well it was 3.30 in the morning. i am sure the average afgan wants a bit of peace, the place was/is a haven for nut jobs quite happy to put a bullet in a young girls head because she wanted a bit of education. and all the rest of it. possibly run and organized by people with different motive. or am i just a brain washed fool. i am open minded and happy to be reeducated.
The Afghan problem can only be solved by the people of Afghanistan, that is true. In order for them to want to change their own country they need to recognize that things can be different. This means that they need access to education. There can't be access to education without security. I can give you the example of Qalat City in Zabul province, which is where I am right now. The city centre is heavily protected by Afghan Army and Afghan Police units. There is a school in the city and the government pays for the education of the children that live there. Every Afghan I speak to that has children under the age of 15 says that their kids go to this school. 2 years ago Qalat was a dangerous city. You couldn't travel on the roads without being harassed by the Taliban or risk an IED strike. The new(isn) police commander has completely stopped the sale of Hashish within the city. Motorcycles are banned within the city limits. His ISAF trained troops have the skills, authority, equipment and numbers to enforce these rules. As a result the young generation of Afghanistan will grow up trusting in the national authorities, thus denying the insurgency popular support and enabling further strengthening of the state. There are elections in the spring for a new President. Every person I speak to intends to vote in the election. The last elections were marred by suicide attacks, threats of violence against voters and the local police chief went house to house to round up the electorate to force them to vote. The mission in Afghanistan has enabled change, and although the change will take 10 to 15 years to become evident, it is happening. If this effect is to last then the People's Shura need to convince Karzai to sign the agreement with the USA. In comparison the Falklands War lasted for 2 months, 1 week and 5 days and cost 255 lives on our side. The battle of the Somme lasted from 1st July to 18th November 1916 and cost between 400,000 and 500,000 lives on our side. That makes the number for 12 years of constant fighting seem pretty acceptable to me. Obviously no one wants to lose their son/husband/father but lives are lost in war. By denying the changes that these lives have been given in aid of seems to me some what offensive. Afghanistan is a different country compared to how things were in 2001 and the people of Afghanistan have a bright future. Depending on the US and Karzai sorting their admin out. It's very easy to listen to the stories in the paper and ignore the evidence on the ground, especially when you have no first hand experience. Most of the Afghan populace are not high on heroin, they just want to raise their kids and find enough food to eat in safety.
