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Twin 33s a viable solution to green shipping

BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ

Tribune Columnist

The scroll of the dead contains 49 names: 48 men and a woman killed between April 2004 and December 2014 in Afghanistan. To my way of thinking, each of these Arizonans is a hero – a neighbor of ours, a defender of freedom, killed nearly 8,000 miles away in a fetid foreign hell.

That sad war ended last week in a blitz of disgraceful images showing the Taliban taking hold and Afghan civilians opting to die now rather than face the torture and mayhem sure to come. Pundits branded the war a stain on America not seen since Vietnam.

I am not here to debate history. Instead, let’s take a moment to remember the dead. It is the very least we owe them in return for their epic sacri�ice.

Spec. Patrick D. Tillman and Staff Sgt. Brian S. Hobbs died in 2004.

Lance Corp. Kevin B. Joyce and Sgt. Kenneth G. Ross died in 2005. Chief Warrant Of�icer Hershel D. McCants, Jr.; Sgt. Charles R. Browning; PFC. Mykiel F. Miller; and Spec. Hugo V. Mendoza died in 2007.

PFC Ara T. Deysie; Hospitalman Dustin K. Burnett; Lance Corp. Juan CastanedaLopez; Pvt. Joseph F. Gonzales and Corp. Charles P. Gaffney, Jr. died in 2008.

In 2009, we lost Master Sgt. David L. Hurt; Staff Sgt. Timothy L. Bowles; Spec. Adam J. Hardt; Staff Sgt. Eric J. Lindstrom; Capt. Cory J. Jenkins; Sgt. Thomas Rabjohn; and Sgt. Justin Gallegos.

The deadliest year was 2010. The killed included Spec. Robert Donevski; Lance Cpl. Alejandro J. Yazzie; SFC. Glen J. Whetten; Spec. Christian Adams; Sgt. John M. Rogers; Sgt. Martin A. Lugo; PFC. Barbara Vieyra; SFC. Todd M. Harris; Lance Corp. Matthew J. Broehm; Lance Corp. Randy R. Braggs; and Sgt. Aaron B. Cruttenden.

In 2011, PFC. Dustin J. Feldhaus; PFC. John C. Johnson; Staff Sgt. Martin R. Apolinar; Staff Sgt. Donald V. Stacy; Spec. Michael D. Elm; and SFC. Johnathan B. McCain died.

In 2012, Corp. Phillip D. McGeath; First Lt. Alejo R. Thompson; SFC. Barrett W. McNabb; Staff Sgt. Carl E. Hammar; Staff Sgt. Richard L. Berry; Staff Sgt. Orion N. Sparks; and SFC. Ryan J. Savard died.

The bloodshed ebbed in 2013. The dead: Staff Sgt. Jonathan D. Davis; Second Lt. Justin L. Sisson; First Lt. Jonam Russell; and CWO Joshua B. Silverman.

Operation Enduring Freedom ended on the last day of 2014, but not before the death of Spec.

Wyatt J. Martin., a 22-year-old from Mesa killed two weeks before Christmas.

These 49 obituaries are full of details about these heroes: How Kevin Joyce, 19 when he died, was the guy his fellow Marines turned to when they’d been dealt a lousy MRE for dinner. Joyce kept extras in his locker and was always happy to trade.

Corp. Gaffney, 42 and a father of two, told a family friend he re-enlisted “for the women of Afghanistan.” Gaffney said, “the women of Afghanistan are so mistreated, they’re not really people like we are in this country.”

Sgt. 1st Class McNabb hailed from Chino Valley. He went by the nickname “Bear.”

Martin Apolinar attended Trevor Browne High School, where his fellow seniors voted him “Prettiest Eyes.”

He enlisted in the Army in 2004 and earned his Special Forces quali�ication at Fort Bragg. In Iraq, he received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Apolinar’s �inal deployment was to Wardak Province in Afghanistan, where his vehicle was decimated by an improvised explosive device. He died at 29, leaving behind a wife and a son.

In a perfect world, we would never have lost this war. In a better world, each of us would remember forever the 49 Arizonans who never came home from hell. ■

My former party is abandoning democracy

Isn’t it funny that some of the same people insisting the 2020 election was riddled with voter fraud are the same ones trying to perpetuate voter fraud of their own?

At least, it’s funny in a laugh-to-keep-fromcrying kind of way.

Fraud, after all, is misleading people into doing something. If you take out an insurance policy in case your house burns down, and then you burn your house down, that’s insurance fraud. If you vote while claiming to be someone else, that’s voter fraud.

And if you hold an election, telling people their votes will determine which presidential candidate gets Arizona’s Electoral College votes, and then you nullify their votes and overrule the voters – well, what is that but its own kind of voter fraud?

Across the country, Republicans are doing just that. There have been over 380 restrictive voting bills introduced – primarily by Republi-

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cans – in almost every state. Limits on absentee and early voting, bans on ballot drop boxes, and empowering partisan poll watchers are all being kicked around state capitals.

For what seems like the millionth time, the 2020 election was not spoiled by voter fraud, or rigged, or manipulated by bamboo ballots or any other kind of malarkey. It was free, fair, and secure – so said the Trump administration, judges at every level, and Republicans from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer all the way up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Yet some members of the Arizona legislature are backing some of the worst election bills in the country. Controversial changes to the early voter registration list as well as limits to who can drop off absentee ballots have already passed.

