Following is my take on why Afghanistan needs more troops:
Afghans desperately want to catch up with the modern world. They want water more than 3 hours a day and electricity more than 3 hours every other day. They want internet service. They've got cell phones and cars and modern clothes. Otherwise this is a filthy, backwards place to live. The Taliban are still making life hell in all the provinces. This means farmers aren't able to ship their produce to other cities and countries. Any commerce between cities is extremely risky, yet the Afghans keep trying to do it. Construction projects are very difficult because of the threat to shipping building materials and workers along those roads.
If you are an Afghan employee of the government in Kabul and while traveling to or from the job you're stopped by the Taliban you're probably gonna die. If they find anything on you written in English, or even specialized equipment like a GPS, they will slit your throat. It is happening here. The Taliban are getting braver and braver and Afghans are getting more and more frightened. An Afghan cook was killed last month with a shopping list written in English by a Western friend who couldn't safely go to the grocery store on his own. The Taliban are mostly illiterate... they couldn't read it, but recognized the letters... His death was justified on the assumption alone that he was helping the Infidel.
Afghans desperately want to catch up with the modern world. They want water more than 3 hours a day and electricity more than 3 hours every other day. They want internet service. They've got cell phones and cars and modern clothes. Otherwise this is a filthy, backwards place to live. The Taliban are still making life hell in all the provinces. This means farmers aren't able to ship their produce to other cities and countries. Any commerce between cities is extremely risky, yet the Afghans keep trying to do it. Construction projects are very difficult because of the threat to shipping building materials and workers along those roads.
If you are an Afghan employee of the government in Kabul and while traveling to or from the job you're stopped by the Taliban you're probably gonna die. If they find anything on you written in English, or even specialized equipment like a GPS, they will slit your throat. It is happening here. The Taliban are getting braver and braver and Afghans are getting more and more frightened. An Afghan cook was killed last month with a shopping list written in English by a Western friend who couldn't safely go to the grocery store on his own. The Taliban are mostly illiterate... they couldn't read it, but recognized the letters... His death was justified on the assumption alone that he was helping the Infidel.
The Coalition strives to establish the Afghan Army and Police to secure the nation, but it takes a while to build bases and academies for them, and training is tough when 90 % of the recruits are illiterate and most of the leaders have at one time or another given way to bribes and all kinds of corruption of statutes and standards.
The biggest problem here is security from terrorism and the Taliban is at the root of it. The Afghans despise them for abusing this county for 5 years causing decades of regression culturally and technologically. From 1996 to 2001 what were we doing in the western world? We were learning to implement the internet in our businesses. From 1977 to 2001 they were watching their proven irrigation and power infrastructure blown to bits. Just think of a nation without these resources, as well as without tourism! There are not enough taxes to fund the things the coalition is building nor the training being done. I don't know what they'll ever do about the absence of Afghan doctors here. They all left when the Taliban arrived and they probably won’t be back. Anywhere is better than here, if you’ve survived the wars and are now set up elsewhere.
So, violence here is increasing monthly. I can barely leave the villa except to go to Camp Eggers. Two years ago Westerners used to walk downtown. Now I cannot walk outside the villa gates. Since I've been in Kabul, there have been numerous kidnappings and shootings of Westerners within a few blocks of here. Some of this is done by hungry Afghan gangs kidnapping family members of Afghan diplomats but also Westerners. Most kidnappings are not reported. Some of the bad guys believe the Taliban will pay them a bounty for killing. The Taliban is getting into the city center to show that President Karzai is not in control. The coalition countries are doing their best to provide a safe nation in which to flourish economically, which is the root of all success here in the long term.
4 comments:
okay---that was very educational, but now I'm scared for you!
Very well written insight into the problems that exist there. You are in our prayers every day.
Love,
Dad
Mike... please know that we pray for your safety every day, as well as praying for Sarah and the boys to be well in your absence. I know Heavenly Father answers prayers. Take Care!
Yes, thank you for your prayers. Please don't be any more scared about my safety than you would be for your family members who must work in forbidding neighborhoods of the USA. There are secret combinations of ill-conspiring men everywhere. I am fortunate to have people here to remind me every day of the threat of safety. It is at home where we are so much more complacent.
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