Dara Hassanzadeh, the fellow who wrote the summary about Nadia Nasser's and Udo Van (Von?) Kampen's little foray for ZDF among the "US-Waffen-Fanatiker", that is to be seen at
[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=150774&page=1[/url]

also is quite the extreme traveler as well as reporter. He writes about going to Afghanistan recently... and guess what this anti-gun writer (at least when it comes to Americans...) gets to do AND say in Afghanistan........ I had fun translating it- hope you like reading it.

[url]http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:ZhxTx9RJwjwC:www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/0,1872,1000105,00.html+%22Dara+Hassanzadeh%22++Waffen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8[/url]



Practice shooting with the Kalashnikov

 

Do you want to shoot? I am suddenly asked. "Uh, yeah....suuure" is my halting answer. It's probably due to my guilty conscience as an ex-member of alternative service* that makes it impossible for me to show more enthusiasm. Afridi puts the gun in my hand. "Take care, this thing kills, he warns me. I had never before in my life fired a real gun. My experiences with weapons are limited to more or less successful airgun shooting at carnivals. The Kalashnikov feels cold and heavy. I hold the rifle in the firing position and seek a target: I find one, a big white rock. I need two, three seconds until I can trust myself to pull the trigger.

(*compulsory duty for conscientious objectors, instead of armed, uniformed military service),
 
 
     

BANG, my eardrums vibrate, a light recoil presses against my shoulder, and I see sparks on the cliff. A super feeling. Again and again, I pull the trigger. I guess Afridi sees my fascination and sets me on continuous fire. It is an ear-deafening noise, the cartridge shells fly wildly in all directions, and I let loose even more wildly in the air. "This is the Land of Freedom!", I call to Afridi, totally overcome. If this were the examination for recuits, I suppose I would have enlisted for many years.
 
 
     

This goes on until I return to my senses. According to the teacher, every family has at least ten Kalashnikovs, and if weapons are within reach, they are then used to solve conflicts. That's a problem. On one hand they bring security. If, in the tribal area, somebody does something to any member of the family, according to Shahjehan, then the clan whose honor has been besmirched has the right to blood revenge. In so doing, everyone must always be conscious of his responsibility towards his closest relatives.
 
 
     

In the meantime it is now noon, and we call on a cousin of Shahjehan.  Whoever knocks on a door at noontime, and is allowed to enter, is not only invited to eat, but not allowed to refuse. An unparalled insult, that one dare not commit around such hot-looded temperaments and such a density of weapons. But one would not have had to force me to sit down to eat for very long. Afridi tells his relatives about my shooting frenzy and also about my clumsiness around guns, something which here would be unthinkable in a 28 year old man. the family laughs and the cousin tells the story of another German, whose enthusiasm for guns and for the region culminated in him buying a Russian tank and having it shipped back to Germany.

[b]It's probably due to my guilty conscience as an ex-member of alternative service*...[/b]

*Closest American analogy: Liberal Bed-Wetter