there is no goat
A COLLECTION OF INSIGHTS INTO
THE AFGHAN MIND
Jennifer Dunham
Text Copyright Jennifer M. Bucholtz
All Rights Reserved
Dedicated to every woman and man, worldwide,
who has worn the uniform.
“ Be All That You Can Be”
–U.S. Army Slogan, 1980 – 2001
A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to
various non-profit organizations that
assist U.S. Military veterans
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
Pashtun-Wali
FORMING OPINIONS
COWARDICE, INDIFFERENCE & FUTILITY
POLITICS
CORRUPTION
THE AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES
THE TALIBAN
OSAMA BIN LADEN
RAMADAN
WOMEN AND WIVES
THE PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NOTES
PROLOGUE
September 2010
As I boarded the monstrous U.S. Air Force C-17 in Qatar, bound for Afghanistan in October 2010, I knew I was in for an adventure of some sort. I spent several years on active duty in the Army as a Counterintelligence Agent, and several more contracting for various agencies under the Department of Defense. I had previously deployed to Iraq with the Army and had been all over the world on other contracting projects. But truth be told, much to my husband’s dismay, I was itching to go to Afghanistan and get back in the fight, so to speak. I missed the military and wanted to play some role in the war. In September 2010, I signed a one year contract (which eventually turned into fourteen months) with a defense contracting company and was on my way two weeks later. I knew I would be leading a Counterintelligence Support Team when I arrived, but had no idea how much interaction I would truly have with the local Afghan citizens or the degree to which I would learn about their culture.
In my fourteen months in Eastern Afghanistan, I sat with, and interviewed, over 500 local Afghan males. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the females in the eastern part of the country still do not work, so I never had the opportunity to meet any Afghan women. Had I been allowed to travel outside the base, possibly to accompany a military Female Engagement Team, I certainly would have had the opportunity to speak with some women. But, the focus of my job was exclusively inside the base, namely to detect and prevent possible threats against U.S. military troops and contractors. My team’s primary role was to screen and vet local Afghans who wanted to work on the base. The main duties entailed in this process were in-depth interviews, background checks and the administration of a field version of the polygraph test. We also conducted bi-annual interviews of those who already held jobs on the base. The purpose of these screenings was to ensure the person was not a force protection, i.e. security, risk to the base. Little did I know what interesting, and sometimes comical, insight I would get into the Pashtun culture through the course of my daily responsibilities.
Some parts of my job were classified and, therefore, cannot be discussed in public literature. My readers may feel that some stories in this book are incomplete. In fact, they may be, but it is due to the sensitive nature of certain material. I have made every attempt to provide my readers as much insight as possible into the Pashtun way of life and my experience with Afghan citizens, while omitting anything that could compromise national security information. The manuscript was approved for publishing by the U.S. Office of Security Review on June 5, 2013.
Since college, I have kept a “Quote Book”, sort of like a verbal photo album. Each quote brings back a funny or memorable moment in my life. Interviewing Afghans gave me a wealth of material for my journal. After several months of writing down quotes from interviews, I realized this collection provided valuable insight into the Pashtun culture and way of thinking. While working in Afghanistan, many friends and family members back home often asked me what my “Quote of the Day” was and encouraged me to capture my experiences in a book. These treasured friends and relatives, as well as every U.S. military member, serve as the inspiration for this book.
This book was written solely by me and contains only my personal experiences and viewpoints. It is written based off my personal notes and memories. The stories and descriptions are recalled and written in the most accurate account possible. All statements of fact and opinion are those of the author and do not reflect any official positions of the U.S. military or defense contracting companies.
Pashtun-Wali
Prior to my arrival in Afghanistan, I honestly knew very little about the Afghan culture. I had some of the same pre-conceived notions that many Westerners do about the country, believing that it was just another Muslim country in the Middle East. In fact, Afghanistan is not in the Middle East; it is part of Asia. And, it is not just another Muslim country. The Afghan people are uniquely shaped by centuries of war, poverty and religious oppression. Unlike many countries in the true Middle East, the Afghan citizens do not inherit the riches of oil fields, spend their days cruising around town in their fancy cars or sip overpriced Starbucks coffee drinks late into the night. They struggle on a daily basis, but they are survivors.
Though Afghanistan is named for a country in whole, it is in fact deeply divided. Various regions and provinces remain quite separated from others. There is no semblance of country-wide unity or patriotism. Many areas are essentially ruled by warlords and/or insurgents, with complete disregard for the overall Afghan government which is located in the capital of Kabul.
While working in Afghanistan, I was assigned to a military base in the Eastern part of the country, near the Pakistan border. The majority of Afghans in the Eastern and Southern parts of Afghanistan are members of the widespread Pashtun tribe, the largest in the country. Therefore, most of the men I interacted with were Pashtuns. Pashtuns are further broken down into numerous sub-tribes, and even sub-sub-tribes. A “village” of three houses, all inhabited by members of the same family, is often its own declared sub-tribe. Pashtuns appear fiercely loyal to one another, but, in a heartbeat, will betray their own family members just to save face. Their unwritten code of ethics is called Pashtun-Wali and that, along with Islam, defines their lives.
