Looking Back on Freshman Year

Now that we’re heading into our last week of school looking back at the entire year seems harder than anyone could imagine, at least for me. I came as a freshman knowing about a third of the grade, which for me helped a lot. For someone who is rather quite it is hard for me to make friends quite as easily. But once I do I never stop talking. After being here for a year I love the amount of friends that I have. Going to the Inauguration in Washington D.C is one of the greatest experiences of my life but it also brought me closer to about ten people who I am now really good friends with because of that. If I had to redo this year over I would not change anything about my social life. I have the best of friends anyone could ever ask for. Next I come to my classes. When I look back at the year two classes in particular have changed drastically since the start- geometry and biology. At the beginning of the year I hated, and when I say hate I truly did, those classes. I thought that they were going to be the death of me. But it’s almost like after winter break someone changed something in my brain. The classes became increasingly more interesting and I found myself excited to go to those classes. (I would never really admit this to anyone because these are the two classes that most people hate) But now I find that I am going to be missing those two classes next year. Another class I took that I knew was not going to be my favorite now I am so very glad that I took Creative Writing and Poetry. After taking these two classes I don’t think it is even right to compare my writing to how it was before. Everything about it has completely changed. It actually makes sense and I am learning how to write in so many ways that I didn’t even I think I could. In all of my classes I love how the teachers actually care about the students. If we don’t get it they won’t just give up on us. They will keep going and even tutor you one on one until everyone gets it. They may push you or try to get you out of your comfort zone but it is only to make you stronger. Lastly I have always been careful about my grades. I am someone who always wants the best grade they can get and I know that it isn’t always a good thing. But, honestly I am very glad of what I have achieved. One thing I just wish I could improve on is balancing homework and studying with an actual social life. I either have to much of either one and sometimes it overwhelmed me so much that my whole week was ruined.

Obama's Afghan Policy

Part of Obama’s plan when he became president was to start paying more attention to Afghanistan in hopes that we could win the war there and help start building at least a third world country. When he unveiled to the public his policy for Afghanistan he stressed a lot about the importance of deploying ore troops and move civilian advisors to help rebuild Afghanistan and help win the war. When he revealed his plan he first ordered 4,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan. He said that these should be able to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat” al- Qaida in Afghanistan. While sending this troops he is hoping to also defeat al-Qaida in the neighboring country of Pakistan. Obama thinks that sending more troops will help support and arouse the Afghan army to turn it up a notch in trying to beat the terrorists. Later he went on to say that after he sent the 4,000 troops he would later send 17,000 troops. He is hoping that by the time that he sends the troops that they are “war-weary” and that this will help in the defeat of the country. The President of Afghanistan, Karzai, welcomes ore troops. He said that the additional help could help train his countries army and police force. Obama is very sure that eventually we will win this war. He said very clearly to the American public, “And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you.” Even though his plan puts more troops and money on the line in the end he is expecting it to help win us the war in Afghanistan. There is also some more talk about Obama and his policies lately. Before Obama came into office he said that he wanted a transparent government, A government that kept nothing from its citizens. And an example of this was that he was planning to release the pictures of the detainee abuse in Abu Ghraib many years ago. He was just ready to release them when he decided not to. He said that releasing the pictures would only fuel hostility to the U.S. He is afraid that everything would just get worse. So many people have trouble believing whether Obama’s plan in Afghanistan is going to work because he completely made a 180 here. Also many people wonder if sending more troops to Afghanistan means more abuse will continue. This is currently Obama’s policy for Afghanistan and his plan for winning the war there.

Karzai's Brother Fine After Attacks

About one day ago rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns shootings fell down on a motorcycle that was carrying President Hamid Karzai’s brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai. Wali Karzai is the president of the provincial council of the southern Kandahar province. He said that it was an obvious attempt at an assassination, but he did not say as to whom he speculates might have done such a thing to him. He is sure that these assassination attempts were aimed towards him because first of all people knew where he was. And secondly they were driving in a convoy. And the front of the convoy was the only place that was shot at. So these people who fired the weapons must have known that members of parliament and other government officials ride towards the back. But, lucky for him only a bodyguard was killed. Wali was not harmed in the least. Kandahar province, where he is much involved, is one of the birthplaces of the Taliban. So the Taliban is a possible consideration. They were driving on their way to Kabul from the eastern province of Nangarhar. When they got to Surobi this is where the gunmen attacked them. This is a very mountainous area and is about 25 miles from the capital of Afghanistan. They said that once they entered the Surobi pass the attackers began shooting at them. Wali was returning from his trip to Jalalabad where he went so that he could thank Sherazi for not running against his brother in this year’s election. Earlier in the year another assassination attempt was said to be aimed at Wali once again. And it was lead by the Taliban. Luckily enough the bombs went off right after he had left the building but they did unfortunately kill 13 people in the building. Because of these attacks before I believe that these shooting were most likely by the Taliban, because they ave already shown their dislike towards Wali Karzai.

