Several Worlds Away

I’ve spent many years in the tropics. Most of the time I was “haze grey and underway” which is naval slang for being at sea. I’ve sailed through the Coral Sea, been to Queensland Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guam, Okinawa, Singapore, Myanmar and the Peruvian Amazon. There were even tentative plans to visit Tahiti though I think that’s effectively on the back burner for now. Panama seems different though. I am not yet sure if it’s the place or me. I’ve felt a bit off balance since I arrived and not as nearly prepared as I usually am. The country has much to offer and the people are wonderful but something feels out of place. I search and search but am still without an answer. So, until I come to terms with my quandary I go on with our vacation.

Today we visited Casco Viejo the old part of Panama City. Old and disheveled it struggles to restore itself. The colors run from muted browns and off-white to vibrant primary colors. Far too few of the old buildings have been restored, those that haven’t are either in very poor repair or empty shells without internal floors, plants growing everywhere and the odd vulture standing watchful on the roof.
A chunk of cash and this would be THE spot for tourists in Panama City. It appears most of the available coin has been sunk into the high rise apartment across the bay, too bad for historical preservation. While in Casco Viejo I also purchased the obligatory Panama Hat (made in Ecuador of course) and a Cubano cigar. The hat was a must. I grew up hearing my dad talk about his visits to Ecuador in the late 40’s, so that purchase was as much in his memory as my own taste for hats.

All in all I can do without Panama City. I’m not a big fan of many cities. Let’s see, the short list would have to be: LA, New York, DC, Singapore, Roma, Cuzco, San Francisco… I think that’s about it. There are many places I’d like to visit and even return to, like Buenos Ares, London, Bangkok and Munich but the short list is places I could really spend some time and not get anxious in short order.

Panama, the country outside the big city, is curious to me. This is the first place I’ve visited with huge flocks of vultures. Personally I’m quite fond of vultures so I’m cool with that. I even felt a bit sorry for the hundreds of them we saw circling above the meat packing plant waiting on the meal that will never materialize. The jungle here is quite serious. Even at more than 8,000 ft elevation the rain forest is dense and unforgiving. We looked over some land up north near Cerro Punta, beautiful land, but very wet and steep. It would be a great local for an Eco-Lodge or possibly for growing some coffee. That is something I’ll dig a bit deeper into. It could be that some of my curious unease is that this time we are really considering retirement locations. I haven’t found and really good mountain biking areas and even Vulcan Baru at more than 10,000 ft just does not compare to the Sierras.

The people here have been wonderful. We’ve met a number of locals I could easily remain friends with. It’s worth keeping in mind thought that only 2.3M people live in the whole country. It’s all a bit of a small village outside of Panama City. Laura, the realtor in Vulcan is a true free thinker. She fled Panama under Noriega because she refused to live in a dictatorship. Now back and with a growing business she is taking on interests trying to dam up a local river. She’s doing this without a group, just by herself. In a few short days she had collected over 300 signatures in an area with about 10,000 residents, not bad!

The best food so far has been at a restaurant names La Isletta. Roberto and Arturo run the place along with a working ranch and small B&B. All the beef they serve is grown, grass fed and hormone free, on the ranch. It’s the best beef I’ve ever tasted (apart from Kobe). Roberto an amazing family property along the Inter American Hwy and made it a must see locale. They offer kayaking, hiking, a wonderful place to sleep and fantastic food. If you are driving from Panama to David this is a great place to break up the 5 hour drive.

The town of Boquete has recently overthrown the long reign of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee with Geisha Coffee. I hear in the US it fetched over $100 a pound! A beautiful place and the current darling of expats residing outside Panama City, Boquete is a compact town of coffee plantations and small farms butted up against the Eastern flank of Volcan Baru. It’s nice but I doubt I’ll end up there. The mountain roads are too prone to mudslides and the prices have already been driven up by expats. Volcan and it’s surrounding area on the West of Volcan Baru have more to offer. That is, they have more to offer me. Volcan is a cow town but the prices are not yet over the top and there is room to find a few acres and disappear if one chooses.

From Bad to Worse

I’ve been struggling for months with how to respond to the question everyone keeps asking me: “What do you thing about the surge in Afghanistan?” It’s always worded a bit different. Some ask it seemingly reluctantly, wanting to know but not sure how to ask it. I do love Afghanistan. I long to see more of the country… but cannot. I want so badly to see a chance for improvement. I want to but the final card just dropped. I just read that Abdullah Abdullah is going to drop out of the runoff election with Karzai. Abdullah has been pushing for a power sharing deal and the sacking of the head of the election commission. Karzai has been stonewalling and apparently all bets are now off.
I was listening to an interview with the former deputy head of the UN’s mission in Afghanistan, Peter Galbraith. He was sacked by Ban Ki Moon prior to the primary election for pushing too hard for free and fair elections. His specific complaint was that too many polling places were going to be designated. Now before you scoff and ask why that is a bad thing it’s important to remember that many parts of the country are still outside the direct control of Kabul. Mr. Galbraith’s complaint was that to open polling places that likely would not be manned would allow easy ballot stuffing. If the polling place never opens except on paper it’s too easy to make up imaginary votes and record them. He made these specific complaints before the first election and low and behold what happened? Exactly that! The UN threw out so many votes for Karzai that a second election was warranted.
A few days ago I heard that the “Independent “ Election Commission in Afghanistan was going to open even MORE polling places for the runoff election. I heard that and thought “it’s over”. It’s a bold move to be sure. Even more phantom polling places to record make believe votes. It was clear to me Karzai was going to steal this election at any cost, the greedy bastard. Now the story about Abdullah, I no longer have any hope that we can have a positive impact on the country.
In 1963 we supported a coup d’etat against Diem in South Vietnam. This was a regime change of a government we were “supporting” we all know how that one ended. So now we have an illiterate government, of our own creation, running the country we are fighting in. This can’t possibly end well. More cash, more troops, it won’t matter. You simply can’t bring peace and stability to a country without a central government short of straight up colonization and that is but a short tern solution which also generally ends badly.
I was hopeful that General McCrystal’s strategy of protecting the populace would improve conditions but how can that possibly work when the central government is horribly corrupt? How do you hand off control of a country to someone only interested in raping it?
Does this mean I think the Taliban are a good alternative? Hell no! The Taliban are an evil Pakistani construct, not an Afghan movement. We look to have burned all our bridges though. We have played this misadventure so badly from the get go that we no longer have any options. I hate to say this. I love Afghanistan and want above all else to put on rose colored glasses and pretend we can fix the mess. I simply can’t pretend any longer. This tears me up but I can’t ignore it. We need to extricate our troops and let the Afghans decide their own destiny.
At this point the best we can do is work feverishly to cut all the funding strings to the Taliban and drug lords. This we CAN do. We know who these people are. We know how to disrupt international funding channels. If we were to effectively limit outside influence from Afghanistan, our own included, the country would sort itself out. Will we do that? No. Too bad. You have no idea how angry this all makes me. Here we go again…

Back in the Saddle

Just two months back from Afghanistan. I live in a privileged beach community on the West Coast. Given I didn’t have anything to do with combat in Afghanistan and actually enjoyed my time there I should have had an easy transition. At least I would have thought so. My first month or so was vacation time. I thought I would accomplish so much. Not so, to my dismay. Last month I spent back at Corporate America. I returned to most of my duties. Things began slowly, boring, bland. I wondered what the hell I was doing there, in my little cubicle. It’s been a strange transition. I’ve been away before but never for so long, especially never so long without a break.

