A Muslim Dilemma (first published in Pacific Sun, Dec. 03)

Recently I attended the Mill Valley Film Festival and saw a film named Afghanistan: Unveiled which detailed the condition of women in the post-Taliban era.

After the hour-long documentary, there was a panel discussion with women who had been involved with the movie. The five panelists took questions from the predominately white, older crowd about the film, Afghanistan, and the war in general.

One panelist received the lion's share of the attention. In her early 20s, she had been one of the journalists in the movie, and the moderator informed us that this was her first time outside Afghanistan. In fact, she had only removed her burka two weeks before this trip.

The audience began to pepper her with questions. Were they showing the film inside Afghanistan? What had she done while the Taliban were in power? What are her plans for the future? To all these questions the woman tried to give thoughtful, intelligent responses.

One man asked what Afghans thought of America, and she replied (in broken English) "We are happy they get rid of Taliban, but now we don't want them. We want our own country." After the discussion ended, I watched as the man came up to her and demanded that she explain her position further. How can they have it both ways? Why do they expect America to risk her own sons and daughters in pursuit of vile regimes when the locals don't even want us there? The girl, wide eyed and sensing anger, declined to engage him and left his questions unanswered.

His question seems to be a common one among Americans today. It is hard to understand - how can these people turn on us so quickly after ridding them of these evil tyrants? As a Muslim who grew up in Marin, I feel as though I may be able to help provide a perspective that may be of use. One way to look at it is in terms of history, and in the differing way which cultures record and remember it.

The history of any culture will show the Ba'ath Party and the Taliban to be two of the most destructive governments of recent times. There can be no doubt that the vast majority of Iraqis and Afghans who lived under these juntas despised them and were desperate for their removal.

But, American history, or at least the one that the common man remembers, is confined to a post 9/11 world. We remember the Taliban harbored Bin Laden. We remember Saddam openly defied us. We do not remember that we backed Saddam, in fact armed him, during the 1980s. We do not remember that our proxy war in Afghanistan during the 80s left the country ruined and ripe for fundamentalism.

But, the commoner in Iraq remembers. They remember the duplicity of our actions, of how America supported a maniac while he gassed his own people, but then turned on him when he cast a covetous eye towards our pals in the House of Saud.

In Afghanistan they remember, because they still have the machine guns and rocket launchers we gave them (and which the Taliban rounded up and horded) to prove it.

These peoples' lives were under threat long before 9/11. Their memory, steeled under duress and misery, does not forget our role. So, as they watch their streets being patrolled by a foreign army they don't fully trust, their dilemma is obvious. Why should they trust us more than the previous despot? Hasn't America shown them that its own interests will invariably trump that of all others?

It is a nuanced position, the occupied Muslim's dilemma - one that rests just as much on memories of past betrayal as it does on memories of past success. Both the Afghans and Iraqis have long and glorious histories of culture and war. Baghdad once ruled the entire Muslim world and was a center of Arab culture and commerce. Afghanistan is the crossroads of Asia, a strategic trading route with fierce inhabitants who have beaten back two superpowers (first Britain, then Russia). The people love their countries and cultures. They are proud.

Of course - they know they can't do this alone. They know their people have failed to adapt to modern times. Poverty, corruption, fundamentalism - these are the only methods of governance they have seen. They want help, and are happy that America (for whatever reason) has chosen their country for "pre-emption".

But now, as both projects begin to stumble, the true task reveals itself. Nation building is not easy, and can only succeed if all parties involved work towards a common goal that is in the best interests of the people and clearly communicated to all. Perhaps the people involved, the Afghans and Iraqis, can be forgiven for being gun-shy on entering into another partnership with America. They remember the last time it happened.