I forgot to ask: can I repost this in another list i'm on to spur some conversation?
I'll leave your name out of it of course. On Thu, Jul 7, 2011 at 9:54 AM, Bruce Sorge <sor...@gmail.com> wrote: > > So here in Afghanistan it is the squad leader that does all of the same > things that a platoon leader does in Iraq. I lead the shurah's (meetings > between us and village elders, local police and ANA), I manage the projects > that we pay for here and so on. Anyway, the Malik (village leader) in the > town I am responsible for pretty much said during a shurah that as long as > the US provides money for projects in his town, he can assure security by > way of keeping the INS forces away from us. In not so many words he > basically said that he has no problem siding wiht the taliban unless we > give > them money. So basically we are paying for our security. Money is the ONLY > motivating factor for these people. Yeah, they are poor, they live in mud > huts as the pictures I posted on FB show, they have no electricity, no > running water and so on, but why is it that these guys have no problem > siding with the same oppressive regime that we ousted 10 years ago. I am > reading the book Talaban and for the life of me I cannot figure why they > want this type of life back. Beards have to be a certain length, hair cut > short or shaved heads, have to wear a turbin at all times, kids are > required > to attend the madrasa or they are beaten with a stick, women not allowed > outside unless accompanied by a male family member, women have to cover > themselves from head to toe, etc... > Anyway, I feel that this country is pretty much hopeless. The GIROA has > absolutely no interest in helping the people of afghanistan unless they > belong to specific tribes. After being here for only a little more than a > month I have now wondered if we should really be here. Yeah the original > idea of getting the people who got us was a nifty one at first, but after > seeing first hand that little to nothing has been accomplished I wonder now > if staying here a day longer is even worth it. I fully believe that when we > leave here the TB are going to take over again and all of the time, money > and lives spent/lost here were all for nothing. > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:339955 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