I heard my wife telling her best friend that I was burned out from working more than six months without a day off. It didn’t feel like the cause though. I am glad she has friends to confess to, to confide in. I had one once. It’s important to have someone other than a spouse to talk to. So here I am, a bit better now. The turning point seems to have been a dream in which I died. I’ve never died in a dream before. The strange thing is that I was falling and knew it would end badly. Rather than taking control of the dream as I usually have I concentrated on relaxing and letting go. At impact I was suddenly somewhere else. Someone was walking toward a fence with me to see the carnage. A person had landed badly, fatally, from some great distance. When I looked I saw it was my body lying there. I was not feeling bad, just curious. There I stood looking at my shattered form on the concrete. I told my friend about the dream but shortly thereafter they vanished. So, here I am somewhat transformed, somewhat back to normal, but lacking a key person in my life. Cest la vie.
Yesterday I climbed mount San Jacinto. It was my first ascent since I began the foray into Central Asia and the bowels of petroleum management. The last peak was San Gorgonio in Sep 08. I love mountains. They help me maintain balance. They make me feel at home. I suppose I’ve always liked abandoned places. Places forgotten. In High School I used to go to the old LA Zoo, long abandoned. It was like ruins in the middle of a city. Anyway I finally made it back up a mountain for the first time since staring at those wonderful peaks surrounding the Shamali Plain. Climbing early you manage to miss most other people, at least on the ascent. It was comforting to sit at the summit for a short while in relative privacy. I can’t imagine a better vantage point from which to contemplate the world. Taoists have the right idea.

Out Of The War Zone Into The Fire Zone

I’ve been back in So Cal for six weeks now. I’ve had this ongoing internal debate on weather to retire the blog or keep writing. People keep reading it so I decided I should keep writing it. The LA basin is in for a hell of a fire season. It’s early in the season and already the Station Fire has charred 160,000 acres of local mountains. A new fire is raging as I write this. This new fire is upwind from the canyon I live in and with Santa Anna winds blowing, that can be worrisome. I spent six months in Afghanistan and generally felt safe. If some dumbass shoots at you, bullets can be sent back post haste. If Katushka rockets or mortars are inbound, they generally come in threes or fours, they are short lived attacks and infrequent. Mind you this is from my experience at Bagram not at Helmond, Kandahar, Patika, Ghazni, etc. That said, my community lies anxiously waiting for the end of the Santa Anna’s. We are at the mercy of random arsonists. Cowardly bastards that should be severely punished. Such is life in the alleged bastion of democracy.
There is a major debate in the USA right now about Afghanistan. Should we send in more troops and prove we could have won in Vietnam or do we cut our losses and pull out? I am asked my opinion about this almost daily. My friends and neighbors want to hear the opinion of someone who has seen Afghanistan. I am struggling with the answer. Anyone who has read this blog knows I think highly of the potential of Afghanistan. I think highly of the resourcefulness of the Afghan people. I would love nothing more than to be able to tell people we should send in more troops and that we can win this in under a year. I would love to… but I cannot. I am have this melancholy feeling that we already shot our wad in Central Asia. We had the initiative and going into 2003 we threw it away on the whims of a fascist administration. (As I write this you should know I choose my words carefully) We have really screwed this war up. You can’t invade and then throttle back and pretend all is well. The initial good will of the Afghans, happy to be free of the despotic Taliban Regime, is long gone. The average Afghan wants peace. They want their homes intact, not bombed. They want the mines and ordinance removed, not limbs removed by explosives. We are in a sad state of affairs in Central Asia today.
If the US Army were still led by soldiers who had fought in the hell of Vietnam we might have stood a chance. Insurgencies are ugly. Fighting an enemy who look like civilians is a nasty business full of misidentification and tragedy. I worry that the senior officers raised in the turkey shoot of Desert Storm are completely out of their element now. The lack of effective leadership I witnessed at the field grade officer level leaves me full of unease. I read General McCrystals guidance. It was sound. Unfortunately I don’t have faith that the current Army leadership is capable of understanding and implementing that guidance. If we leave Afghanistan in a quagmire it will not be the Taliban Insurgency that beat us it will have been our own ethnocentrism that kicked our ass.

The Wall

The Kabul city wall presents an interesting hike to see a side of Kabul not often visited by outsiders in the past 30 years. I went with an Afghan American friend. Where the wall reaches down to the road between Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza Mountain and Antenna Mountain it is too steep to hike, rock climb perhaps but not hike. So to begin the hike we drove up some very steep dirt roads through poorer neighborhoods. We stopped at a small fortification with two cannon that used to fire to signal noon. This spot has an impressive view of Babur’s garden and mausoleum. Babur founded the Mughal Dynasty in the 16th century and loved Kabul. The road ends perhaps half way up the flank of Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza. From there we sent our driver to the other side of the mountain, near the city cemetery. We quickly worked past the last few mud brick dwellings. The people who live this far up the mountain have no running water or power. Water is generally brought up by donkey as few of these residents own cars. Mud brick outhouses sit 20 or 30 feet from the dwellings. Looking at these neighborhoods and the steepness of the streets I was glad it was summer and not the snowy winter or very wet spring. This would be a real challenge to navigate in poor weather.

The wall on this steeper side of the mountain is not much more than a jumble of rocks for much of its length. As we worked our way higher up the ridge line the wall is in better condition. During one rest stop three young boys walked past us, ignoring our presence as if we were part of the landscape. This is a wonderful hike to view Kabul from above. Despite the ever present haze I was able to take a number of good photos of the city. The summit of the mountain has a small fortification built into the wall. My friend told me this dated from the civil war and was not part of the original wall.

The wall itself is an impressive feat of engineering. Built 1,100 years ago the base looks to be dry rock (no mortar). The Afghans to this day build amazing dry rock walls. It’s a skill largely lost in Europe and America. Sections of the wall still have intact ramparts, these being built of mud brick, plastered over. The best of these sections overlook the city cemetery. The brick, mortar and plaster are of a much higher quality than I’ve seen elsewhere in Afghanistan. These sections have withstood 1,100 years of snow, rain and wind. To the touch they feel like rock, not hardened mud. These sections of the wall still have downward openings for defensive fire.

