despite significant religious, language, and cultural differences, the ANP and I found a common bond. Not as soldiers, but as husbands and fathers, both seeking security for our children and our countries.

Working to instill the pillars of our national security strategy—defense, diplomacy, and development—we also worked to assist the local population in meeting their needs for water, food, shelter and education. Through these efforts, I experienced the positive, long-lasting consequences that come with helping people obtain their most basic human needs. Respecting human rights, providing security, fostering stability, and creating goodwill results in a most unbreakable bond.

Extreme poverty, lack of opportunity, and hopelessness can create conditions in which extremist ideologies take root. As I witnessed in Afghanistan, a solid, unbiased development assistance plan not only improved the perception of the United States, it also helped create an environment that was less vulnerable to terrorists.

Our development assistance played a strong role in saving lives by promoting regional stability and strengthening our diplomatic power through good will. It was one of our most important initiatives; by helping others we served U.S. national security interests as well.

-James Smith

TAGS: Veterans Day