I am an Afghan girl who wants the foreign troops to stay in Afghanistan so someday we will be able to live in a secure country without bombing. I know how the Taliban uses foreign troops in Afghanistan as their excuse because they want the troops to leave. That is why they are committing all of these suicide-bombing attacks.

The Taliban does not want us to be free. Even this much killing of us has not been enough—they want to see more coffins. I am sad we give them this chance. If I were making the policy decisions, I would ask the foreign troops to stay. Not forever. They have families too. I would ask them to train our own forces so we can keep peace. I would also ask the world not to give Afghanistan money because the money does not go to the people or places that really need it. We should build our country by ourselves.  

I have a question for the Taliban: if the troops leave Afghanistan do you want us to leave with them? So many Afghans are leaving our country, not because they don’t love Afghanistan, but because they are tired of war and death without a reason. An Afghan man from Kandahar recently said to me, “When I leave the country to go abroad I know it will be eighty percent dangerous for me, but I have twenty percent hope of finding a good place to live.” He said that without troops and security, Taliban would force his family to leave their own houses like they did to the people in Kunduz. He said, “Why should I stay and wait for them to come hurt me.” He left and he went to Europe.

I have not lost any friends because of the Taliban, but if someone asked me if I could forgive the Taliban for what they have done to my country, I would say, “No. Never!” But some people, even some of those whose relatives were killed by them, are ready to reconcile with the Taliban just because they are tired of war.

Today the world is sending soldiers to help Afghans because we are in the right. The rest of the world can see this, so the troops are supporting us and staying with us. The Taliban should understand that because they are on the wrong path, nobody is going to support them.

The troops that have come here from all over the world proved that they are working for a better world and helping people in need. Our people leave our country to find better places to live, but the troops left those better places to come and help Afghanistan. This is the highest level of humanity when you think about helping, not about destroying their lives.

By Shogofa Az

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kenny Holston