Wednesday, October 18, 2006

dreams of blue rockets

There are daily missile attacks in Kabul. Afghans call missile attacks, 'rockets' and I'll be calling them rocket attacks because that is what has stuck in my head.

The most recent rocket attack was on Radio Mountain. Mountains ring Kabul, and one such mountain has Ariana Radio and Television on it. There are homes up and down the sides of the mountains. Squatters build these homes from mud and rock, because they cannot afford the $400,000 homes (in U.S. dollars).

A few nights ago, I dreamt about a rocket hitting a mountain in Kabul. The rocket glowed blue in the black night sky. It reminded me of the gentle colors of my little ponies. It hit the mountain but didn’t explode; it bounced back and hovered over my head, poised to explode. I woke up then.

I know, weird.

Up until now, my mantra has been, “Afghanistan is not as bad as Iraq.” And it’s starting to sound like Iraq, huh?

I don’t know what to do.

6 comments:

omg said...

I wonder if the "gentle" blue color of the rocket is significant...

quasim said...

The afghans may be correct on this. The stuff hitting Kabul are rarely missiles, from what I've heard/read, mainly rockets and mortars. Slate explained the difference pretty well during the Hez/Iz war: http://www.slate.com/id/2146304/

But, the petty distinctions aside, I thought it's been quiet here for the past week or so. Haven't heard much on the rocket front, and only a few S-IEDs in the city.

Feel better and enjoy your time home.

Anonymous said...

O: It really was pretty. I don't know either.

Q: Hmm, I thought that they weren't considered rockets at all...any requests from the U.S. of A?

quasim said...

I got the skinny on TV hill. There was some smoke and mixed reports of rockets or mortars. Later I think they confirmed it was some type of ordinance, but still not sure of what it was. To be honest though, this week has been pretty quiet, alhamdolilah.

So, if your too lazy to read the slate explainer (as far as I understand, and I may be wrong). Missles-self propelled and guided during flight; rockets-self propelled and unguided during flight (you gotta aim first, and hope the wind doesn't blow it off course); mortars-think big bullets or bombs launched from the ground. But a lot, if not most air launched bombs are now in air guided.

I think I just put myself on a watch list.

Anonymous said...

again, a very well written posts. your description, sadly, reflects the reality of Afghanistan - it IS a war.

my two cents on the "pretty bombs" - fire works are essentially bombs. we crowd up every fourth of july to watch the pretty fireworks, picnic baskets in hand, families gathered together. but really, those fireworks are a reflection of the bombs blasted during independence -bombs that killed sons and daughters, making children orphans, turning the countryside into a wasteland.

i don't know what you should do, either - pray? when all is out of our control, what we have left is our power to pray, right? when life has degenerated to such extreme violence, I'm not sure that practicing the rule of law is useful - perhaps we need to step back and allow those with the knowledge of how to turn violent actions back into peaceful negotiations do their magic.

it may be distasteful to do so, as if to admit defeat, to let their violence disrupt our lives and our civilized progress. But at the same time, reality must be faced. It does not mean civilized progress is finished, it just means it is temporarily delayed. We still maintain hope.

curious will said...

hello chica! of course i remember you!! and i still have that little book you made me. it's actually in one of my scrapbooks for freshman year college!!!

here is my email if you want to get in touch (beyond having to write comments on each others blogs!) curiouswill@gmail.com