Dr. Vesper's Discussion

When Dr. Vesper came and discussed with us the present situation in Iraq I found it very interesting. When we finished the book Hyder told us that his father stopped being the governor of Kunar Province. But what he didn’t tell us was why. Today when Dr. Vesper came and talked to us about his views we finally got an insight as to part of the reason he stepped down from being governor. What he said was that Hyder’s father was pretty much just lazy. He never got very much accomplished and never was very motivated to do anything that would be of extreme help to the province. This is something that I completely did not get from the book. I thought that he was a respectable leader who was just what the country needed. I never realized that he was just lazy. An example of this that he told us was the timber smuggling. He knew that people were doing it but he never did much to stop it, or at least enough to make a difference. One thing he told us that completely surprised me was about how long it would take the country to even become a third world country. Dr. Vesper said at least 20 years. This long because you need a whole knew generation with fresh ideas from people who are open minded. It is sad to think about that all of the hard work that the government now is putting in might not pay off during their life times. They might never get to see the country change. When Dr. Vesper came and talked to us he was telling us about Asadabad and Jalalabad and their stops in between. But in particular a road near the gem mines. But I found it to be very ironic that Dr. Vesper and driven past that same road and told not to go on it that the American troops in the book and Hyder go on, and they are shot at. All together I am glad Dr. Vesper came and talked to us to help conclude our study of Afghanistan and stitch up any questions that we still could have had.

$96 Funding Bill for War in Afghanistan and Iraq

On Friday May 13, 2009 the house passed a bill to help provide funding for the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. This bill was worth more than $96 billion, which would be split between the two countries. And all of this money would last until September 30, 2009. Obama had asked for and requested that this be passed, just like he promised it would be. And the bill was passed but 51 of the House Democrats opposed it. The bill passed very easily with 368 to 60, with all the Republicans but nine supporting it and only 200 democrats. The reason that many of the democrats did not vote for the bill to be passed is because they are afraid that the same thing will happen to him as it did to George Bush. They are afraid that he is spending too much money on these two wars without even thinking about an “exit strategy” and when they are going to remove troops from Ira and Afghanistan. The democrats did not go out and start talking about Obama and how they disliked some of his actions, but they compared him to George Bush once again. They compared Obama’s billion of dollars to help win the war in Afghanistan and his increase to 21,000 troops to Bush’s efforts in Iraq. Many of the Representatives, both Democratic and Republican, are saying that they are tired of wars with no though of how they are going to end. Tired of the everlasting wars. They believe that this bill just extends the failed policies. past month Obama defended his strategy for Afghanistan with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group of more than 70 liberal members. But, most of them opposed the bill. Many of the people who supported Obama to begin with still do but, they are just saying that sometimes great president make mistakes.

End of Novel

After finishing reading the book Come Back to Afghanistan I found that the views that I wrote about previously really have not changed. In general when I was reading the novel I did not particularly care for it. There are many insignificant details that have nothing to do with the study. In fact, there really is no story. There is no build up of anticipation, no climax. His entire story is almost copied off his audio recordings he made while he was there. Then he managed to put every single one into this book. And many of them have nothing to do with anything. For example in one part of the novel he wandered off when he was talking about government and started talking about cats. These little stories are what made me dislike the book. Also there was really no story. It would be like me writing a story about my summer when I went to the East Coast. There is no story. I just say what I did and that’s the end of it. This is almost what he did. Yes I will admit that his story is much more significant. This is the only reason that I am glad that I read this book. The general idea that the book is getting at is important. And when reading this book I feel like I get a secret insight into the minds of the government of Afghanistan. We are reading about something that is so important to the country of Afghanistan. And lastly the most significant thing I got out of this book is what the lives of many Afghans is like. We live in America typing on our laptops, spending thousands of dollars each year for an education when people in Afghanistan are starving. They live in tiny cramped villages with the fear of bombs falling on their heads every night. They live in fear of dying everyday. They live in fear of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. When I think of this I think of how fortunate I am. And this is the most significant thing I got out of this book. I just feel that this book is not presented the way it could be. It has so much good information in it. I just think that this book would have so much potential if it would just learn how it organize the facts and get rid of the unnecessary details.

Lions for Lambs

Personally I enjoyed Lions of Lambs very much. With such simplicity it was able to help explain the situation in Afghanistan and all the thinking that went into it. The part that moved me the most was the very end. About 20 minutes into the movie one of the two friends falls off the plane and the other jumps out after him. As they are lying in the snow the Taliban are closing in in the walls around them. I love how strong they managed to stay even though they were nearly frozen and knew that they were going to die. Once it got towards the end of the line (when they ran out of bullets and could see the Taliban closing in on them) one dug himself out of the snow and crawled over to his friend. Then this last part is what moved me to almost tears. They knew the end was coming and they didn’t want to end it as weaklings lying on the ground. They were proud of what they had done for their country. So very lowly they stood up with their arms wrapped around each other. Then the Taliban took their chance and shot them down and they die together. But the symbolism behind that is so strong. They chose to admit themselves into the army no matter how many times people told them not to. They had been inseparable for as long as they had known each other and they weren’t going to let on die without the other. And when they die they died together just as they always had been. But also this exhibited the failure in what exactly the reporter and the senator had been talking about at the same time. The reporter didn’t like the idea of sending more troops and trying to overtake areas that were not to be overtaken. She didn’t want to spare innocent lives.. And the death of these two exhibited exactly what she was afraid of. When they mixed the student in with the whole mix it showed a different side of the story that I think was necessary. It showed the youth of America today and what they have grown up thinking is the “right thing to do.” The college student made me mad in a way because he was so stubborn. He had so much real potential to make a difference in the world but he chose not to. He chose just to sit on his but and play video games all day. He had no idea of what was going on half way across the world. He had no idea that innocent people were dying and that if he wanted to he had the chance to help. I loved the balance of this movie and how it showed the futre and the potential of change and motivation to do something. It showed the action behind all the fighting and the masterminds behind the publicity. And it showed the strength and the loyalty of the fighters who are doing everything they can to fight for their country.