Irony

We learned much about the history of Afghanistan during our training. This country has seen the likes of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. The British fought 3 wars with Afghanistan and created the modern boundaries: it was a buffer between British India and Russia. Most of you are familiar with the Soviet Union's invasion of the country from 1979 to 1989. The US supported the insurgent mujaheddin and the Soviets left after a 10 year struggle. The Soviet Union disintegrated soon after. The people we have met still speak unkindly of the Russians. Lo and behold, we saw the truck in the attached picture; a gift from the Russian people to help the Afghans. 2 ambulances on the Afghan Army base are also Russian. It makes sense to send equipment rather than people, since Russian mentors might become targets of natives with long memories. Strange bedfellows.