Chapter 4: The reality of the war? (Part 3)
Alexander, with his innocent resolve and bright sense of justice, began his journey in the military, which started due to the scene of carnage he had seen on the disastrous day, September 11, 2001.
Joined at the lowest rank possible but with the opportunity to join the special forces due to the constant need, he was already given the contract needed for him to try his luck to join the rank of the elite. With his sense of justice in mind and heart of revenge, he didn't even think twice before giving his absolute best to join the elite forces.
And due to his exceptional abilities and natural talent, he became a part of Green Beret, a special forces squad, in his early months of joining the military, but he wasn't satisfied with how things were going right now.
He had become much more experienced in the past few months, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to be part of the soldiers who were currently fighting against the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, which should be responsible for the attacks that happened on September 11.
Alexander's prayers were not unanswered, as only a week afterward it was announced that they would be going to Afghanistan, where the base of the terrorist organization was. It wasn't a game anymore; it had become war.
He didn't really understand what that word would actually imply until later on or what kind of horror a war brings to a land.
Currently, in young Alexander's mind, he and his comrades are going to a foreign land to fight the evil organization that has taken the lives of so many innocent people in his country's people.
He would not let such horrible people live freely in this world.
During his flight, he had begun to think about the thought of taking another human's life. He knew sooner or later he had to take that step, and knowing who the targets were going to be, his mind wasn't bothered much by it, but there was still a little psychological burden on his mind.
Entering the foreign land, dust filled the air, and everything smelled of fuel, sweat, and gun oil. He wasn't in America anymore.
But the atmosphere didn't affect Alexander's resolve at all. It was a much harsher environment there, but he was already ready for whatever came his way.
Only after a week to get used to the environment here and become familiar with the base were they now sent on a mission to guard a terrain where they are trying to build other bases.
It was common knowledge to everyone that the current governing forces of Afghanistan, named 'Taliban,' were protecting the terrorist group, which is the root cause of the war.
Alexander, knowing this, felt no sympathy toward someone who is trying to protect such evil forces, and to him they are as criminal as them.
They were working with opposition forces that were trying to take back the control of the country that they had lost in a long struggle of civil unrest of many years.
Their mission was simple, as they had to reconnoiter the area and confirm if it was a camp of the terrorist organization or not and leave swiftly so the air force unit would bombard them with missiles.
The terrain was very hard to move around, but even then, with their swift and coordinated response, they were able to relocate them and complete the airstrike.
Seeing the airstrike happening, he felt very satisfied as he was getting closer and closer to reaching his goal of seeing the terrorist organization wiped out.
With the US's advanced weapons and technology, within the following month, he and his team completed many more missions, and during this time they even had a few direct confrontations with the opposing force. He had taken down a few of them using his automatic rifle; he didn't even feel much like taking their lives, knowing what kind of people they were and that they were the ones who had attacked them first.
As the time passed, the confrontation between them became intense. During that time, many of the other team members were even given missions to enter the cities to locate the terrorists and imprison them, and if the need arose, they had to just take their lives.
This was the day Alexander felt both anger and sadness for the first time in this foreign land, as according to the reports, during the mission, a terrorist had blasted himself using a bomb in the middle of the city to take other US soldiers with him.
The loss of his fellow soldiers made his blood boil, and their methods made him repulsed, as according to the report, five US soldiers had died along with 37 innocent civilians of the city, including men, women, elders, and even children.
They had specially used a crowded area so that their soldiers wouldn't be properly able to use lethal force against them, hiding within the civilians.
Alexander, who previously from time to time thought that an airstrike felt too brutal in his mind, had this thought completely removed from his mind, as there is no mercy for such people in his mind now. Even then, knowing the death of innocent civilians put some weight on his heart.
He knew it was not his fault, but he couldn't help but feel upset, and his determination to end them increased even more.
From this day onward, the response from their higher command has become even more brutal than before. He can feel the anger in all the soldiers.
Starting from this day onward, Alexander started to question if what they were doing was the right thing or not.
In the following 6 months, they had major advancement toward their goal of catching the leader of the terrorist organization, but during this time, he had seen many things.
His once bright face and eyes filled with color had lost all his previous glory, and now his handsome face had lost all his color, and his eyes seemed to have no soul in them. It felt like he was a machine who only followed orders.
His reality has shattered now.
He questions everything now.
Is what they are doing right or wrong?
Lying in his makeshift tent in the middle of some mountain, Alexander is reminiscing about the day that made him question everything. His naive idea of destroying the evil, bringing justice — everything has now lost its sense.
"Am I really doing the right thing"