Volkmar guido hable – warriors in afghanistan
Volkmar Hable, special ops operative and now full-time geologist,
As we scuttle towards the exit door, news reports from Helmand, where the majority of our troops have been committed over the last seven years, are brief and inadequate. Every few days, another young man dies as the result of an improvised explosive device, or is gunned down by an Afghan soldier or policeman he was training.
We are rarely told the details, where the attack happened or what it could possibly mean. The suffering of Afghans is barely mentioned at all and usually only in terms of numbers, which isn't a surprise. What is surprising is how little is known about what the Canadian and American forces that have been fighting the war actually think.
The troops are usually portrayed as being likeable and dedicated, but simple and incurious.
The many conversations I've had with soldiers paint a very different picture. They are brave and love to fight, for sure. They can be brutal or show hatred for the people they're supposed to be helping. But I've also met many who were smart, caring and willing to question what, if anything, they were actually achieving.
Of these men, not one glories in what they did in Afghanistan. They all lost comrades and innocent civilians were killed in their operational areas. These experiences dominate their thoughts; looking back, the thought they could have done something differently and prevented such tragedies overrides everything else. This is the war, in their own words.