Experimental Blog #138

Comments on "In My Father's Country" - An Afgan Woman Defies Her Fate by Saima Wahab

This account of the author's life, which begins in Kabul, Afganistan, apparently, in 1976, is fascinating and very instructive; besides being frequently tragic. Saima Wahab describes, in equal terms, her Pashtun people and culture, and their numerous villages and tribes. She also writes about their relationships with the Farsibans and Hazaras, who are other minority people. Besides these people, there are also villages of Uzbeks and Tajiks in Afganistan.

Saima Wahab returned to "her father's country" several times from 2005 to 2009. At first she was a civilian translater, or CAT II. Later, and still a civilian, although she might be in military uniform and very heavily armed, she went as a member of a "Human Terrain Team", or HTT. HTT is one of many American Army acronyms, such as: IED, RPG, CONEX, MWR, FOB, PRT, HESCO, CAT, IBA, ECP, TOC, CMOC, and COIN, besides others which pepper this book.

Saima Wahab's experiences with the American Army and other "civilian contract" employees are also extremely informative.