Afghans in Iowa React to Obama's Afghanistan Surge

The debate over U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan, including President Obama's recently announced troop surge, has brought the country to international attention yet again.

But for Afghans living in America, the debate hits closer to home. Many have come as refugees, acquiring American citizenship. Some are here to study, gaining not only an American education, but also American points of view. And some have grown up here, brought by parents fleeing a war-torn country.

We spoke with two Afghan men in Iowa who have lived, studied, and worked as Americans but have wildly different ideas about the current state of their country -- some for the better, some for the worse. Regardless of how long they've been in America, they all look forward to the day when they can return to their homeland.

Ezmaray Mohtasebzada, 26, grew up in Herat, a city of about 400,000 in western Afghanistan. He came to the United States in 2007 on a Fulbright scholarship and has been a student at Drake University for over two years. He is studying public and international relations and will graduate next spring. After that, his visa expires and he will return to Afghanistan. He misses his family and friends and says he is excited to see them, though he hears that the condition back home is worse than ever.

Herat is one of the safer cities in Afghanistan, but it has still seen 17 bomb attacks in the last five years -- five of them since January. Blackmail and kidnappings occur daily. Three members of Mohtasebzada's family have been kidnapped -- just a few weeks ago, his cousin's son was held for $500,000 ransom. His uncle, who owns a construction company and several other businesses, paid $200,000 for his release.

"My city is the safest example of Afghanistan," Mohtasebzada said. "So imagine about the cities where the situation is bad. It means you cannot live there. It's impossible to live in that city." Mohtasebzada will return to work in Afghanistan for a year or two, and then apply for a scholarship to finish his masters degree in America. Eventually, he wants work for an embassy, foreign ministry office or consulate. "I really like to be involved in issues involving Afghanistan and the world," he says. "I hope the situation changes in Afghanistan and I hope that things get better."

The United States entered Afghanistan in October 2001 to oust the Taliban and capture top al-Qaida leaders following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Since then, more than 850 U.S. troops have been killed and over 7,000 have been injured. More than 6,000 Afghan security forces have died since 2001, and over 3,100 civilians were killed between January 2008 and July 2009.

NATO troops in Afghanistan number 71,000, nearly half of them American. With President Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, U.S. forces will reach 100,000 by July of 2010.

Subhan Rahi, 24, left the capital, Kabul, with his family ten years ago when the city became too dangerous. They gained refugee status with the help of Lutheran Services in Iowa, becoming one of the first of 14 Afghan families to resettle in Iowa. He was 14. Now he lives in Clive with his parents, two brothers and sister, and works at Costco in West Des Moines. His friends in Afghanistan tell him things have improved since he left.

"The situation at home is good now," he says. "They're all happy, and things have changed big time." When he left Kabul, Subhan said there were no computers or electricity, and women couldn't walk on the street without being covered. Now he says there are computers, malls and electricity, and women walk uncovered -- "just like women here." They can even hold hands in public with their husbands or significant others.

His friends tell him he needs to see how things have changed, in large part due to American influence. "I want to see it for myself," he says. "I haven't specified when I'm going to go back, but hopefully in the near future," he says.

Both men have hope for the future of their country and want to be part of a new and improved Afghanistan. In time, they will return to Afghanistan to do their part, but in the meantime, they're living out their Afghan roots in America and are supportive of American action in their country. "In general, Afghans who know and are educated, we are really thankful of Americans," Mohtasebzada said. "I'm not a pessimist. I'm an optimist."