What a wonderful day out. It snowed all day yesterday. Not too much accumulated though. The flakes were large and wet, dropping slush for the most part. Last night the temp dropped and this morning it is sunny and white. The scenery is beautiful! I look at the fields (mine fields perhaps but fields nonetheless) and they look so perfect. The mountains want to be climbed and skied. I love this place! I want off post. I want to look around and explore! Funny thing is, I guess I am one of the few people that feel that way. I was driving most of the office to work today and it became obvious that most of them hate this place. It's really a shame. It's really a very American attitude. I suppose I am the odd one here… although it doesn't feel odd to me! 
Yesterday in the slush and gloom two of our fuel trucks slid off the roads on base. One we were able to free. The other truck could not be moved. The front and driven tires were in a ditch filled with freezing water and mud. We are trying to get the supplier to trans-load the fuel to another truck. That should lighten it enough to pull out of the ditch. The sad part is the status of the driver. When drivers come on base to deliver fuel they are escorted. They sleep in their trucks the few days they are stuck on base. The driver in this case had to spend the night in his truck, in the ditch, at the fuel farm. They are usually in a parking lot and can at least congregate. We feed them 2 MRE's a day. This poor guy was shivering as we looked over the situation. Here we were in the snow and he's wearing sandals, a sweater, no heavy jacket. I felt sorry for the guy.
Here we are seven years into this mess and we still don't have proper infrastructure or procedures in place. Too many turnovers, people are assigned for only six months to a year. It kills continuity. We constantly reinvent the wheel. Sometimes I feel like the entire effort is doomed to collapse under the weight of our own stupidity! It's such a shame. A few days ago there was an attack on several government ministries in Kabul. Eight kids (20 to 25 years old) attacked with AK47's, pistols, grenades and explosive vests (suicide vests). They killed at least 20 and wounded many more. This was a criminal act apparently sponsored from Pakistan. We report and treat these things as acts of way. You cannot counter small groups with an imperial war machine! You need to employ law enforcement and intelligence. We should be performing a full court press to upgrade the countries infrastructure and then commerce. Bring back the almond trade, lapis lazuli mining, etc. By allowing Afghans to earn a living and feed their families the extremist Islamic movement will implode. That cancerous movement uses the same motivations as the right wing movement in America. Keep people frightened and feeling imperiled and you can get them to agree to terrible things. In Afghanistan they kill civilians in the name of Allah. In America they dismantle democracy in the name of security. Both are crimes against humanity. Is one worse than the other? I can't say.
Yesterday in the slush and gloom two of our fuel trucks slid off the roads on base. One we were able to free. The other truck could not be moved. The front and driven tires were in a ditch filled with freezing water and mud. We are trying to get the supplier to trans-load the fuel to another truck. That should lighten it enough to pull out of the ditch. The sad part is the status of the driver. When drivers come on base to deliver fuel they are escorted. They sleep in their trucks the few days they are stuck on base. The driver in this case had to spend the night in his truck, in the ditch, at the fuel farm. They are usually in a parking lot and can at least congregate. We feed them 2 MRE's a day. This poor guy was shivering as we looked over the situation. Here we were in the snow and he's wearing sandals, a sweater, no heavy jacket. I felt sorry for the guy.
Here we are seven years into this mess and we still don't have proper infrastructure or procedures in place. Too many turnovers, people are assigned for only six months to a year. It kills continuity. We constantly reinvent the wheel. Sometimes I feel like the entire effort is doomed to collapse under the weight of our own stupidity! It's such a shame. A few days ago there was an attack on several government ministries in Kabul. Eight kids (20 to 25 years old) attacked with AK47's, pistols, grenades and explosive vests (suicide vests). They killed at least 20 and wounded many more. This was a criminal act apparently sponsored from Pakistan. We report and treat these things as acts of way. You cannot counter small groups with an imperial war machine! You need to employ law enforcement and intelligence. We should be performing a full court press to upgrade the countries infrastructure and then commerce. Bring back the almond trade, lapis lazuli mining, etc. By allowing Afghans to earn a living and feed their families the extremist Islamic movement will implode. That cancerous movement uses the same motivations as the right wing movement in America. Keep people frightened and feeling imperiled and you can get them to agree to terrible things. In Afghanistan they kill civilians in the name of Allah. In America they dismantle democracy in the name of security. Both are crimes against humanity. Is one worse than the other? I can't say.
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