corrupt government

When I read the first page of the New York Times International section issued on January 20th, I first saw it as just another bombing in Afghanistan, but soon learned otherwise. The article that drew my attention talked about an attack on a mall in Kabul resulting in the death of five people and it made me realize just how much we as Americans take our government for granted. The article concluded that bribery was the main reason for the attack. The attackers were said to have bribed government officials at the security checkpoints into the city. This, for many, is quite likely considering bribery makes up one fourth of Afghanistan’s Gross Domestic Product. Many people in the city are not surprised by this, but other locals believe a conspiracy was carried out by Americans to justify being in Afghanistan. To me, this shows two things: one, that their government is so corrupt they cannot even protect their own citizens from themselves and two, the government is now trying to brainwash citizens into thinking of Americans as the bad guys. There are many issues with our government, but at least we don’t have to worry about our buildings being destroyed as a result of a government’s negligence and corruption.