I mean, political apathy is pretty standard in any culture, and there’s no some doubt people - particularly women - enjoyed the wonders of progress and democracy, but there’s always been support for the Taliban as well. That’s how insurgencies work.
I wasn’t there, but it was mostly fought from within convoys and fortifications, and even when there’s contact you don’t usually tell the guys with guns if you think they’re crazy. Are you sure your sample of local opinion was representative?
I did human intelligence. It was literally my job to interact with the people. And we did. And not just to hear what they say to our face, but to get sources and find out what people say behind our backs too. I can, with high confidence, say that close to 90% of the population wanted the taliban gone. It was the other 10% that were the issue. And they were the very loud minority that news stations loved to interview just to claim “accurately showing both sides”.
Under taliban rule Afghanistan was economically devastated and the second poorest country in the world. They had one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. And they had no healthcare system to speak of other than what was gifted to them from Iran or Pakistan depending of what half of the country you were in. No to mention their lack of infrastructure with the not even completed one highway ring around the country.
That all changed under ISAF and the people noticed. And now their past is about to become their future.
I mean, political apathy is pretty standard in any culture, and there’s no some doubt people - particularly women - enjoyed the wonders of progress and democracy, but there’s always been support for the Taliban as well. That’s how insurgencies work.
I wasn’t there, but it was mostly fought from within convoys and fortifications, and even when there’s contact you don’t usually tell the guys with guns if you think they’re crazy. Are you sure your sample of local opinion was representative?
I did human intelligence. It was literally my job to interact with the people. And we did. And not just to hear what they say to our face, but to get sources and find out what people say behind our backs too. I can, with high confidence, say that close to 90% of the population wanted the taliban gone. It was the other 10% that were the issue. And they were the very loud minority that news stations loved to interview just to claim “accurately showing both sides”.
Under taliban rule Afghanistan was economically devastated and the second poorest country in the world. They had one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. And they had no healthcare system to speak of other than what was gifted to them from Iran or Pakistan depending of what half of the country you were in. No to mention their lack of infrastructure with the not even completed one highway ring around the country.
That all changed under ISAF and the people noticed. And now their past is about to become their future.