Relearning the Lessons of History

 As a Vietnam veteran, I have been especially troubled by recent events in Afghanistan.  We don’t seem to learn from the lessons of history.

 We thought, relative to Vietnam, that military might along with American know-how could turn around a civil war between North and South Vietnam.  We discounted the long history of Vietnam, including the fact that before French colonization, the country had been an independent nation.  No amount of American intervention was going to overcome the drive to reunify that country.

 In Afghanistan, almost the reverse has happened—no amount of American intervention was going to unify a country which has had  little to no history of being a unified nation state.  When we went to war in Afghanistan, it was a country run by tribal war lords.  It is still that way.

 There will be a lot of negative fall-out from this capitulation, particularly for President Biden and his administration.  A departure date had been set by President Trump and it was extended a bit by Mr. Biden.  Yet, both men, it seems, were misled by “rosy” intelligence reports put out by the Pentagon that the Afghan Army, trained by us for 20 years, would stand and fight for its own country.

 If there is one lesson we should have learned from the Vietnam War, it is that one should not always rely on press releases and unrealistic, hopeful intelligence reports coming from the defense establishment…especially when it comes to “nation-building,” which is not its forte. 

 Before going to Vietnam as a Navy Patrol Officer, I had read a lot of history about Vietnam including several books written by Bernard Fall who had lived in and visited Vietnam many times.  The culture he described and the politics associated with it, were much different than what official Washington was putting out.

 I discussed this a bit with a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran recently who had spent a year in that country.  He described it as a place where the combatants were primarily motivated by who would pay them the most—not as to who loved their country more.  It was a story of people looking more for American money than for a more democratic society.  Many were mercenaries who would shift sides depending on who would give them better combat pay.

 The British and Russians tried and failed to subdue and administer this cobbled-together group of mountain tribesmen that someone drew a boundary around and called “Afghanistan.”  Now, so-to-speak, America is “going down the tubes of history” in the same place.

 It is sad.  It is sad especially for the young women and girls of Afghanistan who will likely be sent back to limbo and isolation with the probability that they will receive little or no education.  It is sad for the families of American service men and women who died there.  It is sad for our NATO allies who also sent troops and tried to help the country.

 Post-Afghanistan, our national challenge will be in exercising leadership in a fractured world at a time when it is desperately needed, especially with a communist, authoritarian China on the rise. 

 Somehow, in the midst of this debacle, we will need to dig down deep into our American roots, recommit ourselves to the rule of law, and strive to continue our engagement in international affairs.

Turning Over a New Leaf

With Kathy Hochul becoming Governor, New York State is “turning over a new leaf” in its halls of governance.

The first difference I believe we will notice is one of style and tone—there will be no threats or defiant statements.  We got used to that with Andrew Cuomo and, in my view, it was that arrogant side of him that finally brought him down.  Kathy Hochul, Governor, will be the kind of down-to-earth, empathetic and articulate person that made her a good Congresswoman and a respected local elected official here in western New York.

The other aspect of governing that I hope she brings to Albany is a return to allowing the departments and agencies of state government do their work without continual interference from the Governor’s office.  In Andrew Cuomo’s world, virtually all announcements whether they dealt with transportation, health care or the weather, had to first be politically cleared by the Governor’s office.

When you are Governor, the public expects you to name good, qualified people to head up major departments and agencies of the government.   Then they expect that you will give these individuals the ability to implement government policy in the fields to which they are assigned.

Why should nearly every press release dealing with state government action have to be cleared by the Governor’s office?  Why do we need to wait for political vetting when it comes to letting state contracts or fighting a snow storm along the Thruway?  Hopefully, the Hochul Administration will restore some autonomy to state departments and agencies.

I would also hope that her administration will try and return to some sense of sharing governmental initiatives with the legislature.  The Cuomo administration used to “cram-in” all kinds of policy decisions into the state budget so that the legislature would have no time to hold hearings or conduct serious deliberations on them.  It is time to get back to a more deliberative type of government where the legislative representatives of the people can interact with the state’s chief executive.

