From Pentagon Desk Job to Front Lines (former Dem. Congressman volunteers as Marine in Afghanistan)

[JPZenger]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/12300771.html

This article was published on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer. It is about 57 year old Paul McHale, who served as a Democrat in the US House during the late 1990s, after defeating an entrenched arch-conservative. McHale could have held that seat for life, but did not run for re-election to REALLY spend more time with his family. McHale is now US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Security. At his own request, he recently went back into active duty in the Marines to serve a tour of duty in Afghanistan. McHale in the early 1990s resigned his seat in the PA. State House to volunteer for active duty service during the first Gulf War.
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Here excerpts of the article:

"After hearing of the officer's experiences on the frontier, McHale, 57, was pumped. "I was jealous as hell," he said later. "I realized I'd trade any job I've ever had to be that young lieutenant." Anything, he thought, to remain in Afghanistan.

"You couldn't find a better enemy than the Taliban," McHale continued. "I can't imagine an enemy more worthy of dying. "If I was 22 years old, I'd enlist in the Marines and ask for Afghanistan," he said. "It is a place where a young warrior can make a real difference fighting for a noble cause."

McHale was once again such a warrior. Riding in heavily armed convoys through some of the most dangerous territory on Earth, he was teaching Afghan soldiers how to better counter an implacable Taliban foe. Despite his retirement from the Marine reserves in 2006, he grabbed hold of one final chance to go to war, signing up for a tour of duty in Afghanistan that thrust him to the front line of the global war on terrorism.

In a recent interview, McHale said that the war in Afghanistan should be "judged on its own merits." At a time when the U.S. role in Iraq inflames many Americans, McHale urges that the United States intensify its focus on a nation where the fight against terrorism isn't burdened by the mistakes and civil discord as it has been in Iraq. McHale insists that the "noble cause" in Afghanistan is winnable and is a fight embraced by most Afghans. "The challenge in Afghanistan . . . ought not to be merged with the quite different and distinct challenges in Iraq," he said. "The Afghan people have a growing sense of unity. The Afghan people share an overwhelming commitment to freedom and democracy. In Afghanistan, sectarian violence is almost nonexistent."

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