Eid In The Field

Plus, The Brave Voices of Afghan Girls

Howdy,

First, Eid Mubarak to all of those who celebrate. We hope it was a joyous occasion. Here's an excellent little primer if you want to read more about Eid.

Eid, meaning ‘celebration’ or ‘festival’, is a prestigious word in Islam. There are two dedicated times of Eid in Islam that Muslims celebrate as per the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) guidance: Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha. These are times at which Allah (SWT) rejoices in His followers being happy and encourages joy amongst all. 

During my three years in Afghanistan, I’ve had the pleasure of celebrating Eid with thousands of Afghans. I’ve broken the fast with warlords, soldiers, statesmen, and everything in between. But it was my time with the commandos that I remember clearest.

I spent nearly a year living with Afghan Commandos in Ghorak, Kandahar, conducting Village Stability Operations in a Village Stability Platform (very similar to a combat outpost).

(Photo is of Combat Outpost Keating, by Army 1st Lt. Brad Larson)

During that year in the sticks, I learned a lot about the Afghans. I gained invaluable experience during my first push in 2008, serving on a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Tag Ab, Kapisa. However, I was on a forward operating base (FOB) then. While it was a very kinetic area of operations, we were not living with the Afghans. In VSP Ghorak, we ate and lived shona ba shona with our Afghan brothers.

(The photo is of GCV & and an Afghan Commando)

I learned so much about these brave Afghan Commandos. I ate with them nearly every night, straining to understand all their dialects of Pashto. None of them were perfect men—those don’t exist, by the way. But they were brave, honorable, and had my back.

Even in the field conducting missions, they would fast for Eid, though there are exceptions for combatants. Nevertheless, they fasted from sun up to sun down while fighting a ruthless enemy.

Bruh, that’s faith. I tried it once out of solidarity with the Commandos, but I only lasted one day before eating and drinking at will. I can’t imagine fighting on an empty stomach, but that’s why they all woke up an hour early to gorge themselves for the long day ahead.

Nevertheless, I celebrated their holidays with them, even learning some prayers. Sharing those meals with my allies, alongside thousands of cups of tea, is what alliances are built from. They must be earned through blood, sweat, and tears. My time with the Afghan Commandos was the most rewarding experience of my life.

And I will never abandon those we left behind.

Eid Mubarak for those who celebrated.

(Photos is of GCV + Friends enjoying some chai with an Afghan Commando)

---

Brave Afghan Women

We have a couple of excellent essays on the site today. First, Aqsa returns to discuss Big Eid in America.

Eid al-Adha in America is both fun and strange for me. Here, we go to the mosque, and men and women pray together. In Afghanistan, women aren’t allowed to go to the mosque, so it's special to pray with my family here. I got to stand next to my mom and watch her pray, which I couldn’t do in Kabul. 

But we ain’t done yet, bruh. Nah.

Kate K - the legend herself - found a brave Afghan girl, Helai, to write about the fight that continues to educate young Afghan women that we despicably left behind to a real Handmaid’s Tale.

After American forces left Afghanistan, the Taliban regime took over our country. Seemingly overnight, everything changed for Afghan women. Imagine how scary it was for us. One day, we woke up, opened our eyes, and lost 20 years of progress overnight. It happened so quickly. Imagine how scary it was for us. Overnight, we became slaves, shameful creatures living in the shadows of our country. 

---

Afghanistan Project Podcast

The legend himself, Bill Roggio, and I sat down with the GOAT, Beth Bailey, to discuss all things Afghanistan on the Afghanistan Project Podcast. You’ll see more of Beth Bailey tomorrow in our next episode of Shoulder to Shoulder.

Until Next Time