Afghanistan: Howling At The Moon

I am a journalist. We are supposed to be neutral.  But, this feels personal. Journalists are fast becoming a species on the endangered list.

Sometimes, the world demands we howl at the moon.  Hearts screaming out to breach the distance of miles and trivial priorities. A cry seeking to engage in the night. Souls searching for light and truth in blanketed, darkening skies.   

Kabul has fallen. It is not the first time, it may not be the last.. 

This time, we will all carry the burden of new blood spilled on its streets and fields. The stones thrown will be from our own distant hands.  We fed the wolves.

August 19th is Independence Day in Afghanistan. What meaning will it have in two days for this nation and its people?  Today, we are focused on the horror. Tomorrow, will we forget when our Amazon package arrives at the door?  Generations of Afghans have been born and died under the sound of gunfire. 

A country that has struggled for an independent identity after defeating the British in the Third British Afghan war in  1921.  In 1934, the US officially recognized Afghanistan as an independent nation, creating the first official embassy in 1942. We gave it our blessing to exist.  We gave it the blood of our children and a fragile promise of hope. 

In 1973, Pro-Soviet General Mohammed Daoud Khan, led the People’s Democratic Party into power aligning the country closely with the USSR. This did not sit well with us. We, as a country are forever haunted by the ghosts of McCarthyism. Our own unresolved nightmare that creeps twisted through our political lens and policies.

Over the years, we have closed our embassy (1989) re-opened it (2002) and used the country as grey ground in an advertised, ideological battle against our own personal demon we named "Communism". 

Despite varied political support platforms, reforms for human rights, education programs and injections of foreign monies, Afghans have felt, with good reason, uncertainty in their independent status. 

 In the 1978 coup, Nur Mohammed Taraki, one of the original founding members of the Afghan Communist Party, wrested control of the government and declared independence from the Soviet partnership. 

A bid again, for the mirage of independence and self-rule. A rivalry of ideologies boiled over. The new government aligned it’s policies with more Islamic principles, nationalism and a home-branding of socio-economic justice.  An internal quest for the native soul of their country.

The stressed, patchy externally directed social agendas and agreements between the conservative Islamic leaders, communist ideologies, and rapid social change cracked and broke. Revolt erupted across the country, new alliances were drawn that divided the heart of the country. From this chaos, the Mujahadeen was born. A guerrilla movement initially aiming to free the country from a Soviet backed government. Seeking, independence. Again.

Afghans have been embroiled in a Western cross-fire of philosophies and their own, personal beliefs for over 100 years.  Democracy. Islam. Communism. There is no space left for neutrality.  On August 24th, 1979 the USSR invaded Afghanistan to allegedly support the faltering government.  They left in 1989. They will be back...  The wolves are circling. Again.

By 1982, over 2.9 million Afghans have fled their homeland as fighting escalated between the Mujahedeen and Soviet troops.  The US supported the Mujahadeen with weapons ferried across the Pakistani border. A whispered promise of freedom. Of, independence. Again.

There is no safe space left for hope. Women and children, civilians, remain unprotected, abused on both sides. The UN investigated and  reported on human rights violations. There are piles of reports gathering dust as the battles rage on. Afghans against Afghans. A country and people shredded  by external interests and greed. Again.

The internal war of Afghanistan may have been, initially for the heart of the people. Maybe, it still is. However, countries rich in natural resources, bordered by hungry giants, will always be gambits in the global, political chess game.

 Afghanistan is no exception. Fertile lands blooming with almonds, apricots and walnuts. Fresh water rivers snow-fed from the Pamir and Hindukush mountains. A land abundant with natural gas, uranium, coal, copper, chromite, zinc, sulfur. And, lithium deposits. These are, to name just a few,  the enticements for war. 

Lithium may not be a rare earth mineral, but currently, it is a major element used for electric vehicles, laptops and mobile phones. Our tech world demands to be fed. The excuse of invaders and environmental destructors. We want it more than peace. These common aspects of our modern world. 

Afghans may be battling for the heart and soul of their country, but the outside world has different interests.  Afghanistan’s struggling cry for independence has been drowned in the historical blood arena of the philosophies and needs of outsiders.  

Which begs the question, why shouldn’t US troops leave?  Is it, as President Biden stated, an end to America’s longest war? Are we bringing our own children home?  A departure, finally, after 20 years of direct military involvement for the 911 attack that focused on Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban?  

That is now a moot question. In the face of events, are bigger questions. With all the information and intelligence at the governments literal fingertips, how could this debacle happen? It reeks now more of surrender than, withdrawal.  Shadowed under previous US failures across the world.

We, the US insisted we were fighting a legitimate “war on terrorism”. Operation Enduring Freedom. Helping our friends. Laying the proverbial ground for freedom and justice, in our own godlike image. 

Independence backed by bullets. Our official calling card at diplomatic parties. We laid more than 2,500 American soldiers under burial flags and are currently caring for more than 20,500 returned wounded veterans.  We lay claim to improving the literacy rate by 31.4% for those aged 15 and older. We gave books, pencils and chocolate to children. To girls. We invested. We trained. We promised.

 Kabul has fallen.

American troops struggle to defend the airport in a desperate attempt to give swarmed evacuation flights a chance to escape. We watch as helicopters and troops are sent back in to save our embassy people. 

Today, Afghan civilians are dying as they desperately seek to escape their own country.  The "lucky" ones who leave behind their country, families, homes. Everything. What fate have we created for those left behind?

We have failed them and, ourselves. Again. Today, those who supported and broke bread with us, believed in us, spoke for us; those who have been loyal to us,  have all been betrayed.  

What next for those "lucky ones" who have escaped to foreign lands? Will they languish in refugee camps, censored as potential terrorists? Or, simply be forgotten. Our consumerist masses beguiled to forget inconvenient truths by endless, regurgitated lists of junk to buy on Amazon. 

The wolves are at the door.  Again. 

Kabul has fallen.