The view on ridgeline that slopes toward Bala Hissar (the 5th century Fortress) is dominated by the huge city cemetery and marshes. Like far too many cemeteries in Afghanistan it is festooned with flags. These flags, mostly green are placed above the graves of martyrs. In a country that has seen more than 30 years of continuous fighting there has been no shortage of martyrs.

As we walked past the highest house on the slope a small girl ran out. Perhaps 5 years old she tried to sell us a small piece of beadwork. She was very cute and had light hair and green eyes but her hands were covered with numerous warts. My friend gave her a few Afghani’s and sent her home. She flew the 100 meters or so to the house and immediately her older sister, perhaps 8, ran toward us. She wore a beautiful blue dress and had the same light hair and green eyes. A few more Afghani’s and admonishment not to send any other siblings and we continued on our way.

When we reached the edge of Bala Hissar it was time to work down through another neighborhood toward the cemetery and our ride. The paths were amazingly steep again. The smell of feces and livestock hung in the air. As we walked down a family with two donkeys was heading up with bags of rice. This is not an easy life.

Kabul... Malls and Walls, oh my!

Where to begin…I am packed, checked out, weapon is clean, bullets turned in, waiting on a flight to Kuwait to go through Warrior Transition Training. One adventure gives way to another. A few days ago I was in Kabul. I hiked the ancient city wall, ate some very good food, met with contractors, saw the shops on Chicken Road and basically had a fantastic time. Life here has moved so fast I have a difficult time knowing where to start.

I began my last trip to Kabul to introduce my relief to our Strategic Reserves, fuel storage facilities. I’ve seen them so I set my relief on his way and proceeded to go out to lunch with one of our contractors. We ate at Rumi, a traditional Afghan restaurant. The food was amazing. I have loved the food here. Like all the other restaurants here in Kabul the outside is unassuming, just a wall with a tall steel gate. It could be a home or a junk yard. Once you clear the security the place is quite lovely. It has the obligatory garden dining as well as very nice indoor areas decorated with paintings of Whirling Dervishes.

Later that day, when the others had returned form their site visits we went out to eat at the same restaurant for dinner. We had the same food again and I enjoyed it just as much. After dinner we went to a Lebanese place for beer and hookahs and eventually ended up at a French Restaurant for drinks. All of these places have outdoor dining in beautiful gardens. It’s a side of Kabul very few in the military know about, let alone visit.

On Sunday I left the others and hooked up with a different contractor, an Afghan American I had ridden up to Hairaton with several months ago. He has been promising me a hike along the old Kabul City Wall for months. With four days left we finally made it. The wall is something like 1,100 years old. The base is made of stones with the rampart constructed of mud brick and mortar. It is amazing to look at the surviving sections of bud brick, still intact after 1,100 years of rain and snow! Some sections are still plastered, the bricks and plaster feeling like stone. This impressive civic works project follows the ridge line over a mountain that divides moderns Kabul. I felt lucky to have had this opportunity. Few foreigners have been able to take this walk over the past 30 years due to the wars.

Lunch on Sunday was at a small French café near Chicken Road. The food was wonderful, fresh bread and homemade jam, the first decent coffee I’ve had in Afghanistan (I’ve been drinking tea when off Bagram). The compound contains an art gallery and as you enter the garden various carpets and kilims hang from the wall. Chicken Road used to be the hippie area of Kabul in the 60’s and 70’s. Now it is the antique area. I wish I’d have found out about it earlier. If I make it back here as a tourist in a few years it will be a necessary stop.

It’s been wonderful seeing Kabul in this manner. I visited a fantastic book shop with many English titles and even walked through a shopping mall. At the mall I had to check my weapon at the door. It was a bit disconcerting to be sure. Drop the mag, hand it over, receive a claim check. When I left I handed over my ticket and received my M9, then had to sign a receipt ledger. The mall was very modern. It has several floors of shops and the upper floors contain a hotel. If dropped off inside this place you would never guess you were in the heart of Kabul, war torn Kabul. This place is not at all what people are seeing on the news. It’s a shame. If these views were more prevalent in the West people might have more faith in the potential of Afghanistan.

Down to Single Digits

My relief has arrived and we are turning over the position but I still can’t focus on my departure. Life is too busy here. People keep asking me if I’m excited. I tell them I’ll be excited when I step aboard the C17. This isn’t too unusual for me though. I’m the same way going on vacation. It’s a good trait, being able to avoid anticipation and maintaining some detachment.

Not everyone can break free of their environment so easily. A civilian gentleman in our office is in charge of food for all US Forces in Afghanistan. While pushing jet fuel is a challenge during the winter months, summer presents a challenge for food. Bill arrived about the same time as me but looks like he aged five years in these past six months. He has little real direct control of food deliveries. He is more of an information conduit and cares deeply about his job. I have seen him reduced to near tears by senior officers who have no leadership ability and no clue. He was so upset yesterday I was worried about his state of mind. All for a job that is 90% providing information on the situation. It’s the age old problem of shooting the messenger. Bill is going home a few days early and though he is upset I am glad. He doesn’t need this B.S. He was treated poorly.

Yesterday I was cashing a check in the finance office. I am generally in a good mood (when I’m not ranting) so I asked the cashier, an Army Specialist, “Are we having fun yet?” He told me “actually, no.” As it turns out he is in the first week of a 12 month tour and hates being at Bagram. I find this odd, and a little disturbing. I don’t understand people who join the military and then become upset at being deployed. If you don’t want to be sent to occasionally unpleasant places work at Wal-Mart, don’t join the armed forces for gods sake!

Then there is the PFC that went missing and was announced as captured by the Taliban. Reports of what happened have been contradictory. The latest is a video statement from PFC Bergdahl where he states he lagged behind on a patrol and was captured. This is possible, it’s also the best story for the Taliban to push, “young soldiers beware you are not safe even with your squad!” Initial reports from the Afghans indicated that he wandered away from his camp drunk, unarmed and without body armor. This story sounds more plausible to me although most people probably don’t want to hear that. It wouldn’t surprise me if a distraught PFC became drunk and wandered off. It would be an act of attempted suicide to be sure, but then suicide is not unusual in the Army today.

Suicide is something the Army is really struggling with right now. It is at record levels. At the same time, being strapped for personnel, the Army has cut entrance requirements and mobilized a large number of personnel from the inactive reserve. In most cases these are soldiers who had an active duty as well as reserve obligation under their enlistment contract. They finished their active stint and decided not to reenlist only to be brought back anyway. In general these are not very happy people.

