Burning books and buying burqas

Photograph: Skateistan

It is easy to forget how fortunate we are and how the freedoms and rights we take for granted remain elusive to so many.

Yesterday, as images of desperate men jumping onto moving planes and devastated women buying burqas flooded our screens and sent a chill down our spines, the tragedy of Afghanistan revealed not only the utter despair of a people who had dreamt of so much more, it also put into stark relief our own good fortune of living in a democracy where we need not fear for the lives of our sons and daughters.

But our good fortune is only one side of the coin; the other is our obligation.

The political scramble to justify the chaos of the present with the mistakes of the past is all too quickly leading to the conclusion that 20 years in the service of creating a more democratic nation have been in vain.

Tell that to the women who were able to walk the streets on their own; to open their own businesses and speak their own minds. Tell that to an entire generation of girls and young women who were once again allowed to go to school. And tell that to the fathers, husbands and brothers who could proudly watch them do it all.

The response to the failure of Afghanistan cannot be to turn our backs on future challenges. It must be to accept and learn from our mistakes in order to do better. We must resist the urge to find all resistance futile, as that is how we allow despots the triumph they crave.

The people of Afghanistan trusted us, believed in us and in many cases helped us, and as we watch the doors close and darkness descend we cannot forget that being on this side of the door demands action.

We may not be able to help everyone, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. It is our duty, our obligation, to show gratitude for the fact that we are where we are, in the safety of our homes, by helping the Afghans who put their lives on the line to help us do our job, and who are now staring into the abyss.

We owe them that.

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As we return to our events schedule, stay tuned for an evening on the topic of the state of the world 20 years after 9/11, including a look at the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and their effects on US foreign policy. Date TBA.

The literary reckoning with the war in Afghanistan has also begun. A few interesting books making their way to our shelves in the next few days are 'The Afghanistan Papers : A Secret History of the War' by Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock and
'The American War in Afghanistan' by Carter Malkasian.

We look forward to seeing you at the shop!
Isabella and the staff of Books & Company