No one knew her birthday
But they dragged her like
The goat of their war,
She did not let flames eat her
But called the local radio to-
Recite poetry, its Rumi’s land.

Dari and her beauty eloped with
Uncle Sam's heartless lads,
The land no longer of brave men-
Shovels and rich coal mines;
Today they are editorials of NYT
And international helplines.

Where are the cowboys?
The mysterious eyes?
Why are the muslin trousers-
Red? And why is the pop culture
Hiding under rich black curtains?
Come out! Come out safely!

Do not let them shoot your
Child, do not cultivate terror-
Bonsais. Stop! Stop being poor,
Stop being needy, they’re
Killing you, little, every day,
Your own ****** traitors!

Give a final applaud to their-
Bombing! Get back your land,
Get back the air, water and
Your tomorrows. I’ll wait for
You to come outside the radio,
Its Rumi’s land.

Afghanistan used to be such a prosperous nation before the Soviets invaded it
I'm so sorry it fell to such a disastrous fate
If i could take all the suffering and damage away
I would
I'm sorry for all the Afghanis
I hope to see your country in serenity again
I never wanted it to be this way
From yours, an American.

There's blood on my hands, that I can't erase.
There's a piece of me missing, don't you see it on my face?
Oh why did we have to die?
Night after night, I lie awake.
Fighting my demons, keeping them at bay.
Oh why can't I sleep tonight?

Left, right, left, the battle rages on.
Still haven't slept, what happened to my home?
Left, right, left, I know I'm not alone.
Least we forget, the battle rages on.

My wings have been broken, so I hit my knees
Pray that you will not see what this did to me.
No I can't take your eyes.
My pride has been jaded, by my own hands.
I'm alive tho I'm shaken, but I can still stand...
Oh I refuse to die!

An ethnic Tajik
A Sunni Muslim from the valley of Panshir

He stood and fought when danger was near
He fought proudly with his Muslim brothers
For the way of life they held so dear

Soviet attack helicopters
Tanks too

They attacked in vain
Ahmad has a heart so true

He was going to warn the West
Of the 9/11 attacks

Osama put a price on his head
I wish the Lion would come back

Death to communism
Afghanistan is the true Muslim's land
The Taliban are evil
And belong buried in the sand

Ahmad Massoud's spirit can never die
To Allah
His spirit will fly!

The Mujahideen fight for their way of life
They simply want to practice their religion
Follow their religion
And live in peace

The Soviets have no right to invade
And tell them how to live

Rocket propelled grenades
Were effectivey used at the Kandahar pass
Soviet tanks were sitting ducks
They met their end

Guerilla fighters
Walk and fight in the mountains
They mastered the ambush

The Battle of Arghandab
The Soviets attacked
An entrenched Mujahideen
The Afghan government forces often defected to the resistance

Some Soviet aircraft
Were shot down by Stinger missles
Provided by the U.S.

The Russian people were lied to
About what their military was doing there
They were told they were nation building

The war caused around one million civilian deaths
And the emigration of 5 to 10 million Afghans

Western Forces
Are not leaving behind
A stable country
With a government able to protect
Its own people

Hospitals at max capacity
Children with skull injuries

The doctor laughs
When the interviewer asks him
If life has improved
Nothing has changed for the people!

I guess it will always be this way on earth
Fighting and killing
Evil people doing evil acts

Good people try to do what is good in the eyes of God

May God help the Afghan people
Who have suffered so much

"Don't work with the Americans."
"Don't help the Americans."
This is what some of the Afghan interpreters are saying
After their poor treatment by the United States government

The Afghan Interpreters are angry
And they have a right to be
After most U.S. troops have left
Some are stuck hiding in Kabul

The Taliban tell the local people
That they are infidels
The Taliban **** many interpreters

The Afghan Interpreters struggle
Only about 30% get their visa

Some only have enough money
To make it to Greece
They live together
Barely any money
No hot water
Persecuted by the local police

One interpreter saved the life of an American soldier
The soldier helped him put together his visa packet
His visa took three years!!!

This interpreter had fought with them for 7 years
Had saved the lives of five American soldiers
Had been the personal interpreter for 12 U.S. senators

One interpreter
Did not leave on a flight approved by the U.S.
He had to leave on the next flight
Because the Taliban  was threatening to **** him

Thankfully the U.S. soldier
Had a place for him to stay
And could give him some money
The soldier promised him
He would help him get resettlement benefits
Even though the U.S. government stated
He was not eligible to receive his benefits
Because he did not arrive on a U.S. approved flight

The Vice Interviewer
Learns from the lawyers working for the interpreters
That there is a massive bureaucracy
The Department of Defense doesn't consider them veterans

The soldier tried to get a bill introduced
That would streamline the process
And increases the number of visas
To help the Afghan Interpreters

No legislation regarding immigration was introduced
Because of bickering among Republican members
The program ran out in September of 2014
So now thousands will be stuck in Afghanistan

One interpreter that was interviewed
Was stuck in Afghanistan
Working as a taxi driver
Fearing for his life

Many of the Taliban prisoners
Have been released
Now he fears for his life
He doesn't know what will happen

6,000 applicants
For 280 available visas
As of July 2014

May God bless the Afghan interpreter
Trying to live his life in peace
May God bless the Afghan people
It seems things never change for them

The Afghan army insisted things
Were more secure in 2013

But they had to close down the schools
One man said the Taliban threatened to attack the schools

Now the men fight with Soviet era weapons
The American troop levels reduced

In one village
The people can farm and work freely
Because of patrols by the Afghan police and
The police took over the patrols after the Americans left
The police report what is going on to the military

