One Good Thing About Afghanistan

I meet lots of people who have either served with the militarily in Afghanistan or worked as contractors there. At some point, after hearing so much negative feedback about Afghanistan, I decided to focus on the positive and start asking folks who have been there to tell me one thing good about that country. 

The first person I asked had been a contractor there, and he was dumbfounded and had a really difficult time coming up with something positive to say about Afghanistan. Finally, after thinking about it for a lot longer than I expected, he said confidently, "The roads in the tunnels are really good." I don't know what tunnels the gentleman was referring to. 

The next person I asked about Afghanistan had been a soldier there. A female soldier. She had a difficult time coming up with something positive to say about Afghanistan too. She thought it over for a long time and eventually said, "The translators were all really nice." Culturally, she had great difficulty there because the Afghan men were offended by her role as a female soldier. Women's Rights is an oxymoron in Afghanistan, and being escorted by a woman, especially an armed female infidel, was humiliating to many of them.  

Wow! Nothing about amazing sunsets, sunrises, spectacular vistas, or great food, (I'm personally a fan of Afghan cuisine). "Is it really that bad there?" I wondered. 

I was somewhat surprised when I asked the third person to tell me one good thing about Afghanistan. "The food is wonderful" he said without hesitation. He had been a contractor in various parts of Afghanistan and used the opportunity to learn about the culture. 


A few months passed by the time I talked to a UAV pilot who had been to Afghanistan. He told me that the "food was delicious," and added that he was impressed how hard the Afghans labor for their food, watering everything by hand.

On another occasion, a sketchy young man who seemed to be high on something was trying to get money for a hotel room. When he mentioned that he had been stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan I asked him to tell me one good thing about the latter. Without any hesitation, he replied, "The people." His body language gave him away though. I knew that he was lying and would say anything to get money for drugs. He had never been to Afghanistan.

Most recently, I spoke with a soldier who has served two tours in Afghanistan. He was thrilled by my question and responded positively, "The children!" He then related some experiences that provided hope for Afghanistan's future. "Not everyone there hates us" he told me.

Maybe there is hope for Afghanistan after all. Lets hope so.