"But perhaps we’re no longer an honorable nation." Will, was this much different than what we did in Vietnam? Perhaps we stopped being an honorable nation a long time ago. I'm not suggesting that the US military stopped, but our political masters surely did.
I read your friend's story about his sister. It feels unseemly to check a "like" box for such stories. There should be an option that says "I hear". What happened to your friend's sister is terrible beyond words. I was brought up short while reading his story by the fact that her husband left her, taking their child. Left his wife after she had been so grievously attacked. Please don't talk about cultural differences; your friend, also an Afghan, did not abandon his sister. His sister's husband was no man at all, in my view. Or my husband's.
There is no coming to a better spot in this story. It is a horrific act without an answer. The desire for revenge is unsated. The possibility of repair is outside of the audience. It comes to just standing, absorbing the blows of a debased regime and attempting to defend what remains. It is a slow deep burn that if ever released will rage until there is nothing but embers and destruction. Hard place for a defender and builder to be.
This arrogant nation was founded on genocide and continues on that same path. Not to say there haven't been some honorable people and honorable moments, but as a nation we need to humble ourselves and be real about the many terrible things we have done. How can we heal if we do not.
"But perhaps we’re no longer an honorable nation." Will, was this much different than what we did in Vietnam? Perhaps we stopped being an honorable nation a long time ago. I'm not suggesting that the US military stopped, but our political masters surely did.
I read your friend's story about his sister. It feels unseemly to check a "like" box for such stories. There should be an option that says "I hear". What happened to your friend's sister is terrible beyond words. I was brought up short while reading his story by the fact that her husband left her, taking their child. Left his wife after she had been so grievously attacked. Please don't talk about cultural differences; your friend, also an Afghan, did not abandon his sister. His sister's husband was no man at all, in my view. Or my husband's.
“Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”
Thomas Jefferson.
There is no coming to a better spot in this story. It is a horrific act without an answer. The desire for revenge is unsated. The possibility of repair is outside of the audience. It comes to just standing, absorbing the blows of a debased regime and attempting to defend what remains. It is a slow deep burn that if ever released will rage until there is nothing but embers and destruction. Hard place for a defender and builder to be.
This arrogant nation was founded on genocide and continues on that same path. Not to say there haven't been some honorable people and honorable moments, but as a nation we need to humble ourselves and be real about the many terrible things we have done. How can we heal if we do not.
Your brutal honesty is hard to respond to. Thank you.
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