US soldiers are celebrating Thanksgiving in Afghanistan and this has made international news. The Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross had lost his legs to landmines, and his plight is making headlines simultaneously. Both stories are being carried by the same International Herald Tribune. They cleverly complement and comment on each other. We are supposed to sympathize with the loneliness, the away- from-home ennui of the US kids at war. We are supposed to be awe-struck at the American marine’s fortitude in trying to preserve the bastions of American culture in the heart of darkness that is Afghanistan today. See what misery our boys are in a land where a guy like Najmuddin Helal loses his leg at 18. See the suffering in Afghanistan and shudder. But at the same time notice how our US troops are boldly preserving their heritage. Unspeakable odds have not been able to silence the US soldier. Helal forgets to say that the bomb which ripped his legs may have been planted by Afghan mercenaries but was definitely funded by the US. The Taliban had initially been a brainchild of the US CIA.

The newspapers these days are gushing about the difficulties of getting turkeys in the far corners of the earth. If the turkey be got then one does not get good chefs and of course, where is the cheer of home? Oh, the sorrow of the US soldier. Nice ruse. Everyone is teary eyed lamenting the lack of amenities of the good old boys sent by Sam Bull. But harsh facts remain.

What about all those Afghans who face a horrible winter, sans food and shelter? Who will feed them Turkeys and which paper will report their plights? What about the turkeys that the US kids are munching in their cozy tents? May be like everything else, these turkeys are stolen from some hungry Afghan’s table? What unspeakable violence perpetrated by these soldiers has ensured their own safety enjoying gala dinners while innocent Afghans are butchered daily?

The Red Cross chief, Helal is now a US toady. He blames his own government for trying to hush up the presence of landmines in Afghanistan. Is Helal unaware of the fact that there is no such thing as a true Afghan Government? The present government has to act always under US dictates. Helal unfortunately uses his misfortune to highlight US superiority. Otherwise he would not have been allowed to write for that paper. The US has been able to appropriate all humanitarian voices in Afghanistan to the point in making us believe that true humanity lies only in everything American.

Via: International Herald Tribune

Image: International Herald Tribune