SC veterans and families reflect on those who died as America withdraws from Afghanistan

In a Memorial Day tribute appearing in The Post and Courier, reporter Thomas Novelly reaches out to South Carolina family members who have lost loved ones during America’s longest war and reflects on other South Carolinians who perished in the nearly tw0 decade conflict.

Buket Oztas

Just months before U.S. troops return from Afghanistan – officially by September 11 – Novelly also spoke to Buket Oztas, an assistant professor of politics and international affairs at Furman University, about the effectiveness of the U.S. presence in the region. “If our purpose was to eliminate all Taliban presence and perhaps establish a successful democracy, we can say that we definitely failed in that particular goal,” Oztas said. “But if the goal was to perhaps reduce the imminent threat to the United States, then yes, we were definitely successful.”