Seven years, and counting

Through Kat's Eyes - Will the war in Afghanistan ever end?

It began in 2002, coined a mission. Seven years later, Canada's still on that mission, having heard nothing in regards to achieving whatever it was we went there to do.

Despite questioning the purpose of our entry into Afghanistan, I have the utmost respect for soldiers, especially young soldiers, who are there continuing the said mission.

I know a lot of people, particularly females, who don't have respect for soldiers due to how clouded their minds are, thinking all the military does is fight, bomb and kill.

In reality, Canada is there to protect, not kill. Unfortunately though, killing some means protecting others.

And once again, as I am known to do, I will use a personal example.

Like any typical night after work, I wandered to my best friend Christian's apartment in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

There was an unfamiliar person sitting on his couch, and me being a social butterfly, he was the first person I talked to after saying hello to my friends.

He was drinking a beer, wearing a t-shirt and long shorts. As average looking as every other person in the room.

When we started a conversation it wasn't difficult to figure out he wasn't from P.E.I. He had dark skin and a slight accent.

I kept asking him where he was from. But he wouldn't tell me.

He kept saying I would make fun of him and that many people do when he tells them.

Finally, after nearly a half-hour of conversation, along with me trying to guess every country I could think of, he told me he was from Afghanistan.

Of course I didn't judge him. Instead, I got more and more interested in what he had to say. Some things he said moved me, like when I asked him what he thought of Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

I'll never forget his immediate response

"Afghanistan loves Canada," he said.

Really? I thought we were just invading his country and killing people. I was clearly very un-educated about the situation and asked him to explain why he would say such a thing.

He told me how Afghan civilians recognize how Canada specifically targets the Taliban and avoids killing civilians at most costs.

I was moved by how highly he spoke of my country and was soon mortified by his own thoughts about Afghanistan.

"My country is no good, they should just blow it up, blow the whole thing up," he said.

I was very much taken aback and argued with him about how it wasn't the right answer.

Which is when it really dawned on me how important Canadians are in Afghanistan, because blowing up the entire country is the furthest thing from what we are trying to do. Even this one boy my age from the country being targeted, figured it would be the easiest thing to do.

My three friends who joined the Reserves would have probably told him otherwise as well.

Three of the nicest guys I know, who I could never picture holding a gun, made decisions to join the military.

Not everyone in our group of friends liked, or even respected this. Like I said earlier, most of them were females.

One night at a party one of my girlfriend's had a few too many and began yelling at two of them about how sick and wrong the war is and how they're just going there to kill people and play with guns.

You can understand immediately how insulting this was to them. I was even insulted because my own father spent 26 years in the military with involvement in both the Cold and Gulf wars.

Jacob, a young-man who I've never seen unhappy in the five years I've known him, looked like his head was about to explode.

He stood there trying to cut her off from her tangent unsuccessfully, until he finally yelled something which almost made me cry.

"The reason I joined the military is so the (military) men with families can stay home with their wife and kids! I'm 20-years-old and I'd rather it be me there!"

Yeah, that shut her up.

I've been using quotations with what these people have said because they are sentences burned into my memory, which even include the visual of them saying them.

A 21-year-old and a 23-year-old soldier were killed when a roadside bomb exploded west of Kandahar city in Afghanistan on August 2.

When I hear about young soldiers getting killed I always think back to what Jacob said, and sincerely hope there really is a military man at the supper table with a wife and kids who has been saved.

If targeting the Taliban is what Canada is there to do, I'm afraid my first question will remain unanswered.

Terrorist groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have been around since the 1980's. We are making progress, they say. But will we only stop when they are all gone? It seems unlikely that will happen soon, or ever happen.

I wish something would happen before my three friends are finished training. I know where they'll be going next.

How far do we have to go to achieve what we went there to do?

Will the war in Afghanistan ever end?