It’s well past time the Military, and the Army in particular, worked to restore the leadership qualities it has lost over the past few decades. Too many senior officers direct subordinates to “Just get it done”, probably the most cowardly phrase in common use within the military. There is no hint that these officers have any inkling of what is required to get the particular job done and they certainly aren’t interested in providing any assistance in getting the job accomplished. It is a phrase that indicates a complete lack of leadership ability.

So to summarize: we have placed large numbers of poorly motivated soldiers in the hands of “leaders”, some of whom are worthless, to go fight in a foreign land most Americans couldn’t find on a map, even if it were labeled. We still have a chance to do good here but it’s difficult for me think about that right now. I’m too pissed off at seeing a good man reduced to tears by worthless “leaders”.

Short Timer

I’m getting down to the wire here at Bagram. Within two weeks I depart for Kuwait. I miss home but I’m also going to miss Afghanistan. Kuwait, from my perspective, is kind of like purgatory. All us Navy types get shuttled through the “Warrior Transition Program” in Kuwait. We turn in our gear. Turn in our weapons. Listen to lectures and take survey’s all geared toward decompressing before heading back to the land of the big PX (the USA). It still seems odd to me that I’m being sent from beautiful Afghanistan where the temperature has been in the mid 90’s down to Kuwait and temps around 120F. Somehow the Navy feels this is preferable to flying us back to some point in the USA to accomplish these tasks. The only good part is that I’ll be able to turn in most of my gear, including my weapon and body armor before I have to lug them all the way to the USA.

Getting ready to transfer has made life even busier than normal. I’ve had to update all our Standard Operating Procedures work up a transition schedule and will be training my relief in all the various reports and analysis we perform. I’m going to try and work in another trip to Kabul as well. There are several projects we’ve just kicked off that are still in a planning stage so my relief should have an interesting start! Just to keep things really interesting I’m also helping to organize a Fire Safety meeting in the community that I live in back in the states, a short vacation and a long list of chores around the house. Somehow getting back to my civilian job is going to seem like a vacation.

I need to climb a mountain or two when I get home. It’s been frustrating being here in view of such beautiful mountains without access to them. Departing is made somewhat easier by all the airborne dust above the Shamali plain in June and July. The mountains that have teased me for the past six months are frequently barely visible now. Looking at them reminds me of LA back in the 60’s and 70’s. Luckily it doesn’t grab at you lungs the way the LA smog did.

Much as I am certain I’ll miss Afghanistan, I’ll be quite happy saying goodbye to the US Army, the 82’nd Airborne and piss poor contracts awarded to companies that survive off war profiteering. From a taxpayer standpoint this place can be infuriating. Of all the ranting and raving that’s carried on in the USA about entitlement programs wasting money, they don’t hold a candle to the amount of waste carried on in a war zone. To clarify, I am not speaking of war itself. War is terribly wasteful but some will defend a given war as vigorously as others defame it. I am speaking of all the needless waste caused by lack of leadership, lack of management acumen, lack of accountability. These are the things that should inflame the tax critics and conservatives. I find it curious that I don’t hear anything at all about this in the US media. Apparently the forces of fiscal accountability are asleep at the switch!

Things That Go BOOM!!!

(or… “things you don’t tell your wife while you are away”)


9 Mar 09
The things you don’t tell your spouse…. When I was away from Bagram a car bomb went off near the post. It looks like they were attempting to target a convoy coming or going from Bagram. Not a big deal for anyone on the base but a pain in the ass for receipt of cargo and fuel. There has been a great deal of intel on attacks targeting the main gates with car bombs. Most of it is BS. I think a lot of local intel consists of conversations overheard of Afghans sitting around BS’ing about what they’re going to do. Not unlike Americans griping about the commies back in the day, much hot air, not much action.

One night at work we heard a loud, deep, boom. It sounded like a cargo container being dropped. As we wondered if it was a mortar the big voice came on and instructed Bagram that we were at an amber alert. This basically means no moving about base and a 100% muster of all personnel. When we were finally allowed to go back to our berthing area across base we discovered the alert was not being universally managed. We arrived at our berthing compound only to be ushered into a vehicle maintenance tent for another hour and a half. All this inconvenience was the result of a rocket attack. Three rockets were launched at the base. Two landed near isolated guard towers causing no damage. The third, the one we heard, landed on the roof of the prison. The funny thing is that an intel report from the prison indicated an attack would be forthcoming. Looks like they did a poor job of targeting! The base should have issued an immediate local press release claiming the rocket caused massive death and injuries to the prisoners. What the hell, why not have fun with propaganda? Only minor damage was done to the roof. No big deal.

Funny things is, these petty attacks don’t faze me at all. Should they? From my perspective, driving the freeways daily in LA exposes me to more danger. I certainly see more damage and injuries on a day to day basis. I heard about a mortar attack happening on Balad in Iraq the other day. A friend of mine was stationed there and told me how safe it was. This attack was out of the blue, killed 4 and injured a dozen when rounds hit a berthing area.

20 Mar 09
Next week the local bazaar will be closed, our fueling ops will cease and one corner of the base will be temporarily off limits to most personnel. Apparently they recently found a 500 lb bomb next to the base. I’m guessing it was found by the mine clearance team working to clear land for a fuel point by one of our suppliers. Funny how these things hide. The plan is to burn it up, hopefully without detonating it! I haven’t heard but I’m assuming it is an American bomb. We’ve been the only ones with a reason to drop 500lb bombs on Bagram. Funny how karma works.

I’m getting more attuned to the low frequency booms. It catches your attention when something goes off and the big voice hasn’t announced the Ariel Gunnery Range is hot or a controlled detonation is about to take place. That’s when here at Bagram. We heard one when driving around Kabul. You never know if it’s military practice or an IED. For some reason it still doesn’t bother me.

7 April
Every day I sit in on a briefing and one of the slides shows hostile actions throughout the Combined Joint Operating Area (CJOA for short). It’s only April and deaths occur a time or two each week. Not a lot given this is across the entire country. These deaths result from small arms fire, IED’s and indirect attacks (mortars and rockets). Generally the small arms attacks are against patrols in the countryside. The IED’s can be anywhere but are primarily in the south and east. The indirect attacks happen anywhere there is a concentration of military, any nationality, foreign, Afghan, doesn’t matter. These are usually poorly targeted. It’s lucky for us the VC are not running these attacks. As resourceful as the Afghans are they haven’t cracked the code on high trajectory weapons yet. This isn’t to say they don’t occasionally get lucky. But, given the number of drunk drivers on the PCH I’m guessing my odds are even up. Not bad. During one of the briefings last week I found out Bagram had been hit by a few rockets. It was news to me. They hit the Korean compound.

