Sandstorm

I feel inclined to share the surprisingly true and sobering story of an acquaintance of mine by the name of H.E., who took part in the War on Terrorism.

H.E. decided to become a soldier years ago. His friends all had the same question: "Why"? And he gave but one chilling response: "To kill as many Hajjis as I can." The word "hajji" is a derogatory slang for Muslims.

H.E. got his wish. He was sent off to Afghanistan, where he undoubtedly spent his tour murdering men, raping women, and even spitting an infant or two upon pikes.

And then he returned, to a hero's welcome. Practically any job he wanted was his. Eventually he settled upon a comfortable and power position in the United States government, where so far as I know he remains to this day.

The truth I'm trying to communicate through this story is the following: there are those who think we are culturally superior to Middle Easterners. But our invasion of Afghanistan decades ago was not motivated by a desire to culturally educate the Afghans. We did not go there to liberate its people, nor to nation-build, nor to win hearts or minds, nor even to educate them in the ways and values of the Western world.

In actuality, we invaded Afghanistan with one simple goal in mind. They were harboring people who had attacked us, and we wanted to exact vengeance, both upon their leaders, and eventually upon them. We wanted to make the price of hostility towards our nation so painful that anyone in the future would think twice before arousing our ire.

In short, brutality to any and all extents possible has been our mission in the Middle East. And once we felt the toll in lives had been properly exacted, and properly balanced, our mission there would be at an end.

We have reached that day. For every civilian life we lost on September 11th, we have since taken a thousand Middle Eastern ones. The price in blood has been more than paid, and there is little left for us to do but withdraw, with the explicit threat that we will return to similarly brutalize any future antagonists.