Coming Back To Afghanistan

This book seems to have an eye opening experience for everyone who has read it. Different students read different assigned sections but I think the general consensus was very positive. This book seems very similar to "102 Minutes " and "Tower stories" due to the first hand experiences. The event of 9/11 itself had so many angles to it that it was nice to just read from someone who actually lived it. The same goes with Akbar's book. Middle Eastern life is very confusing to the United States, but Akbar does an excellent job in illustrating complex situations in simple terms.

Many new terms came to me while I read the book. I had never knew the role the CIA played during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, what a loya jirga was, or what the Toopchi was used for and who occupied it thought the years. The main thing I have taken from this text is how different the country is within the eyes of their culture. Yes, there are many chaotic moments and at times you have to question the sanity of its civilians. But when it comes down to it, it is not all about America and its perspective. This book makes the reader realize how important it is for the Afghan civilians trying to deal with the American military forces.

Perhaps the biggest cultural concept that sticks out for me is the plain reactions to ambushes, car bombs, rockets, etc. The greatest example had to be where Hyder and several other government officials were ambushed in their Humvee. These guys were fighting for their lives and Hyder was not sure if he or anyone else would make it out alive. Of course, this was Hyder's first experience in being ambushed so he was naturally full of adrenaline. The greatest part to this sequence is his father's reaction. He was unfazed by the fact that his son encountered an ambush. He had seen so much violence in so many years that the father simply wasn't affected.