This year the Taliban Militia didn’t retreat across the Pakistan border, instead they went south for the winter. The area around Kandahar has been problematic for the past few months. It will be interesting to see how things change now that the weather is heating up. Spring is when the bad guy’s generally begin acting up in earnest.

2 May
Spring doesn’t just bring flowers in Afghanistan. It’s the beginning of ramped up combat operations by all sides. There were10 fallen comrades yesterday. Three Americans, 2 Latvians and 5 Afghans. The Americans had their farewell parade at Bagram a short while ago. They call it a Fallen Comrade Ceremony. All available personnel line both sides of Disney drive. There are uniforms at attention as for far as you can see. Today three Humvees drove by at a slow walk pace. The back of each held one casket draped with an American flag with members of the fallen soldier’s lining the troop seats on either side. This is how dead soldiers leave Afghanistan.

15 May
A couple of days ago a GI in Iraq went nuts and killed 5 other GIs in a clinic. I just found out that one of the victims was an officer I went to training in South Carolina with. Small world. It was a random event that could have happened nearly anywhere. A guy goes loony tunes and decides to take a few bystanders along for the ride. Unfortunately when someone cracks under stress in a war zone weapons and ammo are readily available and don’t raise any eyebrows where carried about. I don’t know many particulars of the event. I do know that combat stress is taking a significant toll on our armed forces. I read that 17% of the personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have PTSD issues.

3 June
My assistant and I went to the DFAC (modern army term for chow hall) at the North end of Bagram. It’s the only DFAC that specializes. They cook BBQ. We go there every other week or so. It’s located near a bunch of tents used for personnel arriving in theater enroute to other FOBs, a small concession area, a PX and another DFAC. The BBQ DFAC is set up in a tent. It’s the smallest one on post and always has a line.

After waiting in line for five or ten minutes we were finally inside at the counter. Suddenly a deep whump sounded. MSG as I looked at each other and noted that there was no announcement over the big voice of a pending controlled detonation. A few seconds later there was another deep whump, then another, five in all by the time it finished. We were wondering if these were incoming or outgoing. I’ve never seen any indirect fire weapons here at Bagram.

We asked around later and were told that inbound mortars are not that uncommon at the north end of the post. They don’t announce them to avoid panic. I am amazed that as resourceful as the Afghans are they are so poor at aiming mortars. It’s a good thing they aren’t Vietnamese!

June 6th?
Sitting at a new DFAC we found on the East side of the base. It’s the cleanest galley we’ve eaten in here at bagram. A tent galley like I used to run back in Pohang, Korea but with vinyl floors. The food’s not bad, furniture is new, it’s in the middle of a tent city for the surge. So, we sit there eating when suddenly a loud WHUMP, the tent pushes in on itself, we feel the concussion and shortly after smell cordite. It definitely got our attention! We sat talking about the blast and waiting for another or an announcement, something, anything…. nothing happened. When we finished eating we asked a couple soldiers walking by if they knew what happened. They said it was a controlled detonation by the EOD team. Seemed odd as it was unannounced and the mine clearance activities on post are a good 1/8 mile away at the closest. Never a dull moment!

June 11th?
Tried to drive down to the BBQ DFAC again but traffic on Disney drive was insane. It just sat. So after putting up with that for about 10 minutes we turned around and ate at another DFAC. After lunch the traffic was just the same, stopped heading north as far as you could see. It remained that way for the entire day, one long line of stopped vehicles. No announcements. Later in the afternoon we had business at one of the Entry Control Points (ECP) and asked the officer in charge of the ECP if he knew what was happening. He told us he knew but couldn’t provide any details. But he did say he was hoping the standoff would be resolved peacefully? The next morning a white 747 with no markings except for a tail number and a white C130 with no markings at all were at Bagram. These were gone by that night.

Father’s Day June 21st 01:50
Woke up to an odd noise, it sounded like a shot and a ricochet followed by another shot. Just sharp pop sounds and that odd sing of metal thru air. I waited and listened but just heard a few voices through the wall of my Chu. About 15 minutes later I heard the Big Voice faintly in the distance. We don’t have speakers close to our berthing. So, I lay there trying to hear what the hell is being announced. Eventually I heard the personnel from AECOM walking around with bullhorns announcing an Amber Alert. I lay there debating weather to run through the drill. I decided not to be an ass, got up and dressed and went out for muster still not knowing precisely what had happened. To my surprise they sounded the all clear in about a half hour so I went back to my Chu and bed. The following morning we were off to Jalalabad for a site visit early and didn’t find out what had happened until we returned that afternoon. Apparently four 107 mm rockets were fired at Bagram. One hit off base. One was a dud and hit a fuel line at one of our fuel farms breaking the line but causing no other damage. Two landed near some B Huts killing two soldiers and wounding six (2 civilians, 4 military). Life at Bagram, interesting as always, but this time not in a good way.

June 25th
Another day another rocket attack. This one hit the fuel facility outside the base. Initial reports didn’t indicate any damage. The interesting part is that the rockets appeared to have flown completely across the base only to impact by the fuel farm. Thank god these dumbasses are such poor shots!

10 July 09
Last night as we slept the Commander who runs the Bagram Defense Reutilizationa dn marketing Organization or DRMO (essentially the base junk yard) was making coffee at about 3:30 AM. He suddenly heard a very strange noise outside his office. When he went outside to investigate he found a 107mm rocket motor still sputtering. EOD was called and they realized this rocket was missing its warhead. As far as I know they haven’t located the warhead yet. Back at our office we speculated that perhaps the Taliban knew the rocket was defective and were mearly attempting to turn it in to DRMO… makes sense to me!

12 July 09
Another night of funny noises. I was sleeping lightly and woke up by the big voice. I lay there trying to discern what it said. There aren’t any speakers in the compound I sleep in so it comes across faintly. Anyway I was laying there when the all too recognizable boom followed by the singing of shrapnel split the air. I lay waiting and 3 or 4 seconds later the second boom hit. No announcement, no alert, just silence for a time. Eventually the jets began spooling up engines as they worked on them. Apparently the rockets hit off-post. A 107 mm rocket makes a pretty distinct sound when it hits. I don’t imagine I’ll ever forget that noise.

It occurs to me that given the lack of understanding of these rockets by the dumb asses firing them we could easily thwart these attacks. One method would entail simply having a predator drone loiter over Bagram at night. A rocket launch would be easy to pick out on infrared. This would allow you to nail down the location of the launch and possibly catch the perpetrators. A more effective method would be to but a large quantity of Chinese or Russian 107 mm rockets and booby trap them. Then filter them back out into the local supply in Pakistan. After loosing a number of dumb asses who would then accidentally blow themselves up trying to set them up for launch would cause them to suspect all rockets. This brings two big bonuses. First you are guaranteed to kill dumb asses engaged in an act of war without endangering civilians. Second you see a drop in the number of rocket attacks as they come to understand they are unreliable and not worth the losses.

