Iraq and Afghanistan didnât happen in a vacuum. The problem was the entire post-9/11 projectâthe wars, the Patriot Act, rendition, GITMO, the Obama-era drone program, even the killing of U.S. citizens abroad without due process. Iâm a veteran of Iraq and a contractor in Afghanistan. I took part in operations across the globe. Looking back, much of it was imperial policing.
Now the chickens are coming home to roost. We see the military deployed on U.S. streets, policy and posture shaped by the same counter-insurgency logic we exported. We see echoes of this in Gaza, Russia, Hungary, Chinaâcreeping authoritarian reflexes justified by âsecurity.â We must refuse a future of mass surveillanceâ cameras logging every face, license plate, and movement, drones overhead, sprawling databasesâbecause a free town cannot breathe under permanent watch, we must not allow federal troops or federal law enforcement into our city under any pretext.
Remains of Alexander the Greatâs âCastleâ (Qalat City Fort). According to local officials, the fortress was built more than 2,000 years ago by the legendary Greek leader during his push to India. (Staff Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez/U.S. Air Force)
From Fire Base Davis, I could see an ancient fortress the local Afghans call The Castleâthe site known as Qala-e-Bostârising above the village of Qalat. Archaeological studies trace its occupation to at least the first millennium BCE, long before Alexander the Greatâs campaigns into the region (Pleiades; Encyclopaedia Iranica). The firebase I was on supported small Operational Detachment Alphasâthe Green Berets. Our mission was fluid: weâd establish an operations site, fly missions, then tear it all down, load the containers and trucks, and roll to the next fightâfirst in MRAPs, later in MAT-Vs. Later in that deployment, I overwintered in Gelan, in southern Ghazni Province. It snowed for weeks. No mail came for months; it finally arrived on New Yearâs Eve, just after the 101st Airborne commander stopped by to see what the âbearded weirdosâ were doing out there in the middle of winter.
Concrete barrier painted with the âFB Davisâ insignia, featuring the U.S. Army Special Forces crest and the motto De Oppresso Liber.
I spent time at FOB Ghazni and hated it. The 82nd Airborne ran the baseâstrict garrison life. I preferred the smaller SOF teams; they didnât care who you were as long as you pulled weight. I wound up in Gardez at a base called FOB Lightning for the election, living in a joint SEALâODA team house as a contractor and prior Navy guy. It was chaos, but those were good men.
Portrait taken during an ISOPREP (Isolated Personnel Report) update while deployed in Afghanistan. This identification photo was used for personnel recovery and safety procedures in case of isolation or emergencies.
A Call to Action
Some of us made it home. Many didnât. And some who did carried the war inside until it claimed them just the sameâby wreck, by overdose, by despair. Iâve wrestled with the same shadows: depression, anxiety, sleepless nights that never really end. War teaches you how fragile life isâand how sacred it becomes when you fight to keep it.
Thatâs why this moment matters. We canât let fear, division, or apathy hollow out what others bled to preserve. The same vigilance that kept us alive overseas is needed here at homeâto guard our democracy, to protect one another, and to push back against the slow creep of authoritarianism.
The work isnât abstract. It starts right here, in Wake Forest, in your block, on your street. Show up. Vote in your local elections. Help a neighbor. Defend the truth when itâs twisted. Choose compassion when cynicism feels easier.
We donât vote for parties or personalitiesâwe vote for people: for the hungry kid who needs a meal, the teacher stretching a classroom budget, the elder who wants a safe sidewalk, the worker keeping the lights on, and the quiet spaces where truth still matters.
This is not ideology; itâs a covenant. Itâs how a free people stay free.
So live by the Code. Protect your community. Do the work. Love your neighbor.
Because loveâhonest, stubborn, everyday loveâis how we keep the republic.
Footnotes (MLA)
âQaĘżla Bost: A Pleiades Place Resource.â Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places, created by Carolin Johansson and Rune Rattenborg, contributor Jeffrey Becker, 10 June 2023, https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/310634609
Paine, Thomas. The American Crisis. Philadelphia, 1776.
United Nations Charter, Art. 2(4); see also Glennon, Michael J. âThe UN Charter and the Use of Force Against Iraq.â The American Journal of International Law, vol. 97, no. 1, 2003, pp. 141â154.
Tom Baker IV is the publisher of Wake Forest Matters, Wake Forest’s only independent local newsroom. A Wake Forest native, Navy veteran, and intelligence professional, Tom launched Wake Forest Matters to bring serious accountability journalism to his hometown. Tips and story ideas: publisher@wakeforestmatters.com
