Jade Maiwan Avenue

                 
                                     

                                                                      (Salgado 74)                                    

http://fotojournalismus.tumblr.com/post/18668885505/the-once-prestigious-jade-maiwan-avenue-kabul

For two years I lived in the south of England, with its beautiful green hills dotted with ruined castles once inhabited by knights. Many of those castles date over a thousand years old. When I saw this photo in Salgado's book, Migrations, that is what I thought I was looking at, a ruined castle that had to have been destroyed long ago. However this wasn't the case. This was "the once-prestigious Jade Maiwan Avenue" in Kabul, Afghanistan (Salgado Pamphlet 6). 

Those who led normal lives like you and I inhabited this once populated area of the city. What was it that leveled this area of the city to ruins? Civil wars.  These civil wars were driven because of the desire for power between two major groups, known as the Taliban and the United Front, and as a result leaving many homeless, jobless, and hopeless (II. AFGHAN.).  

 For me when I have think of war and it’s after effects it often seems that war is due to selfishness. I know this is not always the case, and in many instances it is necessary to go to war, however I do believe that a government or group, should do everything they can to resolve the conflict before war becomes an option. This photograph only captures a glimpse of what really happened here, but what it really captures is the after effects of what war does to society. The after effects of war, I believe, are far more detrimental then the war itself.  To me it is like when we make an unwise decision, and it is only at after that we see the consequences and feel its affects. Thinking before doing is critical, and if we only act upon selfish impulses then our actions will not just affect ourselves, but also those who are around us as well.

Works Cited

II. AFGHANISTAN'S CIVIL WARS." Crisis of Impunity. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York:    Aperture, 2000. 74 Print.

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York:    Aperture, 2000. 6 Print.