The Forever War Post 1

The Forever War is a novel by New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins. The novel explores the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through Filkins's eyes as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East. This comprehensive view of both wars creates an intriguing novel through which the effects of American occupation in the Middle East can be seen. In the first part of The Forever War, Filkins recalls his experiences in Afghanistan beginning in September 1998.

The most striking aspect of Filkins’s exploration of Afghanistan is the duality of the people. Part One opens with a scene in a soccer stadium located in Kabul, Afghanistan. A young man accused of murder is brought into the center of the stadium while his family and the family of the victim look on. There is a custom in the Koran that says the killer must be killed in order to create peace. This "eye for an eye" mentality is at the core of the Afghanistan culture and defines much of the daily violence there. However, the young man could be spared if the victim’s family decided to forgive him. A full stadium, including Filkins, watched as the brother of the victim shot the murderer in his accepted outlet of revenge. Filkins noted the apathy of the crowd as they watched a scene that had become commonplace. Taliban leaders enforced the law of the Koran to an extreme extent, so this type of spectacle was nothing new to the people. One spectator described his emotions to Filkins when he said that "In America, you have television and movies--the cinema. Here, we have only this" (16).

However, even as Filkins saw the indifference of the crowd when presented with violence he also admired the strength within the Afghanistan people. When presented with adversity the Afghans were able to find the positive side of any situation. In the ruins of an expensive hotel, a food and drink manager attempted to keep it moderately functional despite the absence of food and drinks. He told Filkins stories of the better days, but was still able to find humor in his current situation. He laughed, almost in disbelief, as he showed Filkins a photograph of himself a few years prior standing in front of a bustling, gleaming hotel.

As I was reading Part One this strength within the Afghan people amazed me. Every individual that Filkins met in Afghanistan was surprisingly perceptive. They understood the dangers of the Taliban and admired the Americans for the peace they were trying to bring. As one man noted, recalling the gunfire of the various Taliban gangs, “I like all of the people in the world… just not soldiers.” As a reporter, Filkins was met with a warm reception by every person he met. Young orphans would run up to him with laughter and older men would share their stories without prodding. In Afghanistan, the American people were seen as saviors who rescued the country from years of fighting between the various Taliban groups who continually attempted to gain power.