But perhaps scariest was Rep. Shawnna Bolick’s proposal that would give state legislators the ability to overturn the will of the voters after all the votes were cast, and reassign Arizona’s Electoral College votes just because they don’t like how Arizonans voted.

This would further restrict the power of the Secretary of State, whose of�ice was already stripped of key litigation authority.

These efforts have failed for now. But other Republicans across the country are picking up the pace. Multiple Republican states have proposed legislation that shifts authority away from non-partisan election of�icials and gives power to partisan politicians, potentially allowing politicians themselves to subvert the will of the people

As a former Arizona Republican, I admired John McCain’s unwavering support for democracy. Turns out the current Republican Party wants to destroy his legacy by systematically undermining our democratic process.

Each Arizona voter has a duty to try and prevent such terrible proposals from becoming law. But one Arizonan has a much greater obligation: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

Our senior senator has rapidly become one of the most independent and in�luential members of Congress, which means she shoulders extra responsibility to stave off this anti-democratic wave.

Sen. Sinema made it clear that she wouldn’t vote for S. 1, the Democrats’ over-ambitious wish list of a bill. That’s �ine. But Sen. Manchin, another principled Democrat, has introduced the outlines of a compromise proposal that would secure our elections from interference and tampering.

His plan would maintain states’ ability to oversee their election systems while enforcing minimum security standards, requiring voter ID and making Election Day a national holiday.

Most importantly, the proposal trims the fat that made S. 1 so tough to swallow.

To be sure, Manchin’s proposal is not perfect. But it is a starting point for negotiation, not an ultimatum. Manchin is clearly trying to �ind a viable compromise that protects our democratic process.

He will need help from other senators who aren’t afraid to buck the leadership of both parties. It’s time for Sen. Sinema, a true Arizona maverick, to stand and deliver.

THE MESA TRIBUNE | AUGUST 22, 2021

Americans forgotten in Afghan chaos

BY JD HAYWORTH Tribune Columnist

Over 30 years have passed since “Clarissa Explains it All” premiered on the kids’ cable channel Nickelodeon.

But recently a real-life Clarissa—Clarissa Ward – CNN’s chief international correspondent and a graduate of Yale – offered an eyewitness account from Afghanistan so incredible that it prompted both chuckles and the temptation to “upchuck.” Clad in a burqa to re�lect the return of the Taliban to power, Ward described the collective disposition of the victorious jihadists for CNN’s dwindling audience: “They’re chanting ‘Death to America’ but they seem friendly at the same time.”

Her on-the-ground assessment prompted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to tweet out an obvious question: “Is there an enemy of America for whom CNN won’t cheerlead?”

The Associated Press delayed picking up the pom poms long enough to report on the curious way the Taliban displayed their “friendly disposition” elsewhere in Afghanistan.

In Takhar province, a woman was shot and killed for not wearing a burqa when she went out in public.

Meantime, the public “face” of the Taliban, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, held a press conference to insist that women’s rights would be honored in the newly renamed Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, but included a huge caveat. The Taliban, he said, is “committed to the rights of women under the system of Sharia law.”

Sharia law? Guess that means it’s still okay to kill women not wearing burqas in public.

In Washington, the burqa-less and seemingly clueless White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, offered the Biden Administration’s new de�inition of “American Exceptionalism,” which apparently now means that the U.S. Government places a priority on helping people leave Afghanistan – except those who are American citizens.

When asked if the U.S. could offer “any guarantee” to Americans who might be stuck in Afghanistan past the Administration’s withdrawal deadline of August 31, Ms. Psaki responded “that is day by day, getting as many American citizens, as many SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) applicants, as many members of vulnerable populations who are eligible to be evacuated, to the airport and out on planes.” Jen may have listed Americans �irst in her response, but in reality, the emphasis was on non-Americans. On Aug. 15, a U.S. Air Force C-17 was packed with 640 Afghan Refugees, who escaped to Qatar.

Three days later, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued this security alert: The United States government cannot ensure safe passage to the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The fact that the alert was composed in capital letters underscored the urgency of the message, and the dilemma confronting the American citizens who are stuck in Afghanistan, numbering between 10,000 and 40,000.

In his televised address of Aug. 16, President Biden claimed that “we planned for every contingency,” but he also admitted “this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.”

Then, he dusted off a line that was a combination of Richard Nixon and Harry Truman: “I am President of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me.” Apparently satis�ied that his remarks would placate the population, Mr. Biden had returned to politicizing the pandemic by midweek.

But there is no vaccine for the collective vexation of American voters. Independents who watched the speech reacted by giving it an “F.”

An “F-word” is undoubtedly on the minds of the Americans stranded in Afghanistan: Forgotten.

With Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin telling reporters they’ll only evacuate Americans “until the clock runs out,” our fellow Americans trapped there must dream of “turning the clock back.”

Some entire families are stranded; they undoubtedly are concerned that they could become captives in a type of “rerun” of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis – only larger, longer, and with their lives on the line.

To placate their kids, some worried parents are probably pulling out dusty video discs… and watching old Nickelodeon shows… including “Clarissa Explains it All.” ■