The Afghan people are certainly unique. Indeed, there are many who would refuse to be identified as such. They are Pashtuns, or Hazaras, or Tajiks first, and then they are Afghans second, if at all. The numerous factions comprising Afghanistan has led to conflicts for centuries, and racism still pervades the society. The two major languages here are Dari (Farsi) and Pashto. Of course, much like English, both languages have accents that make it more difficult to understand for translators from other parts of the country.
While Kandahar Province is primarily Pashtun, the majority of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers are of other races and from different regions. This necessarily leads to a bit more conflict than otherwise, even when we use the ANA as the primary means to engage the population in order to reduce cultural misunderstandings. The ANA are weird. I know it might sound strange to say it so bluntly, but they are. Most wear their uniforms correctly, but they typically add decorations to it, such as 7.72mm rounds wrapped around their M16s. Many have beards or facial hair, and at other times they will wear strange accents, such as wearing a bose headset not attached to a radio. Typically, we see something strange like this, and just shake our heads.
This leads into why I HATE sharing toilets with them. They are some of the nastiest, filthiest people on the earth, and they actually don't know how to use a toilet correctly. Remember the scene in The Green Mile when Percy, the prissy sadist, is asked, "How long did you piss on the toilet seat before you knew it was supposed to be up?" Well, without going into further detail, I'll leave it at that. Their hygiene habits are atrocious as well. If they smell this bad during winter, I can only imagine and look forward with distaste to how bad they will smell during warmer days.
Their leadership is something of a mixed bag. Much like any other unit, there are good leaders and bad leaders, although due to the newness of the ANA, there is a higher percentage of bad than good. On one of our Air Assaults, most of the ANA didn't show up until the helicopters were on the way, and some, including the battalion XO, were unable to rouse themselves in time to make the birds. Of course, in a later meeting, the XO expressed that he hoped he would be able to get on the next Air Assault since we didn't let him go.
Face. Not what's on front of your head, but the inability of these people to admit mistakes and move on and take constructive criticism. Face leads to revenge killings, spousal abuse, and the inability to reconcile past differences.
Now what I've said might have sounded fairly negative, but there are bright spots. They are getting better in many cases, and the bad leadership is slowly but surely getting replaced with smart, aggressive leaders who actually care about their country. Every good Afghan leader I might is a small bright spot in an otherwise dim world, and even a smoldering ash pile can light a forest fire.
Pending no further delays, I'm headed back to Azizullah today. Now that my computer is working better again, hopefully I can continue with regular updates. Please let me know if there are other topics you would like to read about. Otherwise you'll have to be content with my ramblings whenever the writing bug strikes me.
While Kandahar Province is primarily Pashtun, the majority of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers are of other races and from different regions. This necessarily leads to a bit more conflict than otherwise, even when we use the ANA as the primary means to engage the population in order to reduce cultural misunderstandings. The ANA are weird. I know it might sound strange to say it so bluntly, but they are. Most wear their uniforms correctly, but they typically add decorations to it, such as 7.72mm rounds wrapped around their M16s. Many have beards or facial hair, and at other times they will wear strange accents, such as wearing a bose headset not attached to a radio. Typically, we see something strange like this, and just shake our heads.
This leads into why I HATE sharing toilets with them. They are some of the nastiest, filthiest people on the earth, and they actually don't know how to use a toilet correctly. Remember the scene in The Green Mile when Percy, the prissy sadist, is asked, "How long did you piss on the toilet seat before you knew it was supposed to be up?" Well, without going into further detail, I'll leave it at that. Their hygiene habits are atrocious as well. If they smell this bad during winter, I can only imagine and look forward with distaste to how bad they will smell during warmer days.
Their leadership is something of a mixed bag. Much like any other unit, there are good leaders and bad leaders, although due to the newness of the ANA, there is a higher percentage of bad than good. On one of our Air Assaults, most of the ANA didn't show up until the helicopters were on the way, and some, including the battalion XO, were unable to rouse themselves in time to make the birds. Of course, in a later meeting, the XO expressed that he hoped he would be able to get on the next Air Assault since we didn't let him go.
Face. Not what's on front of your head, but the inability of these people to admit mistakes and move on and take constructive criticism. Face leads to revenge killings, spousal abuse, and the inability to reconcile past differences.
Now what I've said might have sounded fairly negative, but there are bright spots. They are getting better in many cases, and the bad leadership is slowly but surely getting replaced with smart, aggressive leaders who actually care about their country. Every good Afghan leader I might is a small bright spot in an otherwise dim world, and even a smoldering ash pile can light a forest fire.
Pending no further delays, I'm headed back to Azizullah today. Now that my computer is working better again, hopefully I can continue with regular updates. Please let me know if there are other topics you would like to read about. Otherwise you'll have to be content with my ramblings whenever the writing bug strikes me.
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