Who is this man carrying our flag?

He joined the service for the same reasons American Soldiers do.  No one forced him.  He volunteered to serve his country.  Afghanistan has been at war for 30 years; he is tired of the fighting and wants there to be peace so he can raise a family.

Most likely he can barely read.  70% of Afghans are illiterate.  He might have gone to religious school or even a public school, but he probably only made it through the sixth grade.  Service in the military gave him an opportunity to learn how to read and write.  If he came to the service illiterate he will be required to attain literacy and numeracy to the 3^rd grade level by the time his enlistment is up. Military service has given him opportunities he could not get elsewhere. 

He is most definitely a Muslim.  If he is pious, as most Afghans are, he prays five times a day, doesn’t eat pork and doesn’t drink alcohol. When he joined the service he took an oath with his hand on the Quran.  A rifle was next to his holy book. The official name of his country is the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.  His flag is black, green and red striped and in the middle is a mosque, with its mihrab facing Mecca. His God is the same one Christians and Jews worship.  His prophets include Abraham, Moses, Isaac and John the Baptist among others.

Islam is his center and purpose for being.

If he is from the rural area, and especially Southern and parts of Eastern Afghanistan, his sisters might not go to school at all.  Many of the girls will move from their father’s house to their husband’s home and will rarely be seen outside their residence for the rest of their lives.  However, if he is from the more urban areas and those other locations where the insrugency has been completely eliminated his sisters could go to college or even join the service if they so choose. Since the war and liberation from the Taliban this bubble of enlightenment continues to expand and has penetrated those areas once dominated by the extreme Mullahs.  

He makes around $165 a month and a good portion of that income will go to his family, which could be up to ten or more people.   

He is probably a Pashtun, Tajik, or Hazarra, but he could be one of the other Afghan ethnicities, Uzbek, Turkmen or Baloch.  He speaks Dari or Pashtu depending on where he is from and he could possibly speak both depending on his education. He may even know some English having served with Americans, Brits, Canadians and Australians.

If he is like the Afghans I know, he makes friends slowly.  It takes time to gain trust. But when that confidence is attained, the bond is unbreakable. Some of my very best friends in the world are Afghan. I trust them with my life – every single day.

Like my friends, I'm sure he says odd things in his language such as "May you live long," and "May you not be tired." He will hold your hand, press his cheek against yours, and smile his greetings in a way that makes you forget you're 7500 miles from home.   And, if you ask him how he is doing doing in Dari, "Cha tour hastee?" It is likely he will reply, "Shookur, Qub Hastum" ,,, "Thanks be to God, I am good."

The man in the picture went into a hostile crowd that was burning American flags. He wrestled one from the hands of a protester and brought it back to friendly lines.  

Who is the American that he presses cheeks and breaks naan with? Who did he befriend that the relationship meant so much he would risk his life for the flag of a nation he will most likely never visit?

He made it out of this particular situation alive. But it is not for certain, if his identity is determined by the Taliban, that he and his family will not be targeted for reprisal.

I’m sure he was upset when learning that American Soldiers burned several Qurans - an act that has incited riots across Afghanistan and has put both U.S. Soldier's lives and our mission at risk. 

And the excuses began as soon as the incident was released in the media.  The Soldiers were young. They didn’t know better. It was an accident.  The Afghans need to get over it.

I – personally – cannot get over it.

But this young Afghan Policeman did.

And that is the reason this war is worth winning.