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HomeShop at BookSurgePsychologyPsychopathologyPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)Honor First: A Citizen-Soldier in Afghanistan |
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
 What It Really Is Like Jan 02, 2008
By T. Berner
This book had a great effect on me because I worked with Platte Moring in Afghanistan and am mentioned in the book. We both worked on legal reform, I as a civilian and Platte as a JAG officer.
Creating a rule of law in Afghanistan is quite a challenge. There are few lawyers, even fewer laws that are recognized, and few of the institutions that other countries have. Iraq is hard because its lawyers were trained by a tyranical regime. Afghanistan is hard because it doesn't have any lawyers. Its judges are mostly mullahs and the best justice in the country is obtained by village elders in informal "jirgas" which only work if you've lived in the village all of your life.
Platte made two major contributions. First, he got the brilliant idea to teach a course in one of the two law schools at the university. I met some of his students and was as impressed with them as Platte is, but I was also impressed at how they respected him as a teacher.
The other contribution was in creating the right of legal counsel in Afghanistan. The Italians had the lead in judicial reform and their draft criminal procedure law reflected the fact that in Italy, as in all civil law countries (which is most of the world outside of the English speaking world, including all of continental Europe) the right of an accused to legal counsel is not a very important right. Civil law countries treat both the prosecutor and the judges as fact finders and their role is not to put the defendant away but to examine the evidence and determine whether he is fairly charged.
This concept sounds odd to one schooled in a common law country, but it seems to work and despite lip service to the right of counsel in all civil law constitutions (including Afghanistan's), in practice, it is rarely used. Platte made a major issue of the right to counsel and ultimately, with support from his fellow JAG officers, was responsible for getting the law changed. Although this created a sort of hybrid between civil and common law and was unlike the way Afghanistan was used to being run, given the endemic corruption in the country and the broken legal system, having an advocate for the accused is a very important right and a major accomplishment (and by the way, Europe and many other civil law countries are edging toward the same system).
Today, the tiny NGO called International Legal Foundation is bravely carrying on Platte's work in creating defense attorneys and it is one of the brightest spots in the legal reform process.
I only overlapped Platte by a month or two and wish that I had had his book when I got there because it paints an accurate picture of the situation. As always, there is a Rashomon effect and I have a much different impression of a lot of the people Platte mentions than he does. Platte has kind words about the Minister of Justice, for instance, whereas many of us thought he was incompetent and paranoid, and, indeed, he was replaced before I left. On the other hand, Platte is surely correct that his heart was in the right place: everytime you went to him to talk about anything, you would get a 20 minute monologue in Dari and would know what he was saying because names like "Montesquieu" and "Edmund Burke" would be the only words one would recognize.
The one person about whom I strongly disagree with Platte is Col. Gary Medvigy, a reservist from California who worked with us both (longer, though, I gather with me than with Platte). Platte mentions him about six times and in five of those times has something snide to say about him, nothing major mind you, but snide just the same. Unlike Platte and me, Gary has had extensive experience in nation building - in Haiti, Bosnia and Iraq. He was the most energetic, intelligent and upright person I worked with in Afghanistan and I am proud to have known him. That it not just my opinion. It is the opinion of the US Army, which recently promoted him to Brigadier General and senior reserve civil affairs officer in the U.S. Army. It is also the opinion of the State of California, which recently elevated him to the appellate bench.
None of that detracts from Platte's signal acheivements and it was an honor to have worked with Platte. His book is a great read.
 Honor First: A Citizen-Soldier in Afghanistan Dec 11, 2007
By Susan E. Wambaugh
I heard the author speak on Friday, bought his book, and had devoured it by Sunday. Not my standard reading fare, I nevertheless found this to be a fascinating look at the sacrifices and service of the citizen soldiers of The PA National Guard whom America sent to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003-2004. As a Philadelphia trial lawyer with exceptional credentials, Moring was tapped to assist coalition forces in supporting the Afghans as they formulated their constitution and legal system. His book sheds light on the leadership and international and intercultural diplomacy exhibited by our armed forces in many ways and under extraordinary circumstances. Most impressive to me was that these citizen-soldiers didn't allow their egos to obscure the mission's objectives: supporting this war torn nation in the creation of governance structures consistent with Afghanistan's own values. The book is aptly named.
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