Good Ideas Deaf Ears

It’s not too difficult to find really good ideas in this country. All you need do is listen to the people around you. I have heard some fantastic ideas from Afghans as well as several from collation force members. I’ll bring up a few here just to give them some air. I don’t pretend to think anyone in a position to implement would pay any attention. Such is life.

An Afghan who has worked with both NGO’s and the military pointed out the fatal flaw in using local Afghan’s for advisors. All too often they have local allegiances that overshadow their role. Many of the attacks on villages that have resulted in high civilian casualty counts were the result of intentionally poor advice. What better way to settle a score in a war zone? His solution: use Afghan nationals but move them to unfamiliar parts of the country. They will still be effective at communicating but will have a more objective view without any local ties to color their loyalties. A former Special Forces member had another take on this point. Apparently we don’t keep translators for very long. Odd given all the clearance they have to get to qualify for the job. He recommended we pay them more and guarantee them longer contracts or favored immigration/work visa status.

A former Mujahideen Commander had several suggestions. He pointed out that Night Vision Goggles and other high tech gear including MilSpec GPS systems are openly available in several local bazaars. He bought one and tried to get the US Forces to take action but got nowhere. I’ve seen this same claim about Pakistani bazaars. Makes sense to me, where else would a thief sell all the items stolen in transit to coalition forces? This same gentleman told me how he had been negotiating with Egyptian Clerics to declare that the fight in Afghanistan is not a jihad. This is significant because Egypt is still a key center of religious authority. If they declared that Afghanistan was not a jihad the Taliban would loose a significant number of their foreign fighters as well as local fighters. President Karzai replaced this man on the project and it fizzled. Karzai is a Pashtun, the Commander is a Tajik.

One item that is finally happening, I met an Afghan woman who returned to the country when we invaded and has been working for either the military, government or NGO’s ever since. This is a very brave path to choose for an Afghan woman, especially one who could easily have remained in the USA. She told me a few months ago that US Forces were now producing information packets specific to geographical areas. These have detailed information on the local tribes, villages, customs, etc. These are for small geographic areas, Konar valley for example. To win in Afghanistan you cannot paint with a broad brush. You have to understand the local issues at a very granular level. The first step is understanding the basic cultural and political terrain. This woman plays a key part of that.

There has been a great deal of speculation as to General McCrystal’s plan. He is now the top dog in country. Many have speculated that he will say one thing to the press and direct his commanders to do another. I haven’t followed it closely but I have read his guidance to his top commanders. For this first time protecting civilians is the #1 priority. If followed, that alone will go a long way toward settling things in this wild land. I am of the opinion this is not one organized insurgency as the press likes to sell it. To be fair to the press it makes for an easier story if you treat it as a cohesive effort by evil Muslim hoards. I’ve seen enough of the politics in this country and watched the population though. I see this as a number of lawless players. There are Taliban, the Hezb-e Islami, local warlords, drug kingpins and common criminals. This is not a classic insurgency. This is an insurgency combined with a fragmented country that lacks a charismatic leader to pull it all together. I do think we can defeat the Taliban. I don’t believe we can force a solution for all the countries ills. That is for the Afghan people to decide. It likely won’t be pretty. It will probably piss off a lot of westerners who believe they know best (in the best colonial spirit). Like it or not the future of Afghanistan rests ultimately with the Afghans.

Valley of the Five Lions

I was particularly fortunate to go on one trip recently. We took a day trip to the Panjshir Valley. This is the birthplace of Masoud, the only place in Afghanistan to repeatedly repulse the Russian onslaught. This valley also resisted the Taliban and was the birthplace of the Northern Alliance. This place has seen some of the most brutal fighting in the past 30 years. The Russians sent in armored columns and carpet bombed in nine separate campaigns but never conquered it. You might think that a place so embroiled in combat over 25 years might be a depressing place to visit. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Panjshir is a beautiful valley and one of the only places I’ve been in Afghanistan where smiling people are commonplace. This is the region where lapis Lazuli, gold and emeralds are mined. The Panjshir comprises the main valley and numerous smaller valleys that branch off of it. I’m told if you follow the valley to its end you enter the Wakhan, that long sliver of land that ends at China. This is a special place.

We were traveling with Commander Moslem. He had been one of Massoud’s bodyguards and local commander in the war against the Russians. This was a fascinating chance to see this beautiful place, still festooned with abandoned Russian heavy equipment, with a guide responsible for most of that equipment’s destruction. The Russians lost somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 pieces of equipment in the Panjshir, tanks, BMPs, BTRs, heavy trucks, cannons, etc. At times the Panjshir River became chocked with the dead of both sides. In the end the Russians stopped offensive actions to cut their losses.

The people of the Panjshir are mostly Tajik. They look different from the population of the Shamali plain (between Bagram and Kabul). Lighter skin and eyes predominate. Many will tell you the green eyes and lighter skin are the remnants of Alexander the Great’s army. I’ve no idea if that is true but the people of the Panjshir do look different.

To enter the valley you must pass through a very narrow gorge. The road sticks impossibly to the side of the cliff right above the raging Panjshir river. It would make one hell of a kayak run, but you’d have to be pretty damn good, there are no take out spots and the rapids are long and wild. When the gorge opens up again the valley remains narrow in most spots with very fertile farmland at the floor. They were harvesting wheat when we visited. They still cut it by hand, bundle it up and pack it on donkeys to transport it to be threshed. Interspersed among the fields are rusting tanks and other pieces of equipment. I wished I had a proper camera and more time. The mountainsides are various shades of brown and grey. Flowers gave them a purple cast from the distance. Down along the river were trees covered with pink blooms. The wheat fields alternated between bright green and gold.

We stopped at the memorial being built for Massoud. This is on a prominent hill at one end of a wide point in the valley. In addition to what will one day be an impressive monument, there are large photos of Massoud and a collection of Russian armor. This was also the site of a significant battle. Commander Moslem pointed out the sector he defended and told us of friends who were caught by landmines. During the worst of the war the civilians were all evacuated to neighboring valleys and the Mujahideen laid ambushes throughout the villages. At other times they abandoned the valley floor to the Russians and took to the high ground. To look at these mountainsides it is easy to imagine how invisible they must have been to the poor Russians below!

At the far end of this particular valley is Massoud’s home. The house he was born in has been added onto and the property has a large garden designed by Massoud. It looks across this lovely valley, his memorial at the far end. The garden is such a peaceful place with such a serene view. It’s difficult to imagine carpet bombing and armored columns fouling this scene. My heart goes out to these people. I sincerely hope the peace in this region holds and grows. I want to come back to the Panjshir as a civilian. I want to meet back up with Commander Moslem and hike the mountains. This is a magical place that holds me in captivated.

