US soldiers at war: Is Afghanistan better than Iraq?

1 ANSWERS

1. Amit bang
   

   Currently, there are approximately 38,000 United States soldiers in Afghanistan, with an upcoming addition of over 17,000 in line with US President Barack Obama’s new strategy. Salerno is one of the U.S. bases in Afghanistan, along with Bagram. These soldiers hardly know anything about the country to which most of them were deployed to after transferring from Iraq. The soldiers stationed at Salerno know little about the place except that it is near Gardez and in the Paktia province.
   
   A soldier as young as 19 years old, one of the youngest soldiers of the U.S. base at Camp Blessing in Kunar in eastern Afghanistan, has no inkling that the August 20 elections will be presidential. “Perhaps our officers already know that, but have not yet informed us,” he argues. Some of the soldiers in Afghanistan know a little bit more, such as why women wear the burqa and that during Ramadan, the local people do not eat or drink not a drop of water all day.
   
   Most soldiers believe that their profession pays well, especially in a time of economic crisis in the US. The military is also an avenue for them to achieve education, some believe. Many U.S. military personnel joined the Army so that they can study, given the high cost of college education in the United States. At the U.S. base of Bagram, north of Kabul, there is even a counseling center for education where one can register for any distance education courses of study such as political science, law, computer science, history, and even Spanish.
   
   Americans who chose to be soldiers find the job beneficial, in spite of the risk. And between Iraq and Afghanistan, some of the transferees find that US soldiers are more accepted by the local population in Afghanistan. They know the price at stake, but do they know the impending danger up ahead as Afghanistan is shaping up to be a more vicious war than the one in Iraq?

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