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October 2008
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Kabul- At 11:15 am this morning local time, a VBIED/ IED was detonated 300 meters east of Camp Phoenix. A Quick Recreation Force (QRF) was dispatched. All personnel were accounted for; there were no reported U.S. casualties. In the attack, two foreign nationals and four civilians were reported killed as a result of the explosion. At about the same time, there were reports of two additional VBIED/ IED's in and around Kabul. Again, no US casualties were reported.
The incident is reflective of the daily risks that the soldiers face here in Afghanistan. Unlike incidents of this kind in Iraq, the intended target is not always clear. Afghanistan is a country that is still in turmoil. Fueled by factionalism, drug eradication efforts by ISAF forces, and anti-government movements, attacks are as likely to be directed at Afghans themselves as they are foreign military forces. Current media focus on activity here in Afghanistan has argued that the rise in insurgent activity is directly linked to a rise in Taliban and al-Qaida activity. A failing point to this argument is that the majority of fighters that are engaging US and ISAF forces are not Afghan. Additionally, the rising presence of Chechnyan mercenaries is being linked back to drug lords who are contracting their own individual militias to protect their lively hoods of opium production. Once a group gains power, they are loathe to accept anything less.
Afghanistan is a country that is struggling to develop. Lacking infrastructure, education and an economic base, daily existence is often rooted in fights for control and power. Factionalism has become challenged by an expanding awareness of its mass that there are different and often better ways of doing things. That has become one of the major threats to the traditional power base. Point and case are the reports in the US media of the technics from the insurgency in Iraq that have been transfered to the Afghan theatre. What is not being discussed is how the attempts by the US and ISAF forces to unify the country under a common government have stirred fighting amongst the various factions as they each try to vie for power and influence. With a people that have been subjected to fear as an instrument of control, these factions continue that corrersion in an attempt to disrupt the desires of the many citizens of this country to simply gain hope for a better future. Today's incident was just another event along that dark path were the few work to subjugate the many to their own agendas and narrow ideological views. This is a country that wants us here.
Archived blogs: RSS feed: Click here Copyright, Scott Kesterson- 2006 1 CommentsLeave a comment |
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Thank you Scott!!! My husband, Ira, is in Mississippi right now, training at Camp Shelby. He is in Bravo CO, 141st BCT. I am sure that he will be joining you soon. I love to get on your blog and read about the soldiers and your unique perspectives that are not blurred like the spewings of "10-sec news segments". Your blog is a blessing to those like me who want the real info of what our spouses are going through.
My prayers will be with you! ~Charlene Burgess