A Taliban at Yale
A tale worthy of the read. Pages of one man's
life in the wandering course of Afghanistan's recent history.
Here’s an excerpt almost tough enough to stand alongside Peter Bowman’s proposal for a war memorial in “Beach Red” from WW2.
After a talk to the young teenagers at the Jackson Hole Middle School, two boys approached Rahmatullah.
“Can we ask you a question? Have you ever been in a war?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell us about it? We want to be Army Rangers.”
He thought for a second. “Do you guys play video games?”
“Yeah,” they said, looking at him as if he had rocks for brains.
“I thought so,” he said. “Let me ask you, have either of you ever killed a chicken?”
They shook their heads. They didn’t know anyone who even had chickens.
“When was the last time you had to kill anything to eat?”
They were confused.
“I killed a goat before I came here,” Rahmatullah said. “I hated doing it. Go kill a chicken, and pluck it, and eat it,” he said softly. “And then maybe you will know a little bit about war.”
So many of today’s politicians avoided war — without opposing war. There is a difference in courage.
Rahmatullah has a story that’s pretty much the same as many of his peers. Unknown and sadly uncomprehended by so many in the West.
Posted: Sun - February 26, 2006 at 10:27 AM