WHAT NOW?

 

WHAT NOW?

OK, we have screwed up royally.  What now?  I suggest we wait before throwing rocks, we need to let this play out before assigning blame. 

Probably will be a lot to go around.

Now we need to get Americans out of Afghanistan along with those Afghans who have been our allies for 20 years. 

God help the rest of Afghanistan’s people who will be once again ruled by terrorists.

We need leadership in this Afghanistan mess.

My limited experience with chaos and turmoil comes from working at a large brokerage firm during the 1987 stock market crash. 

Lives were not at stake; money was at stake and an economic system was at stake.  Not the same, but it was scary non-the-less.

What did I learn about leadership during this time?

Leaders recognized that in a short term minute to minute situation they needed to trust those under them, those who truly understood the nuts and bolts of the problem would have to solve the problem. 

Those at the top needed to provide what was asked, to support decisions of their reports, and except the fact they were in no position run the show.  Establish goals and monitor the situation, but leaders cannot run the show in the short term.  They just can’t!

In 1987 our brokerage leaders asked “What are our options?  What do you need?”

They then communicated support and assisted with supplying resources as required.  They remained informed, asked questions, but did not get in the way.

We have a great military.  They know what needs to be done in Afghanistan.  Don’t let poll numbers or politics get in their way.  Give them a goal and give them your support, and then let them do their job. 

If they were allowed to do their job before this mess, this mess would have been avoided.

What do I think should be done?  I have no expertise, I have no idea, probably not unlike most of our political leaders.

I’d like to see all Americans home safely; I’d like to see at risk Afghanistan people who have stood by our side, evacuated to safety; I’d like to see some signs of strength where we are not dictated to by terrorists; I’d like to see us get our respect back. 

What should we do?

Our military can do the job if allowed to do it and are supported by our leaders.

We can sort out what went wrong later.