Liar, Liar

Afghans lie. They don't think that they are lying themselves, of course. They exaggerate. They turn, twist and bend matters, cover up, hide and steal facts and details until there's not much left to analyse. They plot, confuse and mislead. They do this so frequently that one gets used to it. They do it every day, all of the time. In fact, I think that should I spend a few years here, I would propably not even notice the absence of truth and any trace of reliability anymore. But the funny thing is that Afghans don't resent lying. It's quite easy to get them to agree to the facts - and even details - when they have no other way to turn. I suppose it has something to do with losing face and not losing face and not losing face to Afghans and losing face to foreigners. Or Uzbeks, Tadjiks, Pastus, Hazaras, Turkmens or whatever. When you finally have them pinned down, after two hours of useless negotiating, and they agree to what you were saying from the start, they actually seem relieved somehow. They seem to show you at least some kind of respect. Or was I just imagining things?


Here I'm being lied to. It's not the interpreter's fault, he just translates.