We all know what's coming tomorrow, and like it or not, a lot more troops are about to be asked to do an incredibly difficult job.
There's no real way for us to help these troops bear the incredible burden that they and their families are going to confront in the year ahead. But there is a very simple way that we can make a small contribution to their mission and make their jobs just a little bit easier.
A few months ago, when his brother was deployed to Afghanistan, my friend (and fellow Kossack) Colin created Logan's List. It's really just a Facebook page and an Amazon wedding registry.
The idea is to purchase toys and school supplies on the registry, which are then shipped to our troops in Afghanistan to hand out to local children. So far, over 150 items, including over 50 soccer balls, have been sent to help win the Afghan people's trust and support.
Yeah, it's a very, very small contribution. But it's something. It's a way to help our troops win friendship and support from a skeptical populace. It's a way to create personal relationships between our forces and the Afghan people. It's most of all a way to undermine the image of American forces as faceless, heartless occupiers who don't care about the everyday citizens of that war-ravaged nation.
You might not think something so minor as a soccer ball or a frisbee or a pack of crayons can really make an impact. But for the soldier that gives an Afghan child his first box of Crayolas ever, it forges an interpersonal relationship and a lasting connection that will trump Taliban propaganda and nationalism for years to come. It's a small-scale gesture, but an important one nonetheless. That's why Logan's List has already been joined by, among others, Andrew Horne, Ron Shepston (CanYouBeAngryAndStillDream), Gina Cooper, Steve Filson, and over 300 others, including numerous Kossacks and netroots activists.
So if you feel like this is something worth doing, please head over to the Logan's List Facebook page, and become a fan, and suggest that your friends become fans, too. And please visit the Logan's List Amazon registry and pick out something to send to the kids of Helmand Province.
Let's show that the Netroots cares about helping our soldiers and Marines. It won't bring the troops home, and it won't win the war. But it will help the troops come home alive, and it will help win hearts and minds.
To me, that's worth a soccer ball or two.