ANA soldier cites how ANSF has given Afghans hope

International Security Assistance Force HQ Public Affairs
Story by Staff Sgt. Bruce Cobbeldick

Date: 06.24.2013
Posted: 06.24.2013 22:29
News ID: 109197

KABUL, Afghanistan - For one Afghan officer, it’s love of country that compelled him to join the Afghan National Security Forces.

As an Afghan National Army commando, Lt. Mohammad Naser Sirat, serves as the commander of a special operations unit, at the School Of Excellence at Camp Moorehead.

“From the time that Afghan Security Forces were created, especially our special forces unit, it made the conditions right for our children to go to school, for businessmen to build factories and high-rise apartments, make mosques, schools, clinics, roads, irrigation projects. These things have been made so the people of our country can carry on with their lives in a peaceful environment,” said Lt. Sirat.

Sirat wants to make it possible for Afghan children, sisters and brothers to go to school, so they can learn something.

“I want to help make the condition right for social and economic development,” he said.

Sirat primarily concerns himself with the safety of his countrymen. Sirat prefers that his own country worry about his own people.

“In the past, whether it was civil war or the war that was brought upon us by the foreign countries, our brothers, colleagues and friends made sacrifices that were big,” he said.

For Sirat, a hero is a person who defends his country, eliminates the enemy trying to invade his country, brings peace to the country and defends the sovereignty of the country.

Sirat will get his chance.

As he and his fellow ANA soldiers continue to safeguard their nation, the result of their blood, sweat and tears is an Afghanistan that is sovereign and knows peace more than violence. June 2013 marks the month of the transition when Sirat and his fellow Afghan soldiers and police officers will assume the lead for security responsibilities for the all of Afghanistan.

For soldiers like Sirat, it’s a chance for Afghans to bring peace and stability to the country they love and cherish.

“Now, the people can know better times – times that offer better economy, better education and less of the violence,” he said.