The primary principles of this accepted code of Pashtun-Wali include hospitality, asylum, justice, bravery, loyalty, righteousness, trust in God, dignity and honor of women. I witnessed the controlling power of these principles in nearly every local national I interviewed. However, I found many contradictions and various interpretations of the principles, depending on whom I spoke with. Even though many Afghans preached about the core principles of Pashtun-Wali to me, I noticed plenty did not necessarily follow them. In addition, I found other recurring themes among the Pashtun culture, including an unwillingness to admit weakness and/or take responsibility for one’s actions and mistakes. Ignorance, lack of common sense, and lying were other commonalities I recognized among many of the men I interviewed.
One man told me “It is against Pashtun-Wali to fight unless it is over gold, women or land.” I thought that was a pretty broad statement. In addition to religion, these entities could be found as the source of countless crimes and wars throughout the world. Furthermore, those who subscribed to this belief had justification to start nearly any battle they wished.
I cannot count how many men I interviewed who told me stories of “land feuds” they had endured with their own family members. In many cases, the original “owner” of the land (often a grandfather or great-grandfather) had passed away. The remaining family members would fight, sometimes to the death, over that land. Whoever su
rvived became the new rightful owner. These land feuds were not only unique within families. Sometimes, without provocation, villagers fought their next-door neighbor for their land. These disputes often involved members of one family firing weapons at the house of their adjacent resident or using other violent intimidation tactics to force their neighbors to flee the area. Again, whoever persevered claimed the land. In the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan, land is not legally bought and sold, as it is in the U.S. It is passed down from generation to generation, with no documentation, or it is taken by force.
One man I interviewed informed me that his semi-crazy half-brother (his description, not mine), Farhad (not his real name), had tried to take his family’s land by force. When Farhad’s plot failed, he took his weapon and opened fire on his own cousin, killing him. Apparently knowing that the deceased cousin’s family was likely to retaliate against Farhad, he decided to protect himself by holding several members of his own family hostage. The logic of this escaped me, but was apparently a reasonable response in Farhad’s mind. Over the previous years, Farhad had purportedly developed some sort of (undiagnosed) mental disorder causing him to be extremely paranoid of those around him. After he killed his cousin, Farhad boarded himself up in his house, along with his wife, mother and children and stood guard on the roof. According to the man I spoke with, Farhad had the entire neighborhood in a state of fear. No villagers would walk or drive down the street Farhad lived on, for fear of being shot.
My first question regarding the situation was why the local police were not stepping in and subduing Farhad, so he could be taken for medical treatment. When I asked this of the man sitting in front of me, he told me the police had been notified but were unwilling to respond. He suggested the police themselves were scared to try and intervene. In his next sentence he declared to me, “I hope my cousin’s family kills Farhad, so things will be even”. Despite the fact these two men were of the same flesh and blood, the half-brother wanted nothing further to do with Farhad. It amazed me that someone’s own family was willing to abandon another relative who was obviously mentally disturbed. But, this is the way of the Pashtuns. If someone kills another person, the decedent’s family has the right to retaliate even if they are related.
A couple weeks after this interview, I received a report through our law enforcement channels that Farhad had been killed. That same day, I ran into his half-brother at the dining facility on base and asked him about it. Sure enough, he told me his cousin’s family had finally shot and killed Farhad. He expressed no remorse or emotion, but only appeared glad the standoff was over. The situation reminded me of another Afghan man who summed up this mentality for me once, saying “If someone kills me, I’m going to kill them back.” He clearly had not completely thought through that statement, but nonetheless, it revealed the Pashtun-Wali need for retaliation, even between family members.
These occurrences of family members turning on their own flesh and blood, usually because of an argument over land or money, appeared quite common to me. Despite these seemingly every day battles, I also witnessed many men’s loyalty to fellow Pashtuns, even those suspected of helping the insurgency. Their reluctance to turn in a Pashtun neighbor made traditional Counterintelligence operations very difficult in certain parts of Afghanistan. Attempts to recruit human assets with the intent of having them provide information about insurgents was often problematic and arduous for military members. The details of such operations are classified but, suffice it to say, Afghanistan presents a uniquely disobedient environment in which to collect information about insurgents and terrorists.
Another challenge faced by Counterintelligence agents was the fact that most Afghans grew up having to distort the truth in order to preserve the lives of themselves and their loved ones. During the Taliban Regime, particularly in the late 1990’s, Afghan citizens essentially lived a lie every day. They were so oppressed and forced into a life of fear under the Taliban dictatorship, they were often compelled to lie in order to avoid torture or death. Overall, many were excellent liars, making it extremely difficult to determine where one’s loyalty truly fell. Analyzing non-verbal behavior of Afghans is significantly more challenging than analyzing that of citizens of Western cultures. I learned this lesson early on in my time in their country. Several men I met would have made excellent poker players (assuming gambling was allowed in a Muslim culture, which it is not).
