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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTed Rall’s “uncomfortable truths” about Afghanistan
Tell me a little about the ordinary Afghans perspective. Do they subscribe to a similar narrative of the U.S. invasion as we do? Namely, that it was a consequence of 9/11, and that the U.S. military is leaving because Americans are sick of the occupation?
Ive never met a single Afghan who had any understanding of the relationship between 9/11 and the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. In fact, Ive never met a single Afghan who even understood what happened on 9/11, understood the scale of it. I was repeatedly having to explain it to people, having to explain these buildings and how big they were and how many people were in them and how it affected the American psyche and so on.
Whenever you asked (Afghans), regardless of their age or their politics or their tribal affiliation, theyd all say the same thing: The only reason the U.S. was in Afghanistan was because the U.S. was the dominant superpower in the world; and from their point of view, whoever is the dominant superpower in the world at any given time invades Afghanistan. So were just there because we could they all think that.
If Americans think Afghans understand that whatever suffering theyre going through is somehow tied to 9/11, no; they should be disabused of that, because Afghans just dont think that. Thats just universally true. They think were there because we hate Islam or because we want to steal Afghanistans natural resources or because its strategically important or I dont know, but theyre here, and I just have to deal with them!
Theres something vaguely Kafka about that. Its kind of existentially bleak and yet has a touch of black comedy to it as well.
Yeah. They always call us the foreigners, which just refers to the inevitable foreign presence thats always there, whether its Soviet advisers in the 1960s and 70s or the Red Army in the 80s or whatever it is. Theres always foreigners here. Were a weak country. We cant defend our borders. The foreigners come and go; we shoot a lot of them, and then they leave. Black humor is absolutely a huge survival tool for people who live in stressful circumstances and Afghans are very, very funny people.
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http://www.salon.com/2014/09/13/ted_ralls_uncomfortable_truths_how_exiting_afghanistan_risks_tremendous_national_trauma/
CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)under the Taliban so of course most Afghan villagers had no idea what was going on.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)and so have no idea what's going on.
kpete
(71,984 posts)the truth....
peace,
kp
alterfurz
(2,474 posts)...only more so.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Sad but true.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)malthaussen
(17,186 posts)What made us think we could do any better?
-- Mal
Dems to Win
(2,161 posts)I do believe the Afghanis understand better than the Americans exactly why we are at war.
Because we can! USA #1!
K&R for Ted Rall
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)I thought that the stream of refugees began immediately after the 9/11 attacks. TV or no, there was a fairly widespread understanding in Afghanistan that al-Qaeda had perpetrated the attacks, that al-Qaeda had extensive training facilities in Afghanistan, and that the U.S. military would therefore be showing up in Afghanistan very soon.
This makes me dubious about Rall's contention that no one in Afghanistan draws the connection between the 9/11 attacks and the U.S. presence. I suppose it's possible that the previous understanding could have been lost over 13 years, but it seems unlikely.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Happens in every country we invade.
CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)that swept down from the north.
Remember they are a different tribe, the Taliban are mainly Pashtun, so it probably just seemed like a rekindling of the civil war.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)I don't think so. They didn't even know of the 9/11 attack.
Rall is right on.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)and....good PR for the politicians.