Rest and Relaxation on the Shamali Plain

Here in Afghanistan we are allowed a four day pass every six months to travel down to Qatar for R&R. The problem is that four days in Qatar frequently becomes two weeks away. The extra time is spent in air terminals getting bumped off various flights. I don’t have much patience for such silliness. Well that and the fact that the R&R is still on a US base. Swimming pools with a Chili’s restaurant just don’t do it for me. I’m not into paying to go on a field trip to shop or go to the beach. Let’s think about this, the beach, in the gulf, in the summer, in 120 degrees plus. I’ll pass.

So what do I do for some R&R? I take little field trips to Kabul or the Panjshir Valley. It’s amazing how a short trip away, if even a short overnight can recharge you. Kabul for all its current dirt and decay is still a worthwhile sightseeing trip. While there is still considerable battle damage from the civil war there has also been extensive rebuilding. I was told that during the Taliban years a drought persisted in Afghanistan. The reservoir on the outskirts of the city was empty. Now it is full again. The restaurant on its edge is once again in full business in all its 60’s funky glory. Back before the country began to devolve Kabul was a party town with multiple cinemas, places to drink and eat a beautiful, quaint place for the occasional tourist. It is still far from its heyday, but it now has a couple of shopping plazas several very nice restaurants and a bar or two if you know where to look. Most of the patrons are still westerners but not all. While reports in the West may have you thinking this is a very devout country full of radical’s it is not. True enough that in the villages people are suspicious of outsiders. You would be to after 30 years of war. But most of the Afghans I deal with in a business relationship are not devout. They don’t pray 5 times a day and are likely as I to drink. Their view of Islam differs dramatically from that of the Taliban. This is a very diverse country. Drive from Bagram to Kabul and you will pass truck drivers, local villagers and herders, nomad families, businessmen, each of these groups has very different needs and likely a very different outlook on life. I’ve been told by SOF guys I know that even villages in the same valley differ dramatically, one will be pro-government and the next pro-Taliban.

So, what do I do for a little R&R? I travel Afghanistan about in civilian vehicles wearing civilian clothes playing the tourist. It’s relaxing and refreshing. It’s a view of this place I wish more people were privy to. I like this place.

Local Humanity… war, the mixing pot

It’s interesting to see who shows up when you throw a war. I’m not talking about the soldiers who sign up for myriad different reasons. Nor am I talking about the DOD civilians who volunteer to come along for the financial perks. I have spent the last five months looking at the civilians who work for various contractors supporting this effort. The conflict in Afghanistan and by implication all the third and fourth world conflicts around the globe draw an interesting mix. Bagram is primarily run by a gooup of contractors. While there are more local nationals on base here than you might find in Iraq most of the hired help is from other countries. You’ll find people from the USA working for various contractors. A good many of them are former military who like the civilian pay and freedoms. This is common in the fuel community. Walk around Bagram and you’ll see large numbers of Sikhs, Kyrgyz, Ukrainians, Slavs, Filipinos, etc. Having grown up in the Navy during the cold war it’s a bit disconcerting hearing Russian spoken and seeing Russian aircraft landing on base. There are a good many supporting companies that are located off post as well. These also tend to be heavily staffed by expats. Aussies, Brits, Scotts, Norwegians, Americans and others. Many of these people have served in other conflict areas as well, the Balkans, Sudan.

One of the people I’ve met was raised in Rhodesia during the Bush Wars. He lived on a farm and at the age of 8 was firing an FN assault rifle in defense of his home. He also worked is Sudan and narrowly avoided being killed by the Janjawid a time or two. For him this place in no big deal for him. Another of my acquaintances is a former LCDR in the Norwegian navy and spent a great deal of time in the Balkans moving fuel there as well. I also met a Brit who worked for the Halo Trust removing mines from Afghanistan.

It’s an interesting mix, all these people so far from home, accepting of being in strange lands, socializing with other expats. We went out drinking in Kabul with one of our business partners and at the end of the evening he told me how nice it was to be around fellow Americans for the evening. He missed being able to joke and laugh. Humor often doesn’t translate well.

I suppose the strangest thing for me is the realization that I have more in common with this odd group of expats than I do with most my fellow soldiers, sailors and airmen.

Jet Fuel Mobile Homes

The drivers in this corner of the planet are an interesting bunch. By Afghan standards they are paid pretty well. It’s not an easy gig though, and often difficult, dirty and dangerous. Drivers here carry spare parts and fix their own trucks. Not like spare fan belts and filters, I’m talking pistons and rods, serious stuff. They are shot at. Bombs are placed on their trucks. Some of the roads are a long slow slog. Drive 50 feet up a steep hill, wait 10 minutes then another 50 feet. A drive that takes 40 minutes in a car can take 6 or more hours in a truck. They live in their trucks as well. Not like American truckers spending lots of time the cabs of their Peterbuilts and Kenworths. These trucks don’t have a regular sleeper cab. These trucks are not 16 wheelers. Afghanistan also lacks truck stops. There are dirt lots walled off for drivers to stop for the night in a few places. They also just park on the roadside to rest. They sleep in their cabs. It’s not unusual to see them cooking or making tea right next to their truck. This is a bit disturbing when it’s a fuel truck. In the space of four days, in two separate incidents we have had drivers decide to cook in the cab of their truck. I’m sure it’s more common than just these two. They just set themselves apart. They use kerosene (jet fuel) fueled stoves to cook and make tea. We know about this habit because the two drivers in question accidentally set fire to their trucks. In both cases the truck was a write off and the adjacent truck was also damaged. One unfortunate driver was sleeping in the cab when his friend set fire to the cab. The cook received burns; the sleeping driver received a cremation. Not a good way to meet your end in a country without life insurance. Many of the trucks have fire extinguishers inside. Unfortunately, if the drivers use them the trucking company charges them a recharge fee. To avoid the fee the drivers will try to put out the fire with clothes, hands or anything else sitting around. This results in burns to their hands and upper arms. The fire extinguisher remains intact but as we have seen some drivers do not. Life is cheap in the fourth world.

State Department Droids

The American Embassy in Kabul is more like walking into the twilight zone than anywhere I have ever been… and I’ve been to some pretty strange places. The streets of Kabul are dirty and chaotic. Once you gain access to the barricaded street the Embassy sits on there is the heavily controlled access point. Although I am in the military, because I was in civilian clothes, I wasn’t allowed to carry my Beretta into the Embassy. We found this out after setting off the metal detector and annoying the civilian guards. It seemed odd from the get go seeing civilians controlling access rather than Marines. So, once we make it through the comedy section at the gate we walk out into a science fiction movie set. The Embassy building is mustard colored. Elsewhere on the grounds are housing for staff, a swimming pool, tennis courts, lots of lawn (a rarity in Afghanistan), and flower beds full pf Pansies… how very appropriate for State Dept personnel. Everything is scrupulously clean and manicured. It’s a veritable Stepford community!

