Culture of Violence

I appreciate all of the responses. The problem of violence is so complicated. Yes, the US was involved in arming, supporting, and training the pre-curser's to the Taliban. However, pointing the finger and the ultimate blame is a mute point IMHO. The situation is so complex and involves many elements:

You have poor education, a corrupt government, lack of basic services, wide spread poverty, a people who have never known "peace" as we like to define the concept, strong tribal communities, rampant criminal elements, and extremists. Throw all of this into the pot, and you have a mixture of violence. With that, the "typical Afghan" is a dirt poor dude or dudette trying to survive.

Many "western" concepts are simply unknown to this area of the world. I am not sure we could ever hope for a country where a "US like democracy" exists. I think we need to have a realistic view of the situation. Unfortunately, we need to stabilize the chaotic situation of the Taliban resurgence, deal with widespread government corruption, and manage the poverty/education deficiencies if we are to have any hope for this country.

In addition, I wanted to tell a story from the view point of a civilian contractor. I think many people have a false sense of how civilian contractor fit into this conflict. Some people tend to apply the whole "cowboy" concept to all contractors in light of the media frenzy focusing on a very specific area of contractors. In fact, many contractors are not even armed. There are thousands of people from the Philippines and Nepal doing all of the foot work behind many of the large operations in this conflict. They are not armed, live in Spartan conditions, and receive low compensation compared to western standards. Yet, they are the people who make sure the military have food, fuel, and logistical support.

Then, you have people like myself who fill specialized roles. However, I am not involved with any of the fighting and like my colleagues, I try to provide the best medical care possible. I can say that my colleagues are highly qualified and professional providers. Hopefully, you could see the caliber of people that I deal with on a daily basis. In addition, our dealings are multifaceted and multicultural.

Obviously, I have great respect for the military and know they have a very difficult job. The situation is going to become worse, and we will be looking to our nation's military in the days to come.

I am not sure what you are specifically asking? I do not have any moral or spiritual concerns to date. My work is not combat related. True, I may have to take action in the name of self preservation one of these days; however, I have not done anything that keeps me up at night or anything that keeps me from looking in the mirror.

It is actually quite competitive, I was really surprised. Honestly, somebody put in a good word for me and I suspect this gave me a significant advantage. You are right about questioning companies. Unfortunately, when money is involved, identification of a reputable company is crucial.

What exactly do you mean by "you and your type?" This is not a discussion regarding gun control. In fact, my views on gun ownership are never mentioned in the said article. In addition, where did I say anything about sports or free economy? I am obviously a capitalist supporting free economy, because I am capitalizing on a skill set I obtained from years of military, EMS, and nursing experience. I will admit however, after spending time with all these South Africans, I keen never to watch Cricket again. Not that I advocate eliminating the sport, but come on, a five day test match?

You must understand violence is just a tad more complicated than people wanting a better life. Nor is forcing our way of life down somebody's throat a way to solve the problem. Some people simply do not want the "western" way of life. Additionally, I wanted to compare the violence over here with the violence I have experienced in the USA. You seem to have skipped over that part of my article? My point is that violence is NOT isolated to the Middle East. The USA can in fact be a very violent country. Violence is a concept that effects all cultures and countries.

Additionally, I can still find hope.

This is all IMHO as always.