Täna sai Helmandis surma nooremseersant Herdis Sikka. Eesti erimissiooni poolt sügav kaastunne sõduri omastele ja tuttavatele. http://www.mil.ee/
Today, Estonian soldier Herdis Sikka was killed in Helmand. Condolances on behalf of the Estonian Special Mission to his family and friends.
Tänane päev oli täis nii ilu kui kohutavaid elamusi; alustan viimasest. Afganistani kohta oli tänastes uudistes eelkõige kohutavast mõrvast Badakshani provintsis, kus tapeti kaheksa välismaalasest meedikut ja kaks afgaani. Vaid kolm nädalat tagasi osalesin ühel õhtusöögil Kabulis, kus viibis ka üks ohvriks langenud meedikutest. Tol õhtul tutvustasin talle Eesti meditsiinialaseid tegevusi Helmandis ja ajasime ka niisama juttu. Ja nüüd… Ma ei tea, mis täpselt juhtus ning tõenäoliselt jääb täielik tõde teadmata. Taleban on küll selle juhtumi eest vastutuse endale võtnud, kuid kas see ikka oli nii? Taleban kasutab väga osavasti ära meediat ning tihtipeale võtab enda peale ka roimasid, millega neil endil pole pistmist, kuid millega näidatakse oma tegevusulatust. Tegelikult pole ju vahet, kes nad tappis – kuritegu on kuritegu ja paljusid häid Afganistanile vajalike oskustega inimesi enam pole. Minule isiklikult tähendas see ühe väga toreda tuttava kaotamist.
Afganistan on kontrastide maa – ühel pool on verine sõjategevus, vaesus, korruptsioon, lihtlabane kuritegevus, kasvav narkomaania ja afgaanide väsimus kõike seda veel taluda. Teisel pool on aga püüdlused midagi riigis paremaks muuta, Afganistani korrakaitsejõudude arenemine (võib-olla mitte nii suures ulatuses, kui doonorriikides oodatakse, kuid siiski), majanduse elavnemine, paljud arukad ja säravate ideedega afgaanid ning vähemalt poliitiline valimisolek mitmete probleemidega tegeleda, mis varem on unarusse jäetud. Positiivse poole peal on minu jaoks ka Afganistani loodus. Mul õnnestus täna ära käia Panjshir’i orus, mida peetakse üheks kõige ilusamaks kohaks Afganistanis. Mul pole väga palju olnud võimalusi Afganistanis ringi liikuda, kuid kindlasti oli see org üks ilusamaid kohti, kus ma üldse kunagi olen käinud. Mäed, jõed, väiksed külad… See käik pani mind tõsisemalt mõtlema, kui palju potentsiaali Afganistanil oleks kui julgeoleku olukord oleks vähe teine. Siin ka mõned pildid.
Today was full of beautiful and horrible experiences; I’ll start from the latter. In today’s news about Afghanistan, there was quite a lot about murders in Badakshan province, where eight international medical workers and two Afghans were brutally killed. Only three weeks ago, I was invited to one dinner in Kabul, where also one of the victims was present. That night I introduced to this guest Estonian activities in Helmand in the health-care section and we had a nice chat. And now… I don’t know what exactly happened and probably the truth will never be absolutely uncovered. Taleban has taken responsibility for this incident, however, was that the case? Quite often you can see Taleban using effectively the media to take upon crimes that they had no connection at all, but which are used to show Taleban’s activities. In reality, there’s no difference, who killed them – crime is a crime and many good people with skills so needed in Afghanistan are no longer with us. For me, personally, this incident meant loosing a very nice acquaintance.
Afghanistan is a country of contrast – on the one hand there is bloody war-activity, poverty, corruption, simple crime, growing drug addiction and Afghans’ tiredness to bare all that. On the other hand, there are attempts to improve things in this country, the development of the Afghan National Security Forces (may-be not so great development as the donor-countries expect, but still), more lively economy, many Afghans who are smart and full of great ideas and at least political readiness to tackle some of the problems that have been neglected so far. On the positive side, for me there’s also the nature. I visited today Panjshir valley, that is considered to be one of the most beautiful places in Afghanistan. I haven’t had many chances to see more of the country, but it was definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Mountains, rivers, small villages… This visit made me really think how much potential actually Afghanistan has if only the security situation was a bit different. Above are also some pictures.
Seekord ajendas mind blogisse kirjutama üks hiljutine vestlus sügistel valimistel parlamenti kandideeriva afgaaniga. Kuivõrd ta on pärit Kandaharist, on ka tema potentsiaalne valijaskond seal ning ta oli just lähipäevil sõitmas sinna, et natukenegi valimiskampaaniat teha.
Kuid kuidas viia läbi valimiskampaaniat eriti ohtlikes tingimustes? Kindlasti saab kasutada välireklaame, televisiooni, raadiot, ajalehti, kuid seda kõige olulisemat – kohtumist võimalike valijatega – pole lihtsalt võimalik läbi viia. Ainuke viis valijatega kohtumiseks on kutsuda mõned külavanemad omale külla ja loota, et nad teda toetavad ja räägivad külades edasi tema ideid/mõtteid. Küladesse minek oleks sellele mehele üsna kindel enesetapp, sest ta on varasemalt esinenud nii mõnegi Talebani-vastase avaldusega.
Tol õhtul, kui ma talle lahkudes head reisi ja õnne valimisteks soovisin, parandas ta mind lahkelt mainides, et eelkõige on vaja õnne eluspüsimiseks. See kohtumine oli minu jaoks üsnagi mõtlemapanev – kuid samas ega Kandahari puhul ei saagi midagi väga palju paremat hetkel loota. Loodetavasti aga on järgmised parlamendivalimised juba paremas seisus.
This time I decided to write a blog-entry after talking to one afghan who is running his campaign for the parliamentary elections this fall. As he is from Kandahar, his constituency is there and in the next days he was travelling there for his campaign.
However, how can you campaign in extreme or dangerous circumstances? Yes, you can use outdoor posters, TV, radio, newspapers, but not the most important – meeting potential voters. The only way to meet voters, as he said, was to invite some village or tribal elders to his home and hope that they will support him and then pass his message in the villages. To go himself to the villages would be quite a sure suicide due to some of his anti-Taleban statements.
When I started to say good-bye that night and wish him good luck for the elections, he kindly corrected me saying that he needs luck primarily for survival. This meeting was quite thoughtprovoking - at the same time one still cannot expect much more from a place like Kandahar. Hopefully, the next elections will be held in better circumstances.