A Woman’s Perspective in Afghanistan
A recent article in The New Yorker told the story of the Afghan War from the perspective of a woman in Helmand Province. Shakira had eight children ranging in age from 20 to 2. Four of them were killed, two by Taliban, two by the Afghan Army. Shakira’s husband was addicted to the opium that he grew and sold.
How could the well-equipped, 100,000 man strong Afghan Army have collapsed so completely in a matter of days? Shakira and her fellow citizens were hardly political. All they wanted was for the fighting to stop, for the bullets and shrapnel to stop killing their children. Their lives were difficult enough without seemingly arbitrary death to the innocents.
The most telling reference in the article was the story of General Sami Sadat. Sami was a shining star in the Afghan military commanding one of its seven corps. Sami had a masters degree from a British university and had studied at the NATO Military Academy in Munich. In his spare time, Sami was CEO of Blue Sea Logistics which supplied anti-Taliban forces with everything from helicopter parts to armored vehicles. I wonder who won the contract to supply the Afghan Army with those items.
When the Americans announced the Aug 31 departure date, Sami picked up his ill-gotten financial gains and departed Afghanistan, probably for the UK, in a private plane. Needless to say, Sami’s Army corps did not fight very hard when the Taliban came calling.
“Fox & Friends” was all over “Biden’s Botched Withdrawal” again this morning. How could Biden dishonor the victims of 9/11 by leaving Afghanistan to the very people who sheltered al-Queda? Enough is enough. The major beneficiaries of the Afghan War were General Sami Sadat and his like. Even 9/11 victims would be appalled at that.
How could Biden abandon the women of Afghanistan? Shakira would like to have an education and maybe even a job but her primary desire is for her children to stop being killed. Shortly before the Americans left, they shelled Shakira’s house apparently in response to a Taliban firing a grenade nearby. Shakira, her husband and her four remaining children live in the two remaining rooms without one wall and most of the roof. If we really wanted to help the women of Afghanistan, leaving is the best thing we could do.
