The War in Afghanistan

First off I am well aware that not very many people are in favor of this war. I honestly don't care what people think, I am sick of the phrase "We support the troops but not the war". Please just shut up none of us want to hear it. The majority of the men and women over here don't think too much about the politics involved, they do their job and think about going home. This is my 3rd time here, I find the more time I spend here the more I care about what I am doing and what we as a country are doing. I have developed an affinity for these people and have made an effort recently to learn about their culture and their history. I see first hand the strides that are being made in the rebuilding of this country and to be perfectly honest I think we owed them. We are talking about a country of people that defeated the Soviet Union for Christ's sake. We armed them and assisted them and then deserted them. I know that there are countries more in need of our help than this country but here we are.

As I said before this is my 3rd time here and I have been to Iraq twice. I prefer everything about this country over Iraq. I don't know maybe deep down I feel what we are doing here is more pure or justified, or maybe it is because here I have had more interaction with the local populace, or maybe it is because of the way the Enemy here fights. Whatever the reason I will take this country over Iraq any day. I have lost 4 friends in this country and 3 in Iraq so if you are an antiwar liberal lunatic please keep this in mind before you decide to tell me how wrong this war is or how evil George W. Bush is.

The first time I was here was November of 2001 at the beginning. The first base I was on had no running water, no electricity, and was freezing cold. This base now has everything from Burger King to Baskin Robbins. We worked closely with the Northern Alliance during that time and whipped the Talib's ass. Now there is a growing infrastructure, there are schools in villages, there is a system of government, and there is an Army. That is where I come in. We help train the ANA (Afghan National Army) and accompany them on their missions. It has been baby steps but it is amazing to leave for a year and come back and see what all has taken place, there is no more 1 step forward 3 steps back. You ask the ANA what they want to do and their answer is simple they want to kill Talib and make their country proud. They aren't doing this for the benefits or the money for college tuition. They have to worry about their families getting killed if the Talib finds out their son is in the ANA. They want to kill Talib and make their country proud. They are a very proud people and eager to learn, which makes it all the more pleasurable to teach them. For every US casualty you read about from over here multiply that by 10 to get an accurate ANA bodycount. As things of interest happen to me over here I will make sure to blog about it. I know that IF anyone is reading this it is not because of my undiscovered literary genius but to hear what might be happening over here. I will do my best not to disappoint and try to keep my opinonated rantings to a minimum. Have a good one.

M