SEPT 9 — The way the media distorts and manipulates facts has never been so obvious as when I stepped foot for the first time on Afghan soil this week.

I’m here for my next documentary project and also as a correspondent for Astro Awani and to produce features for The Malaysian Insider, amongst other media.

I am lucky enough (haha!) to be in the country’s capital city Kabul for the upcoming 10th anniversary of 9/11.

As the weekend approaches, the international media has already begun their hype-up of the “event” with all kinds of feature stories and packages.

It seems, according to the media, the whole world is thinking of 9/11 and why wouldn’t they when that’s all that’s being highlighted.

Of course, with the 10th anniversary approaching, there looms the threat of the Taliban wanting to make a statement, in the form of attacks and bombings.

Everyone seems to be harping about the 10 years that have gone by and all the security issues that have cropped up in the wake of 9/11.

Now I’m not saying that we should ever forget such an atrocity, but I’m just trying to put things into a little bit of perspective.

So, the first thing I did was to utilise my journalism skills and walk the streets to talk to the people of Kabul and to get their thoughts on the upcoming anniversary of 9/11

I talked to shopkeepers and business owners, university students and street sweepers, and I even talked to local Afghan journalists.

And the big response that I got is that after a decade has gone by, the general feeling in the capital of Afghanistan seems to be that 9/11 is not relevant at all here.

Yes, it’s true that the incident is the main cause of why the American government and troops invaded the country and stayed all this while.

But after 10 years, it seems that Kabul-ites have grown disillusioned by everything that has been happening.

Firstly, the threat of attacks in the city by the Taliban isn’t a big concern anymore even though everyone is still wary.

Afghans have been killed so regularly by attacks, both by the Taliban and also the Coalition Forces, throughout the year that it’s no longer anything new.

Kabul-ites even said that what happened on 9/11 wasn’t even an Afghan fight and they reminded me that it was committed by someone who wasn’t even an Afghan.

What Kabul-ites are really more concerned with now, more than thinking back on 9/11, is basically having a country where they can lead normal lives in.

They want a clean and efficient government that represents the people. They want less corruption amongst the authorities. They want jobs. They want security.

Then there is the promise of the transition of power from foreign forces to a complete handover to the Afghan government.

The Kabul-ites I talked to believe that not much change has occurred in these 10 years that have gone by.

The security that they want hasn’t materialised. The efficient and clean government that they are hoping for is weak and the jobs they are looking for can’t be found.

They want the foreign forces to leave because they want to govern themselves yet don’t have enough faith in their current government to be able to govern the country.

At the end of the day, it’s really difficult to summarise the situation in Afghanistan since it’s so complicated.

And as the international media starts to highlight the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the Afghan people continue to be the ones victimised.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.