DENVER — Even though it is 7,300 miles from Denver, what is happening in Kabul, Afghanistan, hits close to home for people in Colorado.
Take, for example, State Rep. David Ortiz (D-Littleton). As an Army helicopter pilot, he was left paralyzed from a 2012 helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
His view of his own party's decision-making is not something you often hear from a politician these days.
9NEWS political reporter Marshall Zelinger sat down with Oritz Monday.
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Marshall Zelinger: "Your life was forever changed because of Afghanistan. How are you taking the news of what's going on over there?"
Ortiz: "Really, my entire adult life has been shaped by the global war on terror. I was a sophomore in college, my dad was an airline pilot when 9/11 happened. He was flying that day, but it wasn't his aircraft, thank God. And then, (I) eventually went on to serve in the military and be a combat aviator. Seeing the way that things have played out with the withdrawal, and how much it was botched, it's very frustrating, it's disappointing. It hurts. I mean, we've had brothers and sisters who took their last breath over there, fighting for the Afghani people and for this country, and to see this botched up, it's disappointing and it hurts."
MZ: "You said botched. You're a Democrat and Democrats are currently in charge. You have no problem saying botched?"
Ortiz: "I don't. I think that those of us that are electeds or those of us that are voters, whether you have a 'D' or an 'R' next to your registration or as an elected, you need to be able to speak truth to power, and that includes being self-reflective and honest and constructively critical about mistakes when they are made, and so I think that leads to a more honest and more representative government."
MZ: "You spent the morning at physical therapy. And this injury is because of something that happened while in Afghanistan, did your therapy this morning seem any different?"
Ortiz: "Therapy for me is, kind of, my church and my religion…It kind of hones and focuses it a little bit more and makes it a little bit more painful, but it's still an outlet for me, if that makes any sense."
MZ: "You were watching the president's address, and I heard a 'tsk' or a scoff, what's going through your head?"
Ortiz: "To me, it sounds like there's damage control being done. As someone that was a combat aviator, as someone that served in the military, and this has been carried over to my personal style as an elected leader, I have very little patience for bull----. I just -- I don't. I'm not here for it, I don't care for it, and I feel like that's part of what I heard, when I heard the words, 'this did not have to go down that way.' And I know that there are 'Ds' that are saying, 'this was going to happen,' 'this was inevitable no matter what.' And the majority of them who it's coming from are white men, who have never had to live under a regime where they couldn't go to school because of their gender, where if they committed a crime that they would be whipped or beaten or killed. So they sit there in their privilege, saying that this was all inevitable, having no experience in national security, having never served, and it makes me incredulous and it makes me frustrated and they just need to stop."
MZ: "People will be watching, and they're like, 'I don't live in Afghanistan, I've never been to Afghanistan, I couldn't pick it out on a map. Why should I care what's happening?'"
Ortiz: "I mean, it's easy to forget when we have an all-volunteer military, when we've never had to have a draft, when we haven't had a ration like we did back in World War II. It's easy to forget that there has been 20 years of service members that have fought, sacrificed and died over there. And part of what brought us there was 9/11. When people say it was a waste or wasn't worth it, we have not had to endure a 9/11-style attack since 9/11, and I think we might see that changing. We are less safe as a nation and we are less safe as a globe, to be honest with you, with the Taliban in power…If we could maintain the peace and keep the Taliban out of power with just 3,500 troops and American contractors to support the Afghan National Army, what was the hurry? Why? To fulfill a campaign promise? For political talking points? No, I don't buy it."
MZ: "When you said, 'fulfilling a campaign promise'? Does that lessen your sacrifice?"
Ortiz: "I would say no it doesn't. And that would be my message to any of my brother and sister veteran service members that sacrificed or lost friends there or family members who lost sons or daughters or brothers and sisters there, is that it was worth it because you don't know the kind of relief that you brought to Afghan women and children that got the chance to have an education for 20 years. You don't know what's going to happen in the next 10 years because Afghani civilians were able to live in that freedom, we don't know what it's going to take, and we don't know how it's going to come to fruition or how difficult or easy it will be for the Taliban to hold onto power after a lot of Afghani civilians got a taste of freedom, but I will say we did our job."
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