Comment 75258

By mad matt (anonymous) | Posted March 17, 2012 at 13:54:25

I spent 2010 in Afghanistan working for the Forces at Kandahar Airfield. 9-11 and the whole "terrorists threaten our lifestyle" argument was not my reason for volunteering, nor that for most of the non-Americans I met.
Every Saturday they have a bazaar with local merchants selling all types of things: pirated videos to hand made carpets and amazing gems, marble and jewelry. It also had a school for the children. Not once did I see a local Afghan girl or woman; only the boys went to the school and no women worked at the stalls. We were not allowed off the base, so I have no first hand knowledge of life in the villages, but from what I saw flying in and out or from looking through the wire, it must be a truly harsh life for anyone, let alone for females living in an an oppressive, medieval, male dominated society. I have 2 daughters and 2 grand-daughters, and there is no way I would tolerate them living under those conditions.
Although many young people in the larger cities want to move forward(many have cellphones and internet access), the country is by far dominated by the backwards Taliban mind-set that cannot tolerate any variation from their insane interpretation of Islam.
Here's a link for pretty decent band from Kabul; http://kabuldreams.com/
I can only hope the future is brighter for those in Afghanistan(and all over the planet).
On a side note with regard to cellphones, the rates and coverage in Afghanistan are better than here. Pretty much everyone on the base used local provider Roshan. $20 US would last me a month, including phoning home every week!!

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