An unwillingness to admit fault or bring any negativity towards oneself was another common theme I witnessed during my hundreds of interviews with Pashtun men. I spoke with some men so unwilling to show any sign of vulnerability, they would craft ridiculous lies in an attempt to portray themselves in a better light. One day, after an interview, I discovered the man I had just sat with for two hours or so had neglected to tell me that he previously worked on the base and had been fired. The reason he was terminated was negligible; his mother fell ill and he had to take her to Kabul for several days for medical treatment. Any normal person would do the same for their parent. Because this man did not show up for work for several days, he was terminated from his job, but without prejudice. His absence from work was understandable and it did not prevent him from seeking employment at a later date. However, the fact that he withheld this information from me was puzzling. I called him back for a follow-up interview and questioned him about his omission. I expected him to say he was scared to tell me because he thought it might prevent him from being hired for the job he was currently applying for.
Instead, I was presented with every excuse under the sun, all of which blamed someone else for the omission. At first he tried to claim I had never asked him about previous employment on the base. That was certainly a lie, as I still had my notes from the original interview, and my interpreter as my witness. Next, he tried to say he forgot about his four year long employment on base. Clearly, this was a lie as well, because he remembered all the other places he had worked, everyone one of which were for shorter periods of time. Third, he tried to convince me that he did not understand my interpreter. This too was an obvious fib, because he appeared to have no problem understanding him for the rest of the ninety-minute interview. In addition, this man spoke elementary English and could understand most of what I said to him. I chalked up this behavior as a result of his refusal to make himself look bad, even though the circumstances were relatively unimportant. This type of refusal is quite common among Pashtuns. They will forfeit a good paying job in order to avoid making themselves look bad, even when those perceptions are only self-induced.. In the end, the man was denied the position he was applying for, due to this character flaw. The company considering him for employment, as an interpreter, could not run the risk that this man would withhold information from the military unit he would be assigned to. A simple omission on the battlefield could result in the death of American soldiers.
Another fellow I interviewed was adamant he had been shot by a Taliban member a few years prior. He showed me a mark on his arm, which he insisted was a result of a bullet wound. The mark looked to me like a small discoloration of the skin, similar to a sun spot. Having studied Forensics in college, I knew the mark was certainly was not a result of a bullet wound. But, he went on to tell me an elaborate story of how he single-handedly chased some Taliban members out of his village, and, in the process, was shot in the arm. He claimed one of the bones in his forearm was broken in the attack, but he never sought medical treatment. Miraculously, his arm healed on its own and was in perfect working order, which would be highly unlikely if he broke his arm and never had it set in a cast. This man was so intent on making himself out to be a hero, he fabricated this ridiculous story. I mentally give him some credit, though, for at least appearing to have courage.
I noticed a somewhat similar example of this type of hero story-telling when a member of the Afghan guard force on our base crashed a vehicle into the perimeter barrier. The story was told to me by the Site Manager in charge of the Afghan guard force. He was a grisly-looking, So
uth African fellow, who had spent several years running guard contracts in hostile areas. On one particular day, I ran into him and it was obvious that he was quite upset. I asked what was bothering him. He had arrived at the guard camp that morning, only to find one of the vehicles (the equivalent of a Toyota 4Runner) badly damaged. The front end was crumpled and it had two flat tires. When he questioned the guards about the damage, everyone claimed ignorance. By their account it would appear as if the vehicle had driven off and wrecked itself.
Later that day, one of the guard supervisors, a local Afghan, arrived at the Site Manager’s office and claimed responsibility for the wrecked vehicle. Naturally, the Site Manager wanted to know the circumstances surrounding the damage. The supervisor explained that he had been delivering food to the guard towers late the previous night. He initially claimed that, because the base had no white lights on at night (for security reasons), he had misjudged the road, and run into one of the large, sand-filled barriers near the perimeter. The Site Manager knew this was too simple of an explanation. This particular supervisor had worked on the base for more than a year and knew the territory well. In addition, based off the level of damage to the vehicle, it was clear the supervisor had been driving well over the posted speed limit of ten miles per hour.
Suspecting there was more to the story, the Site Manager challenged the explanation and asked for more details. After much resistance, the supervisor finally “admitted” that he had been dodging Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), on the road, and, subsequently crashed the vehicle into the barrier. This was a most ridiculous explanation, to say the least. He had been driving inside the perimeter of the base and we had no history of IEDs within our boundaries. It was an obvious lie, but yet another example of the Pashtun-Wali way, where one refuses to take responsibility and admit wrongdoing. An obviously invented story is better than showing weakness or fault. I suspect the driver was on his cell phone at the time of the accident and became distracted. Even Afghans are not immune to the draw of technology and social interaction.
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