Why I'm Going to Afghanistan

When people hear that I’m going to spend a month in Afghanistan, they usually have a bunch of questions, namely: Why? Because I’ve answered this question about a dozen times already (and never really to anyone’s satisfaction), I’ve decided to try to explain it here. So, here in the form of a FAQs page, is all the information I think anyone could want on the topic and my reasoning. Feel free to respond, denouncing my hippy logic, if you feel the urge.

Question #1: You’re doing what?
I’m going to Afghanistan. I will flying out of Germany on July 17 and arrive in Islamabad, Pakistan via Dubai on July 19. I will stay overnight there and hopefully have a few hours to explore the city a bit before the first really interesting leg of the trip. I’ll be traveling by bus of some sort west 135 miles through western Pakistan into the so-called Federally Administrated Tribal Area (FATA), reaching Khyber Pass 4-5 hours later. FATA is the primarily Pashtun area ruled by tribal chiefs and only nominally controlled by the government in Pakistan. It has a fascinating history, and there’s plenty to read about it online for those who are interested. Once I reach Khyber Pass, some hopefully friendly Afghans will jump on the bus with their Kalashnikovs and usher us through the Hindu Kush mountain pass into Afghanistan. We then follow the road on the south side of the Kabul River through Jalalabad and eventually arrive in Kabul. The roads are supposedly finished in some places, so we should be able to cover the 125 miles in about four hours. I will spend one week in Kabul, and then travel by bus to Band-e Amir in Bamyan Province 120 miles to the west. This is where I’ll spend the majority of my time - about 3 weeks.

Question #2: What exactly are you doing there?
I’m going with an organization that has been active in the country since 2003. They are primarily concerned with peace education, school construction, and landmine clearance. I will not personally have anything to do with the landmines, and most of the current work has to do with conflict transformation between ethnic groups in Bamyan Province anyway. I’ll be primarily concerned with educating Afghans in a village school.

Question #3: Isn’t there a war going on there or something?
Yes. International “peacekeeping” forces are still there, made up largely of troops from the US, England, and Germany, but also including New Zealand, Poland, Denmark, Spain, Canada, etc. Bamyan Province, however, is comparatively very safe: New Zealand is in charge of the entire province, has only 122 personnel there, and none of them have been seriously injured in any fighting. That means there’s about one Kiwi soldier per 116 square kilometers. So, yes there are risks, but this isn’t Baghdad.

Question #4: But you’re also spending time in Kabul and traveling through places like Jalalabad and Khyber. Do you want to die?
No. I don’t want to die. But we all do sooner or later, and I’m not looking to be 80 years old, sucking oxygen through tubes, and wishing I hadn’t been afraid to do anything while I was young. Plus, there are hundreds of thousands of young military personnel, who are willing to risk much more danger than a month in Afghanistan, and they do it in the name of security or love of country or whatever. I talk with such people every day. As a Christian pacifist, I disagree with their means, and there are millions of us in the US and abroad, who don’t believe military force is the best way to bring peace, but are any of us willing to risk anything to provide an alternative? Some of the Afghans I will meet will have never seen an American without camo and an M-16, and I’m going to be there wearing their clothing and speaking their language (very badly). That’s not going to get rid of the idea that Americans are responsible for a lot of death in their country. That’s not going to bring peace on Earth. But it’s going to be worth a lot more than me sitting around just talking about my ideas.

Question #5: How much of this is you just wanting an adventure?
Honestly, I’m totally psyched about the adventure aspects of this. I tend to agree with Robert Young Pelton’s idea that “the truly interesting and educational things on this planet happen in areas of high-intensity living.” I expect to come away from this trip with all kinds of fascinating stories and intense experiences, so that plays a role in my decision to go. But if that was all I cared about, I would have joined the Marines or the Foreign Legion.

Question #6: So in the end, it’s all about finding a good-looking Afghan woman to marry and have children with?
Yes.

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