On Monday December 21, 2015, the U.S. suffered a blow in morale as six American soldiers lost their lives in a suicide bombing.  This attack was the largest loss of life attack this year according to two senior NATO officials.

No organization has taken credit for the attack but there are speculations that it was the Taliban.  Defense Secretary Ash Carter believes the Taliban to be the culprits of this attack because this past year The Taliban and Islamic State have mounted forces that have produced deadly results.  Army General Johnathon Campbell, estimates there are as many as 3,000 rebels in Afghanistan.

The bomber was a motorcyclist carrying a bomb heading for the “sprawling U.S. airbase” located in Bagram, Iran (34 miles north of Kabul).  New information has also been released saying the Taliban have decided to back the Afghan government.  Together they are causing problems which are resulting in the departure of an estimated 9,800 troops.  The pentagon later announced that in the second half of 2015, there has been an increase in effective insurgent attacks, such as overtaking another country’s embassy, effectively causing riots in the area.

Defense Secretary Carter mentioned “the attack on Monday serves as a painful reminder of the dangers our troops face every day; not only in Afghanistan but around the world.”  Secretary Carter is correct that these are dangers our heroes face every day. However some preventable measures in our opinion can be taken so that our heroes can come back home and enjoy the holidays.  For example, if there has been an increase in insurgent attacks in a particular area it’s not smart to hold a military meeting in that hostile territory.

Elder senior Kobe Young agrees that something needs to be done.  “This is ridiculous at this point,”  Young said. “All we ever hear about are the attacks against us in the Middle East, and we never hear of the successes.”  He’s not wrong; it is hard to remember the last success the United States has had in the Middle East.  The last major accomplishment of the United States in the Middle East was the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.  This was four years ago.  It has been that long since the United States has had a successful offensive attack against the Taliban.

This is alarming news.  ISIS is currently the largest threat to the United States, but the country still has lingering enemies from over a decade ago.  How can the United States hope to defeat ISIS if we still cannot finish off enemies from years ago?  Something needs to change, whether it is foreign policy or an increase in offensive missions.

We are not aware of everything going on overseas, so if there are any major successes, it would be nice to hear about them.  All the news of killed Americans is demoralizing for the people here at home, and the country has the right to know if we are truly in the right direction and if we are, some successes are needed for the people to see.

With these attacks and an increase in civil unrest within the Middle East, there will for sure be an increase in soldier deployments this upcoming year.  We feel that NATO and all other counter terrorist organizations the U.S. has, need to come together and come up with a realistic solution that ensures the safety of your citizens and eliminates enemies of the state.