Must be the sand getting in there:
‘‘Relative peace came to Tarok Kolache, but only after it was demolished.... at the height of the US offensive in late 2010, commanders chose what they considered their best option: They approved an airstrike that flattened all the 100-year-old mud-baked dwellings in town.... Three years later, the village is a sandy ruin, symbolizing the gains and losses of America’s longest war.... empty space where there once were homes.... ‘‘If the Americans hadn’t come, we would still have our village’’
(Blog editor frowns at the monstrosity all this has become. We destroyed the village in order to save it. And now the water droplets. May God forgive and spare this nation, although there is no reason he should.)
"Afghans question US aim in razing city; ‘What did we win?’ village asks" by Kevin Sieff | Washington Post, August 31, 2013
TAROK KOLACHE, Afghanistan — It took 50,000 pounds of American explosives to level Niaz Mohammad’s village.
The village had become a Taliban stronghold, a virtual factory for bombs that killed and maimed American soldiers.
At the height of the US offensive in late 2010, commanders chose what they considered their best option: They approved an airstrike that flattened all the buildings in town, more than 40, including Mohammad’s home. Though no civilians were killed, the bombardment quickly became one of the most controversial attacks of the war in Afghanistan.
Then why is this the first I'm seeing of it, three years later?
Three years later, the village is a sandy ruin, symbolizing the gains and losses of America’s longest war. A handful of villagers, Mohammad among them, have trickled back. The US Army withdrew this summer from the valley where Tarok Kolache is located. The Taliban have mostly fled to other districts.
Relative peace came to Tarok Kolache, but only after it was demolished.
‘‘What did we win in this war? We lost our homes. We lost our village,’’ said Mohammad, 47, the village’s de facto patriarch, with thick black eyebrows and a wavy beard. ‘‘The Taliban do not live here anymore, but they were only fighting in the first place because the Americans were here.’’
You know, in a weird way, Americans also lost their homes and villages -- through the more benign method of fraudulent bank foreclosures. Then they live you living in poverty, much like many Afghans. The only thing missing is the AmeriKan military barrage, although we do have security forces killing handfuls of people every day.
On the other side of the world, the man who decided to bomb Tarok Kolache, Army Colonel David Flynn, sits in his office at a base in Oklahoma, hoping his ‘‘painstaking choice’’ has paid off.
‘‘I think about Tarok Kolache every day,’’ Flynn said. ‘‘There were no good options there.’’
Like leaving them alone and never having invaded over those damnable 9/11 lies?
To compensate the villagers for the loss of their 100-year-old homes, the US military built them square, concrete rooms. But those structures — oddities in a valley of mud-baked dwellings — are already cracking. Locals refuse to live in them, so the buildings sit empty, the subject of mockery.
That's the good old AmeriKan workman$hip we have $een the$e last decades.
It's a damn culture now. Get your crap out there, cut corners on costs, pocket all the loot as profit, and who cares about consequences, I'm gone.
You ought to just go buy a new one, that would be be$t.
There are still the barbed wire and blast barriers brought here to protect the US base at the edge of the village, constructed after the Tarok Kolache bombing. The base itself has been dismantled.
Mostly, there are sand, rocks, and empty space where there once were homes.
Regardless of what you think of their centuries-old architectural ingenuity, it WAS HOME, folks!
How would YOU FEEL is someone came and FLATTENED -- however humble it may be -- YOUR HOME and SHELTER?
Related: What Happened to the Hurricane Season?
Well, that kind of washed right down the old AmeriKan media memory hole.
Some residents received up to $10,000 in compensation from the US military and moved elsewhere.
Oh my goodness, that is more than an Afghan child is worth!
Some said it was too dangerous to stay in Tarok Kolache after the US base was established. Many claimed the Americans failed to rebuild what they had promised.
Awwww, we do that in every country we demolish and flatten. Iraqis know.
Mohammad and his fellow villagers say they were never supportive of the Taliban; the insurgents had chased or scared many of them out of their homes. But he claims the series of events that ended with the destruction of his village started with the American invasion in 2001. ‘‘If the Americans hadn’t come, we would still have our village,’’ he said.
:-(
I'm so glad I was one of the 7% that objected, even if it was from a warped perspective of a leftist acolyte and continuing faith in nonviolence.
The bombing didn’t kill any civilians, but it stood out for the scale of its destruction.
That is one thing we do well -- as opposed to making new homes for you folks.
US officials were quick to call the operation a success.
:-(
Afghan members of the US-backed government said it was tragic but necessary. Both groups pointed to the proof: The Taliban left Tarok Kolache.
Yeah, because it is NOTHING but a DUSTY PIT now!
Flynn watched as the airstrike was carried out, knowing it would weaken the enemy but infuriate many locals. He thinks his decision, supported by top American commanders, was the right one.
‘‘Leadership isn’t about being the most popular guy on the street,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s about getting the job done and improving a bad environment.’’
There were objections not only from Afghan civilians but also from American academics and analysts, who said it was an example of the unnecessary use of force. For some outside the military, Tarok Kolache became a symbol of the Afghan war’s poor execution.
Mohammad learned about the American debate over Tarok Kolache months after it began raging on blogs and op-ed pages.
Incredible. This is the first I've seen or heard of it and it has been years.
After asking a friend to Google the name of his village, he couldn’t believe what he saw — a seemingly endless back-and-forth about whether Tarok Kolache’s destruction was justified.
‘‘It was amazing — I didn’t know we were famous in Tarok Kolache,’’ he said, smiling.
Oh, then I guess it was all worth it and worked out for the best!
Now if you will excuse me, readers, that aftertaste left me needing to vomit.
--more--"
How much you want for the lot?
Also see: Sunday Globe Special: Afghan Classroom
I thought that might cheer you up. Maybe we could get a soccer game going -- if it is not too dangerous.