Mit dreizehntausend der Zug begann/Einer kam heim aus Afghanistan.
I just read in my news RSS that another German soldier was killed in Afghanistan and to be honest, I was a little shocked about myself. Why? Because I wasn't shocked. Or at least not as shocked as I used to be about dead German soldiers in Afghanistan (remember, dead and wounded soldier are still something the German public rather rather remembers from WWII than from recent wars... for us, for a long time it used to be the others that died).
Instead I just sighed and wondered how for much longer this will have to go on before we'll see some actual positive results from soldiers of a plethora of nations fighting and dying in a country that has next to nothing to do with their country. Because, let's just be honest, in the ten years, ISAF has been there, they accomplished next to nothing. Insurgents still kill people, children still die of hunger, landmines and firefights, women still wear burqas... will things really change if the multinational coalition keeps fighting there? I honestly don't know.
In the meantime, however, it astounds and shocks me how little notice the German public really takes of German soldiers fighting in more than just one country (there's also Kosovo, the Horn of Africa, UNIFIL...). The only time they do is when one dies and even then it's only short-lived. It still makes me sad, mostly because I don't think it will ever change, even though it's been over 65 years since the end of WWII now. No one wants the jingoism and nationalism from WWI and the fascism and racism of WWII back but honestly... is it asked too much to take notice of all the countries several thousand German soldiers (and cops, too, BTW) are stationed in and fighting and sometimes even dying in, once in a while, people?
(today's title is presented to you by Theodor Fontane and means: "With thirteen thousand their trail they began./Only one man returned from Afghanistan.", from his poem The Tragedy of Afghanistan)
Instead I just sighed and wondered how for much longer this will have to go on before we'll see some actual positive results from soldiers of a plethora of nations fighting and dying in a country that has next to nothing to do with their country. Because, let's just be honest, in the ten years, ISAF has been there, they accomplished next to nothing. Insurgents still kill people, children still die of hunger, landmines and firefights, women still wear burqas... will things really change if the multinational coalition keeps fighting there? I honestly don't know.
In the meantime, however, it astounds and shocks me how little notice the German public really takes of German soldiers fighting in more than just one country (there's also Kosovo, the Horn of Africa, UNIFIL...). The only time they do is when one dies and even then it's only short-lived. It still makes me sad, mostly because I don't think it will ever change, even though it's been over 65 years since the end of WWII now. No one wants the jingoism and nationalism from WWI and the fascism and racism of WWII back but honestly... is it asked too much to take notice of all the countries several thousand German soldiers (and cops, too, BTW) are stationed in and fighting and sometimes even dying in, once in a while, people?
(today's title is presented to you by Theodor Fontane and means: "With thirteen thousand their trail they began./Only one man returned from Afghanistan.", from his poem The Tragedy of Afghanistan)