Day 140

Mom – Day 140

While Dal and I have been on vacation, I had the opportunity to read the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This is the second book I read of his and I really enjoy his writing. I enjoy that he shares with the reader some history, literature, and the rich culture that is sometimes forgotten. There are so many things that I can write about with respect to what I read in the book and my thoughts on it but I really want to point out one thing that really goes over in my head all the time. I have spoken on this topic before but I need to mention it again. I am so disgusted by the treatment of women and children (especially girls) by the Taliban and by many of the Afghan tribes. The book is primarily set in Kabul, the capital and the most educated and progressive city or community in Afghanistan. Khaled Hosseini lets the reader see the spectrum of rights women use to have and what they had under the rule of the Taliban. My heart went out to the young girls of 14 and 15 being married off to men that were old enough to be their grandfathers – and often as a second or third wife. Under Taliban rule, they had to be covered from head to toe, they could not leave their home without a male escort, they could not work, could not wear make-up or even fingernail polish or their fingers would be chopped off. Women did not have a lot of access to hospitals and there were only a few doctors (they had to be women and women were not suppose to work) and they didn’t even have anesthesia or antibiotics. Women would be raped and then their husband or father would kill them because they disgraced the family. Women were no longer able to attend school – but with that said, people were no longer able to read (except for the Koran), write, sing, watch movies …. Although what the Taliban did to women is not considered genocide, there should be a word for it. A word that describes the deliberate humiliation, abuse and fear tactics imposed on a group of people in order to break their spirit.

I don’t know if Zach is making an impact on the people of Afghanistan but I hope the killings and the abuses will eventual stop and that education and schools will then fill the void.

I love you Zach
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Day 141 Dad

Lisa and I continue our trip through the Canadian Maritimes. Tonight we are in the little town of Bouctoushe New Brunswick across the Northumberland straight from PEI. We are having fun, but watching the news and listening when we can checking on line for any piece of information. I believe General Petraeus is going to be confirmed tomorrow, I look forward to the change in leadership and hope that the rules of engagement change more to reflect our troops willingness to finish the fight.

The more I hear, read and learn about the people in these areas the more I feel that we cannot change what they have or what their lot in life is. Oil is the only reason many of these countries are relevant. Take away the oil take away the money and they are just a nomadic country with nothing going on. It seems that Afghanistan has now found natural resources I'll bet some warlord gets the royalties, collects the money and immediately starts buying arms, not bread, not building schools only more weapons. It is all they know which is why education is at the bottom of the wish list for them.

So much to say so I will stop, the only thing I know is how this has all impacted my family and thousands of other families and it pisses me off, these people and so much about them pisses me off.

Zach, I love you, you are superman, you are my hero, and you are my son, I miss you more than words can say!

Day 142 Dad

Well we are still in Prince Edward Island it is so beautiful and peaceful. Lisa and I are relaxing and spending quality time together. But until Zach is safely out of Afghanistan nothing really changes. At breakfast this morning we were laughing and joking then something brought us to Zach and it took a few minutes to get it back together. This is our life until he is home. Relax - but never fully, sleep - but never soundly, laugh - but not as loudly, live - but day by day!

Tonight we went to whats called a Ceilidh which is a little concert put on by some local musicians but these are professional local musicians who play traditional music it was great we really enjoyed it. I wish we could have been here as a family, Lisa did get Zach an autographed CD. Zach I wish you could be here you would love this place and the food which is spectacular!

I miss you every day Zach you are superman and I love you!

Day 144,143

Mom - Day 144, 143

I tried to write on the blog last night but I couldn’t get on-line. I was so frustrated. I wanted to call Zach and even that fell through. I did speak to Shane yesterday and he said that he spoke to Zach for about an hour yesterday. Zach seemed to be in good spirits. Zach was busy physically working on their outpost. I think that meant making it more tolerable and more secure – remember that not too long ago his team leader got shot when they were fired upon at their outpost.
At the outpost there is a 13-year-old boy helping out. Imagine a thirteen-year-old helping out – he is taking a risk, a huge risk. Zach gave him a pair of gym shoes so that the boy could have something decent on his feet. The thoughts that go through my mind are all of the stories with respect to the Taliban and what they do to people that speak to the Americans or those, even children, that accept items from the NATO forces. It is really hard for me to understand how people could hurt children. I am thinking about some stories at this moment of what the Taliban has done to children but I am afraid to write it down – almost like I don’t want to jinx the boy helping out.
Update info on Zach’s team leader that got shot. He will be recovering for a bit, and then he will go for some R n R and then BACK to Afghanistan. The doctors told him that he was lucky.
Reading the news: Pakistan is now monitoring Google and Yahoo and many others. Some sites have been blocked. I guess there will be Pakistani “officials” that will decide what sites are blasphemous against Muslims. Censorship is so dangerous. For that matter, I also read that China is not allowing their soldiers to blog or even open a blog – for any reason. I feel so lucky to live in the US.
Also in the news, how to mine for the mineral deposits found in Afghanistan. According to the Afghan mining minister, Afghanistan could be self sufficient in a decade. BUT, there are problems like the terrain, the Taliban, the infrastructure – or lack of it, and the big problem of corruption. The investors would have to weigh out the problems – and if they decide to invest, then there will be more heat to the fire according to the extreme Muslims – here are Westerners trying to exploit them. Right now though, it is China that is interested in these mineral deposits. What I find interesting is the Afghan mining minister is assuring a special mining security force, in order to provide some security to these regions. I wonder what that means. I do know that there is a mine in the Logar region – which would be somewhere in the vicinity of where Zach is.

Enough said – I love you Zach – I have even put in prayer requests for you in Canada, I believe in the power of prayer. I miss you ☹
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Day 145

Mom – Day 145

The numbers of days are getting smaller but the worry is getting greater. I am supposed to take off for a few days with Dal – you know some alone time – but I am not sure if it will actually happen.

I love you Zach
xoxoxoxo

Day 146 Dad

Well it seems as the military transitions from McChrystal to Patraeus the issue being most discussed is the Rules of engagement. So despite the fact that a promise has gone out to continue the same idiotic strategy one can hope that at least the stifling rules of engagement are being re-examined. It is so easy I think for those not on the front lines to say "hold your fire", "just let them go", or "be so careful to avoid collateral damage"! The reality is that there are many American and coalition forces that would like to go home safe and sound and they should be given every opportunity to do that, if that means a more aggressive posture than that is what we should do. Time will tell.

Zach you are in my thoughts every day, I love you son, you are superman, and you are my hero!

Day 147

Mom – Day 147

Zach called me today on a satellite phone. It was so nice to hear his voice. He also called his Papa but they did not speak for a long time because their call was cut. We spoke about General McChrystal – which he didn’t hear anything about – and politics in general. We spoke about some of the yucky things like the boy that the Taliban hung because his grandparents spoke to the Americans. He said that the Afghanis were upset with the Taliban – I am glad to hear this. This is a NATO war but there are so many Americans that are being killed, the Taliban really hate the Americans. Zach understands how some Afghanis are trying to live some type of life and that there are many good people. He also spoke about the importance of education. It is so true, being able to read and write can have an impact – imagine being able to decipher facts for yourself. We spoke about other things, some things I don’t feel like writing about. Then we spoke about other dumb things like what type of stove I should get – eventually I need a new stove-, and what color paint will be on the walls, and silly things. I am so proud of Zach, he is so grown up and he still has compassion and a sweet side to him.

I love you Zach.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo