Winning Hearts and Minds

With the dozen odd rendezvous that I have had with NATO/US Army convoys on the roads of Afghanistan, a common warning has been issued by almost everyone who has spent more than 3 months in the country. Not driving on the road while they do and not looking at them in the eye while they spend the time ‘liberating’ this country.

The morning of the day before, an unsuspecting bus driver in Kandahar city happened to leave the bus terminal just about the same time a ‘Fuck-yeah-man-we’re-the-fuckin-marines-bro-hoooahh’ convoy was rolling down the same street. Outcome – 4 dead bus passengers and 12 injured including kids and women.

This was not a new or shocking incident; it was the third in a week of its kind. As a standard protocol the US military announced that the incident was ‘unfortunate’, I guess they forgot to add the words like ‘avoidable’ and ‘unnecessary’ to it.

8 years into the war, Afghanistan is still a no-go for the civilized world and western troops are witnessing more violence against them than what they encountered 4-5 years ago. Taliban issue threats and rule the land with their proxy government while the NATO/US Army control areas no more than 200 meter radiuses from their compounds. The whole farce of liberating the country is coming of age and the true cracks in the ‘coalition of the willing’ are starting to emerge with many nations planning to withdraw troops from Afghanistan ( Netherlands even had a parliamentary change of government due to the issue!)

Another problem lies with the low IQ levels and short sightedness of the American public who are easily deceived by the media and their government. They were forced to believe that some 18th century -Quran reading-outdated Kalashnikov wielding tribal Taliban managed to get a resident US Visa ( I couldn’t!) and then slammed into the WTC after intense training at flight schools. YEAH RIGHT. Majority of American citizens DO NOT know the difference between an Afghan, Arab and Persian. (Do you?)
Even as an Indian, I am considered as an Arab sometimes by Americans! I’m supposed to be angry, but I laugh, I laugh at their ignorance and amuse myself with the fact that THESE men and women are the future of America.
If you lack the basic knowledge of the geography and its people, then why the FUCK do you support the war that you have no clue about ?

No wonder I am a strong believer in the theory of New world order and power shift between east and west, these men and women will be instrumental for the east becoming more powerful in the next quarter century.

All said n done, Taliban needed to go, THAT part of the deal was good. Giving the people of this country some breathing space was the best intent and thought behind operation Enduring Freedom. So how did this get screwed up midway? Why do the people who were supposed to cheer for the GI Joes and support them unconditionally are now against the ‘liberation turned occupation’ of their country.

It’s simple; trigger happy 18 year olds who transitioned from Xbox 360 to real world Afghanistan and armed with the license to kill are screwing up the whole deal. These lower middle class American youngsters from lifestyles where they had nothing to do, and now armed to the teeth are on an all expenses paid adrenaline trip and lack the maturity to maintain public faith in their favor.

The attitude of anything goes in the war on terror provides enough immunity to these soldiers to get away with murder. 8 years in Iraq and now American troops are on their way out with Iraq worse than ever before. No Law and order, farcical government and devastated citizens. Eye-Rack is now Liberated, Good Job Marines..Hooaaahh! (Maybe we should rename the country I-wreck).

Are we looking at a second Iraq in the making and a third Vietnam for the strongest military in the world?

Well, at this point someone has got to tell these guys that shooting innocent civilians in the chest and head isn’t exactly winning hearts and minds.