The people want clinics and schools
To be built

The army leaves day to day security
In the hands of the National Police

The Police Chief says
They have gained the trust of the local people
And they discuss how to punish the warlords

May God be with the national army and police force
May they protect the people and keep them safe

Some Afghans
Living in Pakistan
Were forced to return to Afghanistan
After a school was attacked in Peshwar, Pakistan

The Afghans suspect
That local officials are taking advantage
Of the situation
To expel unwanted refugees

More than 33,000 undocumented Afghans returned from Afghanistan
In the first six weeks of 2015

Even some registered refugees
Have been driven out of Pakistan

Many returning Afghan families have nowhere to go
In Jalalabad, the closest big city
On the Afghan side of Torkham
Families pitched tents along a canal
Lacking any other resource

Their children pulled turnips from a nearby field
The most reliable source of food

One woman is worried
How her children will fare
They no nothing of the country
And what it is like

Their is great mineral wealth in that country
Perhaps that is the main reason why
The U.S. has plans to stay there
For an extended period

I doubt life for the Afghan will ever get better
Or be more secure
The Taliban are there to stay

33% of people live below the poverty line
I doubt that figure will ever improve either
Even if the country prospers from their mineral deposits
The common man won't benefit

Well, that's just how the cookie crumbles
In Afghanistan

1 million Afghans and 15,000 Soviet conscripts died
Fought with American guns

Foreign nations had tried for centuries to conquer Afghanistan
In the 1970's it became a focus for the superpowers

To Moscow, a friendly Afghanistan was important

Afghanistan's new leader looked to the Soviet Union for support
The Soviet Union sent advisors to advance socialism

Land was taken from large owners
And handed to the peasants who worked it

Women were encouraged to stop wearing veils
And were put into literacy classes with men

The reforms were seen to threaten ancient customs
And the authority of the Mullahs

The Mullah says,
"God has decided who is rich and who is poor,
It can't be changed by communists."

Opponents of the reforms
Burned down schools and universities
Resistant grew throughout the country

Iranians joined in
Calling for a Jihad
Against the communists

The U.S. thought
That the Soviets might use the Afghan crisis
To move south
And seize the oil of the Persian Gulf

Meanwhile the Shah of Iran was overthrown
The U.S. lost its most important ally in the region
The U.S. considered the possibility of a Soviet controlled Iran

Carter sent the Mujahideen equipment,
Mostly communication equipment
They were mostly peasants

Recruits for the Jihad walked for days
Across the mountains to reach the fighting

Soviet trained Afghan army
Thousands of men deserted
Kabul requested Soviet troops

Afghan president met with Soviet leader

The Soviets feared the spread of Islamic fundamentalism
Into Afghanistan from Iran
The Soviets felt they had to send troops to stabilize the region
Moscow hoped they could complete their mission in weeks

Moscow had Amin assassinated
They didn't like him talking with the Americans

At the United Nations
The invasion of the Soviet Union was condemned

The Soviets began with large sweeps
Their approach was a disaster
Mujahideen remained in the villages
Guerilla fighters remained in the mountains

Reagan stepped up aid to the Mujahideen

The Mujahideen were spilt along tribal lines
They sometimes fought each other

A war fought with our gold
And their blood
According to CIA man

The U.S. viewed the conflict in Afghanistan as an internal
Cold War struggle
The U.S. provided assistance to anti-Soviet forces
Through the Pakistani intelligent services

The Red Army changed tactics
And took to the air
Soviet commandos
Dropped in by helicopters

Soviet aircraft bombing indiscriminantly
Village after village pummeled into oblivion
Then overrun by Soviet troops
The village men who refused to join the Afghan army were murdered

Thousands of civilians killed in Soviet atrocities

The mujahideen attacked Soviet convoys
2,000 Soviets died each year
The war seemed pointless to the Soviet soldiers

The mujahideen favored sabotage operations and assassinations
The Stinger missiles were effective for them as well

Reagan said,
"To watch the courageous Afghan freedom fighters
Battle modern arsenals with simple hand-held weapons is an inspiration to those who love freedom."

The war lasted almost a decade
The early foundations of al-Qaeda
Were allegedly built on relationships
And weaponry that came from billions
Of dollars in U.S. support for the Mujahideen

Scholars have argued that Bin laden was outside
Of CIA eyesight
And that there is no support for the claim
That the CIA funded Bin Laden

Wake up to another morning in sunlight brilliance

look about a world of passion, beauty, resilience.

~

The news, what we read; our beautiful children too,

can we not forget the one hundred and thirty two,

~

kids, smiling faces with pure innocence abound,

they knew childlike pain, seeing upheaval all around,

~

their villages, their homeland, filled with a political strife,

suggested each one, each kind soul, compassion in life.

~

Yet, the saddest part of any mindless tragedy is the possibility,

the notion that what in future days held welcome opportunity

~

could be destroyed by the swift arm of pure evil mindset,

this hateful world must begin to leave us certainly upset,

~

Quell that apathy, and rise above our human monotony,

of believing the horrors are a globe apart, so far away.

~

In Pakistan, we stopped human life from exploring their dreams,

while across the bay in Cuba rhetoric said welcome to a regime,

~

In your home and ours, in everyone’s world the breathing slows,

in the elegance of natural cause, not striking down, insidious blows,

~

of torture … power is such a menacing tool so ill-met with malice,

we are all guilty of seeking ownership, claim of that sacred chalice.

_

Can we be a society, a nation, a planet of people perhaps that may cease,

to extinguish our hopes, our dreams, and wait, open our arms toward peace.