It would be no less dramatic to step through the looking glass. I understand the Embassy is meant to be a small slice of Americana but it comes across more as a caricature of Americana. The movie Demolition Man springs to mind.

War Heroes and Martinis Downtown Kabul

Kabul is a fascinating city. It isn’t for the weak of heart though. One of the first sights that jumped out at me while we were driving through downtown was the droves of school girls. It was 5:00 PM and we must have been near a large school. There were all these young girls in black dresses with white head scarves. It’s good to se so many kids attending school.

The large number of police check points can be a bit intimidating until you realize the security is being stepped up ahead of the elections. There are 41 candidates but only two are considered really in the running. Election posters are everywhere; even the minarets are not immune. People talk openly about them, again a good sign.

The UN has a very heavy presence in Kabul. I’m not sure where they are headquartered but there are a large number of UN trucks scooting about the streets. They are always painted white with UN painted in blue or black in two foot tall letters on the doors and hood. You generally don’t see them parked. I’ve no idea where so many of them could be going or what purpose they are serving.

I wrote before about women in burkas. That was way up in Khulum and Samangan. They had an ethereal look with the breeze blowing their bright blue fabric behind them. In Kabul not many women wear burkas. Most are in dresses with head scarves. A few wear jeans. The burkas I saw in Kabul were different. First I noticed the blue was more subdued, then that they seemed to be cut higher in front. I’m guessing this makes it easier to walk about. The most interesting thing is to look at their feet. Most of these women wore heels, and very nice slacks. An odd contrast to be sure.

The streets in Kabul are in pretty bad shape, dirty, some unpaved, rough and uneven. On one street a large group of goats was tearing through trash. The next day I saw the same goats in the same place but there were three men opening bags of trash for them. I suppose this in inner city grazing. There are a few nice looking shops but generally it all looks pretty dingy. One large section near downtown in walled off and barricaded. This is where the embassies, a few military posts and some government ministries are. A few days before we came to town a demonstration of 300 people was held to protest these street closures. Having key streets blocked off makes traffic in Kabul even crazier. I’m told the traffic here is not unlike Cairo. Above the city is Babar’s fort dating to the 15th century. The city wall dates to the 5th century. If it weren’t for the current strife this would be way up on my list of vacation spots. I regret only having a point and shoot camera here. I did stumble across a great web site with photos of Kabul from the 1970’s before all hell broke loose: http://avalon.unomaha.edu/afghan/index.htm

Both nights I was in town we went out to eat. The nicer places to go in Kabul are marked, if at all, with a small sign. They have doors that look as if they should lead to an alley or hovel. When you enter there are metal detectors and guards in the entryway. Once you clear all the security it’s like stepping through the looking glass. Wonderful places that look all the world like restaurants and bars in Bali, Cuzco or Buenos Aries. The first night was at a Lebanese restaurant with a large grassy garden with tables set out. I was introduced to one distinguished Afghan in traditional pakol hat, obligatory vest and scarf. He was very polite and friendly and quite likeable. I was told later that during the war with Russia and after he was provided extensive western military training and had been Massoud’s right hand man. He reminded me very much of the General I met in Hairaton a few months ago. Both came across thoughtful and gentle. These are genuine war heroes who have seen the worst of combat. They now carry themselves with the air of statesmen. It gives me hope for this land. The second night we went to an Italian restaurant and afterwards a bar. Life is pretty good when you can sit and drink martinis in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan. There are a great number of western contractors, NGO personnel and wealthy locals that frequent these places. The military rarely make it off the FOB’s and bases to see this side of Afghanistan. It’s a shame we keep them bottled up, segregated, sanitized. They serve their tours and never really know where they were.

Life on the Shamali Plain

The road to Kabul has changed dramatically in the few months since I last took it. The road itself is still in very poor shape, but the landscape has transformed. Back in February I would have bet nothing ever grew on that barren dirt expanse. Now there is a carpet of green interspersed with wheat fields and occasional groups of purple thistles. The nomads who were below the Kabul gorge have moved onto the foothills between Bagram and Kabul city. They tend their flocks of goats with donkeys and camels wandering around their encampments.

Closer to Kabul we came on the brick kilns, black smoke drifting down the valley from the tires they burn as fuel. This is the cottage industry in the valley. As we drove along there are a number of walled compounds that appear empty. These are basically land claims. The Afghan’s are prolific wall builders. Find a little spot you want just build a wall around it. These are almost always a square or rectangle. Not the greedy grab of all available land that one might expect. It makes for good business for the kilns. All but a very few walls are made of the mud bricks they produce.

Shops outside Kabul look like roadside shops in so much of the 3rd world. Small cinder block or mud shells crammed full of stuff for sale, sodas, snacks. These seem to cater to the road traffic, mostly truckers. Closer in we come into the industrial area of Kabul. I’ve been here before. This is a place of fuel farms, factories, trucking firms, military posts. Eventually we ended up on the main road into town. Traffic is crazy by western standards. One of my Afghan colleagues said that while in most of the world pedestrians are afraid of vehicles, in Afghanistan the reverse is true. It’s an odd place to travel. We even saw a cyclist riding toward traffic in between lanes. No concern on his face.

The presidential election is in August and the security in Afghanistan is being stepped up considerably. There are numerous police checkpoints all around Kabul. They pull cars seemingly at random to check credentials. We were even stopped once or twice. An Afghan driver in a suit and tie, two westerners dressed like contractors in a black Lexus LX570, so much for profiling the Taliban. The heart of Kabul is not so very different from other cities in much of the world. They have small supermarkets, malls, car dealers, butcher shops with dressed lambs hanging for inspection, fruit peddlers with carts pushing their way along with the cars.
It’s quite impressive how much reconstruction has taken place in Kabul. This city was ground zero during the civil war between the Taliban and Northern Alliance. A good deal of the city no longer bears the scars of war, because it’s new. The old Soviet built apartment blocks are a notable exception. Heavily bullet pock marked. You get an idea just how fierce the fighting was. One of the few complaints about Ahmad Shah Massoud was that during the civil war he freely shelled Kabul after loosing it to the Taliban. Even so, there is a large monument to him on the outskirts of the diplomatic area of Kabul.

I feel fortunate having the opportunity to travel about like a civilian. Moving about anonymously, rather than up armored and in full battle rattle, allows you to get much closer to Afghanistan. I like this country. I like these people. I hope to return one day.