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.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
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. T
here 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 re
minded 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 freq
uent 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.
here 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 re
minded 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 freq
uent 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.
Friday, June 19, 2009
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 co
mplaints 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.
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 co
mplaints 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.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Mud - Tech
One of our fuel suppliers is expanding their storage. We drop by every week or two to check the progress. The last time we visited they were building quarters for the work crew that will be building the fuel tanks. They were building typical Afghan mud houses, the first I’ve seen during construction. I am guessing this is the same construction method used since the time of Abraham. They were building them against an existing wall to save effort. When we arrived they were nearly complete and were “plastering”.
On this wide valley between the Panjshir and Kabul wood is scarce as are large rocks and clay. The only readily available building material is dirt. This is not like the dirt I played in as a kid. The dirt here is as fins as talcum powder and when the mud from it dries it’s not unlike concrete. I’ve seen the kilns they
make bud bricks in near Kabul but I had no idea how the actual construction was done. One of the workmen mixed mud with straw into a soupy paste and then put it in a wheelbarrow. Other workers took handfuls of the mix and threw it at the wall of the building and spread it in place. Another man used a short board to smooth large sections of the wall. The roof consists of beams made of small trees (about 4 in dia.) and presumably matting and more mud. The roof mud is mixed with more straw than that on the walls. I didn’t have the opportunity to look inside.
It was fascinating to watch. The only difference between what I saw and what would have happened 2,000 or more years ago is the type of tools used. Now steel trowels and boards cut with saws are used. Other than that, why change a good system?
On this wide valley between the Panjshir and Kabul wood is scarce as are large rocks and clay. The only readily available building material is dirt. This is not like the dirt I played in as a kid. The dirt here is as fins as talcum powder and when the mud from it dries it’s not unlike concrete. I’ve seen the kilns they
make bud bricks in near Kabul but I had no idea how the actual construction was done. One of the workmen mixed mud with straw into a soupy paste and then put it in a wheelbarrow. Other workers took handfuls of the mix and threw it at the wall of the building and spread it in place. Another man used a short board to smooth large sections of the wall. The roof consists of beams made of small trees (about 4 in dia.) and presumably matting and more mud. The roof mud is mixed with more straw than that on the walls. I didn’t have the opportunity to look inside.
It was fascinating to watch. The only difference between what I saw and what would have happened 2,000 or more years ago is the type of tools used. Now steel trowels and boards cut with saws are used. Other than that, why change a good system?
Friday, June 12, 2009
Pink Belts and Boonie Hats
The 82nd Airborne are in town and times they are a changing! Life in the military is partly comprised of regulations based on personal whim, ego and misplaced priorities. We received notification recently of several changes to the rules at Bagram for military personnel living on post. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Boonie hats are not authorized. Now the Navy issued me two of these floppy sun hats at Fort Jackson. Apparently protection from the sun is not on the agenda for the 82nd. Too bad your tax dollars bought these items I am not allowed to use.
- Sunglasses are not to be worn during physical exercise. Gee, I guess to you like jogging windy days are now off limits. It’s been dryer lately as summer approaches, windier too. The dirt in Afghanistan is like talcum powder. This is not an exaggerated analogy either. It really is that fine. When the dust is blowing it can get pretty unpleasant if you aren’t wearing eye protection. But apparently the 82nd places looks above safety. Go Army!
- Reflective belts shall only be yellow, orange or blue. Got that. No pink reflective belts! None whatsoever. Now just so you know, every one of these colors are issued. Apparently the pink belts are offensive to some senior officer. This is my favorite little piece of stupidity. I personally don’t wear my reflective belt at all. We are supposed to wear them in periods of reduced visibility. I believe it is because they are trying to cut down on vehicle accidents. Now I’m just an ignorant navy type but it occurs to me that if I were a bad guy looking to do ugly things to soldiers, I’d use cover of darkness to shoot at a few bright reflective belts! From an esthetic standpoint a reflective belt over a camouflage uniform is an oxymoron at best.
I can’t help but be amazed at just how much this place is a soup sandwich.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Fraud, Waste and Abuse
NOTE: The following information is aggravating. In an attempt to soften the impact I’ve decided to post some photos of local flowers. These have nothing directly to do with this post. Now that that point is cleared up please read on….Waste fraud and abuse is the catch phrase for tax payers dollars needlessly squandered. There are mechanisms to report this… or I should say there were mechanisms to report this. Problem is, after seeing what has happened over the past 10 years I have no faith in those processes and procedures. Call me jaded if you will, I think of it as realism.