The new Governor Hochul fortunately has a lot of political experience, and she will also have time to put together a campaign for Governor in 2022.  It won’t be easy because she is from western New York and the politics of the state is always tilted toward downstate.  (The presumptive Republican candidate running for Governor, who has already announced, is from downstate and lives on Long Island.)  However, Kathy Hochul in the past won a statewide primary election for Lieutenant Governor—and I would guess that she is ready to engage New York City Democrats in a race for Governor if she wants to.

I think the next few months will be "fun," if you can call watching state government fun.

I think the next few months will be “fun,” if you can call watching state government fun.   At least it will be interesting—the first western New Yorker as Governor since Grover Cleveland, the first woman Governor of New York ever.  The politics of it all and how it plays out will at least be “captivating.”  Maybe that is a better word. 

Finally, I think we need to give her a chance at stepping up to the job of being Chief Executive of this very diverse and often divisive state.   There is nothing wrong, no matter what your politics, of wishing this fellow western New Yorker  “good luck” as she starts her new duties!

Rolland Kidder

Requiring Accountability

Holding people accountable for their actions is important, especially in politics.

Holding people accountable for their actions is important, especially in politics.  Today there are two “inquiries” going on which are focused on accountability—one in Washington and the other in Albany.

The Washington inquiry relates to what happened on January 6, 2021.  The leadership of the Republican Party has, more-or-less, trashed this effort.  They still fear the power of Donald Trump and are afraid to endorse anything that might lead to his door.  They seem to have forgotten his speech at the Ellipse on the Mall that day firing up the crowd and encouraging them to assault the Capitol.

I know that some look upon Nancy Pelosi as some kind of “ogre” who has only partisan interests at heart.  However, I give her credit for “sticking to her guns” and convening an official inquiry into what happened on that infamous day which occurred last January in our nation’s capital.  In normal times, like after the Watergate break-in, there would have been full bi-partisan support for a special investigative committee.  This time, the Senate Republican leadership said “No” and only two Republican members of the House apparently had the courage to serve on such a panel.

It is too early to tell, but I am hopeful that this Committee can still get to the bottom of what happened that day so that it is forever remembered as a blight on the democratic foundations of our government.  Perhaps the former President will be found to be only one of many responsible for what happened.  But, anyone listening to his speech that day would be hard-pressed to conclude that it had no effect on the mob.

The other inquiry we need to keep our eye on is the one in Albany investigating the Governor’s actions in allegedly withholding information related to how the pandemic affected nursing homes and the recent conclusions of a formal investigation by the Attorney General that he sexually harassed several women.  This kind of thing cannot just be “swept under the rug.”  

At the state level, most of the Republicans (unlike in Washington) are more than ready to investigate and impeach Governor Cuomo.   However, since they are now out of power with a diminished minority in the legislature, it will be up to Democrats to deal with and make a judgment on these serious accusations of misconduct.  Early reactions by the Majority Leader of the Senate and Speaker of the Assembly indicate that the Attorney General’s Report is being taken seriously.  It is also possible that the Governor could resign rather than face impeachment.

Whether at the national or state level, the public will not look kindly on inaction on these matters.  The people are demanding an honest and impartial assessment of what happened.  It so happens that leadership on these issues at both the state and federal level is now in the hands of Democrats.  If they run an unbiased and thorough investigation into what has happened, the public will support the outcome.  If they conduct something else, they will pay for it politically.

The Republicans also face the “Scylla and Charybdis” of public opinion.  If they strive only to investigate a Democrat in Albany, and not one of their own in Washington—public opinion will turn against them.  The public does not want a “white-wash” in either case—just the truth.

Requiring accountability from our elected officials is one of the “checks and balances” of our constitutional form of government.

Rolland Kidder