An Afghan boy saved lives helping American soldiers. It could have cost him his.
By William Adler
Apr 6, 04:28 PM
Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.
— Immanuel Kant
There is a sort of visceral thrill when you sense victory at hand, or at least the possibility of it. I felt it when our young informant, Bashir, returned to the observation post with another tip. For the first time in several weeks, my sense of pessimism about our mission receded a bit. I felt hopeful.
I also felt and heard the thud of the detonation as I watched the gray-green image from our aerostat balloon on the command post TV screen. Ordinarily, I’d cringe and strain to listen for the crackle of voices on the radio that would signal an unfolding tragedy. But I expected this blast. This was our doing and marked a win for our team.
We’d been in the Tatooine-like district of Shah Wali Kot in Kandahar province for nearly six months when Bashir and his young friend began to warn the soldiers at one of our observation posts about insurgent bombs and caches. Bashir was what we’d call a free-range kid. He spent his afternoons tending to some goats or just roaming the wadis to the west of his village Kar-Mulla.
https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2022/04/06/an-afghan-boy-saved-lives-helping-american-soldiers-it-could-have-cost-him-his/
