A00067 - 2022 9/11 Remembrance Day

Today is 9/11 Remembrance Day.  I begin my remembrance by recalling my comments as set forth below. After the travesty surrounding the American Withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, I felt confident that a reckoning would occur regarding the disturbing revelations set forth in The Afghanistan Papers.  

I was wrong.

Once I received the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report entitled "What We Need To Learn: Lessons From Twenty Years of Afghanistan Reconstruction" and after I read the almost comical depictions of corruption and incompetence that plagued our effort at nation building in Afghanistan, I thought surely there would be a public reckoning and flogging of those involved.

I was wrong.

Given all this evidence of corruption and incompetence in Afghanistan, I expected the Global Terrorism Index to record a banner year for terrorism.

https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/GTI-2022-web-09062022.pdf

I was wrong again.  Apparently, an Act of God -- the Advent of COVID -- had a suppressing effect on all human activity including opportunities for terrorism.

Given all this, maybe ignorance really is bliss. However, based on what I know, I firmly believe that our continued reliance on ignorance is most assuredly wrong and that on this 9/11 Remembrance Day, the best way to honor those who sacrificed so much, would be for us to try to remember what has transpired and to become more informed.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Fairfield, California

September 11, 2022

-----Original Message-----
 
Sent: Sat, Sep 11, 2021 12:02 am
Subject: Closing Remarks

It has come as a surprise to me that, in recent years, I have begun to receive some notice for the books and blogs that I have written concerning Islam.  At a recent conference I attended in Monterey, I was assigned to give a one hour talk on my specialty, The Hidden Figures of the Muslim Diaspora.  Typically, such a talk would focus on little known historical figures who have impacted our lives.  However, given the events that recently transpired in Afghanistan, instead of focusing on historical figures, I instead focused on a recap of the numerical "figures" associated with the War in Afghanistan. To my great surprise, one of the key players quoted in the book The Afghanistan Papers came to my lecture to hear what I had to say.  Wow!  Who knew?

At the end of the conference, I was asked to be one of the attendees who would give some closing remarks.  Based upon my belief that the Afghan War is merely a chapter from a still unfinished book regarding America's "War on Terror", I decided that my best service on this Remembrance Day of 9/11 is to share my remarks with you as well.  It is my sincere hope that we not only never forget ... but that we also learn.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

On the topic of "If These Were My Last Remarks", if these were my last remarks, they would be "Wake up!"

This Summer, we have seen horrorific events occur in a distant land and thanks to the book The Afghanistan Papers, we have come to learn that the horrorific events we have witnessed have come at the end of twenty years of duplicity -- of lying -- by our political and military leaders.  Wake up!

For the past twenty years, the United States has had a military ally -- Pakistan -- which, for twenty years has aided, abetted, and sheltered the ones who we have called our enemy.  Wake up!

For over thirty years, Saudi Arabia has founded and funded madrasas -- Muslim religious schools -- in which the Wahhabi brand of Islam is propagated around the world.  The Wahhabi brand of Islam gave us Osama Bin Laden, 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers, and has greatly influenced such groups as Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIL, ISIS, Boko Haram, and Abu Sayyaf.  Saudi Arabia is considered to be our friend.  Why then is Saudi Arabia giving birth to so many groups whose members hate us?  Wake up!

To all who can hear my voice, for the sake of our children, for the sake of our country, for the sake of our world -- for heaven's sake -- please Wake Up!

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Thu, Sep 9, 2021 11:13 am
Subject: Book of the Month: The Afghanistan Papers

Due to the tragic events of August in Afghanistan and the upcoming 20 year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, along with a speaking engagement in Monterey, I suspended my Books of the Month reading list to focus on more pressing current events.  To that end, in recent weeks I have read Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid; Costs of War: Creating Refugees: Displacement Caused by the United States' Post-9/11 Wars by the Watson Institute of Brown University; Global Terrorism Index 2020: Measuring the Impact of Terrorism by the Institute for Economics & Peace; along with numerous other articles.  I also viewed the Frontline documentaries entitled "Rise of Isis" and "Isis in Afghanistan".  However, the most important and disturbing book that I have read is The Afghanistan Papers; A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock.  In this book, Mr. Whitlock describes in great detail how our political and military leaders deceived the American people for the last 20 years concerning the progress and purpose of the war.  It is a shameful account of our conduct of a war that has cost the lives of some 2,400 American soldiers, some 1,800 American civilians, 70,000 Afghan soldiers, 50,000 Taliban soldiers, and some 2.4 trillion dollars.  The Afghan War has also caused a refugee crisis and untold suffering from millions of Afghan people.

I believe it is important that we understand what has happened, and is happening.  Accordingly, for the month of September, the Book of the Month is The Afghanistan Papers.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins