thoughts on the war

Have you ever felt an explosion?  I have... plenty. I live in Afghanistan.  I used to live in the North, and somehow, the suicide bombers there was always very inept.  They managed to always kill themselves, but didn't seem to ever get their targets.  I have now moved to Kabul where they are better trained.  Sadly... I felt a bomb about a week and a half ago.  It was very quick, just a boom that shook the building and made the windows rattle.  Actually, It sounded like someone had thrown a brick into our window.  Then it was gone.  I didn't think much about it, until two hours later when I heard that 20 people had been killed by it.  Several Italian soldiers, and many Afghan civilians.  My heart broke.  It broke for the poor Afghans who were just going about their daily lives.  It also broke for the Italian ISAF troops who are trying so hard to bring peace to this place.  After spending a month in the ISAF hospital last year, I have a very soft spot for those young soldiers.  They don't want to hurt people, they just want to bring peace.  I don't know the personal motivations of the leaders involved in running this war, but I do know that Afghanistan needs some peace and some guidance to that peace.  They have never known peace, so I am not sure they know how to operate without violence.  There is no easy answer.  But, if we all pull our troops out, the whole country will fall again, and we can't do that to the people here again.