There is rampant stupidity in command decisions here at all levels. I’m told to wear body armor standing behind six foot thick dirt walls because of an imaginary fence line (the real line is the dirt wall… duhh!). Then I drive home (no body armor) along the perimeter road separated from any would be bad guys by a chain link fence. There are lines of up-armored Freightliner trucks sitting idle because someone forgot to order spare parts. Rather than designate a half dozen trucks for cannibalization should the need arise before the spares arrive they all sit. Up-armored, idle, unable to protect anyone. We have enough living containers and tents inbound in support of the surge to house twice the entire military presence in Afghanistan. These are being flown in rather than using surface transport. What the hell, it’s only US tax dollars.
Speaking of tax dollars, we are about to finish up a brand new facility for uploading and downloading fuel tankers. This project costing millions was engineered in the states. We have come to find out it was designed for stateside tankers as well. Tankers in the US have four inch download fittings and are designed to gravity download. Tankers in Asia use two or three inch fittings and are downloaded using pumps. Given the volume of trucks we process the ability to up and download at the same time is important. It’s too bad then that someone nixed one of the two pipelines between this facility and the fuel farm. The end result is that after spending a huge sum we are about to open a facility we won’t be able to use. Now that is a bit harsh. Allow me to soften the blow. We are about to open a state of the art facility that is less efficient than the ad hoc facility now in use. All of this because the designer ignorantly assumed the world at large was just like America!The biggest insult here at Bagram is the situation at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO). Now in the states DRMO is where you turn in gear you don’t need or that is worn out. Units can pick up items from DRMO for free. It’s a great place to use as a supply source. I’ve outfitted a warehouse in Calif. with equ
ipment from DRMO. All of it was free issue in great shape, probably saved tax payers $200K. If no one needs it and the equipment has military use DRMO will de-mil it, basically they destroy it. If the item can be sold, vehicles, ovens, tools, etc. they sell it at auction. It the item is scrap they sell that at auction as well. So, you may well ask why is all that a problem. As it goes, here at Bagram things work a bit differently. People in this theater, turn in lots of unused material. They turn in brand new engines, transmissions, tires, tools, pumps, generators, etc. In addition many damaged vehicles get turned in. These are MRAPS and up–armored Hunvees that are battle damaged. While partially destroyed these vehicles still have tons of vital parts in useable condition. Now, given that DRMO’s title contains the word “reutilization” one would think this is a great source for parts to get vehicles back on line for the war e
ffort. You would think that but you would be wrong. The problem is that the contractor hired to run this operation is paid to keep the yard clear of items and to process scrap. So, the other day they took a plasma torch and cut nice little holes in a brand new truck transmission costing over $45,000. The box this tranny was in was still factory sealed (about a $2K box by the way). This was clearly waste, not fraud or abuse though because some idiot wrote the contract that is being executed by Taos, the DRMO contractor. It’s just like our fuel facility. Some bozo without a clue, sitting in the states, without any idea where Afghanistan even is wrote the contract. Does anyone else see a problem here?The DRMO issue is particularly disturbing because we have also contracted out vehicle maintenance. AMC contracted AECOM to do that. The contractor doing that job is off the hook as long as parts are on order. It doesn’t matter if a vehicle is projected to be down for 400+ days! In many cases the required part is available at DRMO but the mechanic has no r
eason to go look. After all, why do more work than is required to satisfy the contract? As much as this attitude annoys me I can only get upset with the contracting officer that wrote such a flawed contract.We have a Navy storekeeper in my office whose job it is to expedite parts. He has successfully identified and placed millions of dollars of parts from DRMO into the hands of units that need them. This isn’t his job. He does it because units need vehicles repaired. From his perspective why wait for a new part from the US if one is a available a half mile away? He is looking at the big picture, get the vehicle repaired no matter the parts source. I see him come into the office at times ready to explode because an item he is trying to get to a customer has already been de-milled. The Taos contractors who run DRMO seem to believe every item they see requires destruction with a plasma torch. Tires, vehicles, computers, there isn’t much that isn’t fun to cut up with a plasma torch!
This is the situation we are in now that we have contracted out so many basic support functions. I’ll put this in perspective, short and sweet. We are paying contractors to destroy items desperately needed by our war fighters. To put it another way, American tax dollars are being spent to degrade the effectiveness of the US military. Does that piss you off?
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