When Steven and I first started dating, we joked that my motivation for dating him was based solely on feelings of Patriotic Duty. While this is not entirely true, (Steven has many amazing qualities that would have been attractive to me whether or not he was serving in the military) I must admit that it has been fascinating to me to follow the events of the war in Afghanistan with a more personal interest. Learning about Afghanistan and why our military is fighting there has helped me develop more appreciation for the rights and freedoms that I enjoy on a daily basis and have taken for granted. I am so thankful for Steven and the hundreds of thousands of other military members that are fighting to protect our freedom and provide assistance to governments all around the world that are trying to improve their societies and establish basic human rights for their people.
When I first thought of Afghanistan, I imagined it being some small, insignificant, barren wasteland, sparsely populated, and without any remarkable amount of interest or beauty. I imagined it as always having a history of backwards views and oppression towards women and I assumed it was a country full of uneducated people living in huts. However, as I have listened to Steven's description and after doing some more personal investigation, I have found some rather interesting and surprising facts about this country:
-Afghanistan has a population of about 29 million, about 4 million more than the population of Texas.
-Afghanistan covers an area of 652,230 sq km (251,760 sq mi). The country could fit easily inside the Eastern half of the United States.
-Afghanistan actually has some really pretty areas. Steven is stationed at Forward Operating Base Wright (FOB Wright or Camp Wright) which is located in the Kunar Province in the Eastern part of Afghanistan at the base of the Hindu Kush mountain range. I looked it up on google and found some photos of this area that are really quite beautiful. I think it is somewhat similar to Utah's terrain with lots of mountains and valleys, although I'm pretty sure the mountains there are much bigger.
-Women in Afghanistan were not always oppressed as they are now. In the early part of the 20th century, Afghanistan's government made efforts to modernize the country and grant equal rights to women, abolishing the muslim veil and establishing co-educational schools. (And yes, I do get much of my information from the all-wise and possibly completely incorrect wikipedia) However, through many years of war and political upheavals, many of these progressive efforts have failed. It has only been since 1998 when the Taliban imposed restrictions on women's rights that the treatment of women and children has seriously declined. It is my opinion that many of the problems associated with young men joining the Taliban and becoming a part of insurgent groups would be alleviated if women were allowed equal rights and could have access to health care and education that would improve the stability of their families, and therefore the stability of the country as a whole. I believe that the family is the fundamental unit of society. Women are an integral part of the family, therefore they are an integral part of society. If the women of a society are not allowed to enjoy basic human rights, the family will disintegrate and the society will fail, which is exactly what has happened in Afghanistan. I can't imagine what it must have been like for a woman my age to have grown up in that country, to be able to go wherever I pleased without restrictions, and then all of a sudden, in 1998 ( I would have been 16 years old then) to be required to wear a burqa whenever I needed to go out in public, and to be accompanied by a male relative everywhere I go.
I found this photo album on facebook that has pictures of the people in the Kunar region. I look at the faces of these adorable children and wonder- what does the future hold for them? I hope and pray that our military will be successful so these people can enjoy peace and these children can grow up to have happy and fulfilling lives. Perhaps I am being too naive and idealistic for having this hope, but how can I look at these faces and hope otherwise? I know that it is a sacrifice for our military, and for us as the American people who are paying taxes to pay for this war, but how can we, who have been given so much, stand by and NOT do something to help these people?
Anyway, maybe I should either get off my soapbox now or go and join a humanitarian organization to do something more than just talk about what I think should be done. What this all boils down to is that I am very thankful for Steven being willing to do what he is doing and I love him all the more for it. It is really hard being separated from him and not being able to talk with him very frequently, but I fully support what he is doing.
For those of you who are not up-to-date on your current events, here are some links to help you out. I am extremely surprised and, frankly, quite disappointed with how many Americans have no idea why our military is even there.
This video explains why not helping Afghanistan establish a stable government would be a threat to America. The most pertinent info is towards the end of this clip, so be sure to watch the whole thing. (Although this lady's hair really bugs me, I can't figure out why it looks straight on one side and curly on the other. Did she look in a mirror before she went on air?)
I don't want this to sound morbid (because the title of this website is a bit disturbing), but I check this website pretty frequently because it keeps a good running synopsis of current news and recent events happening in Afghanistan. I look at the casualty numbers occasionally, but I figure that if anything ever happened to Steven, hopefully I would know about it before his name showed up on this website. :-S
