Unguided Missile
Yesterday was quite exciting for me. I got to fly to Herat with the commanding general. Herat is the city in which the United Nations buildings were looted and burned by an angry mob last week after the governor stepped down and a new governor took over. This week the city is calm and people are going about their business. We met the new governor, met the UN staff and viewed not only the damage but also the repair work underway, and visited the largest heavy weapons cantonement site in Afghanistan. In short, we had a great visit.
I arrived at Kabul airport with a reporter and producer from the BBC and a reporter from Fox at around 8 a.m. on a beautiful, sunny day. Also joining us was a reporter from another news organization who was embedding with the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Herat for a couple of weeks.
The trip to the airport through the streets of Kabul was incredibly interesting. People everywhere, dust, children walking to school, billboards for cellar phones, people living in hovels, merchants displaying pots and pans next to sides of meat hanging in the open air, donkey's pulling the carts of farmers who can't afford trucks and farmers who can't afford donkeys pulling their own carts. At one point all traffic stopped while a shephard herded his sheep across the busy road.
Snow is evident on the tips of the Hindu Kush mountain range, now, and the air is beginning to cool. The airport is a busy place. One part remains public while a large portion of it is military. It's run by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), so we saw troops from several countries, including France, Czechoslovakia and Italy. I got a cup of coffee from an Afghan vendor at the airport while I waited at a make-shift passenger area.
Flying in a C-130 is a loud experience requiring that you wear ear plugs. You sit on hard red nylon seats of sorts that basically hang from the walls, facing each other in four narrow rows. The flight is part of a ring or circuit of flights around Afghanistan, so we were also carrying a vehicle and packages that were going on to other places. The flight took just over an hour.
Herat is actually a pretty progressive city, with trees, a large central park, several schools, a hospital, a university complex under construction. It appears to be a rather prosperous place, a bit different from Kabul. But lest I paint too positive a picture, like the rest of Afghanistan it is dusty and poor and many people appear to live on virtually nothing.
Our first stop was a building high above the city for a meeting with the provincial governor and an awards ceremony for soldiers injured in the riot last week. We had a fantastic view of the city and the awards ceremony was quite moving. Several soldiers received Purple Hearts for wounds they received, Bronze Star Medals, and Air Medals. Awards were also presented to several members of the new Afghan National Army who worked side-by-side with our soldiers to bring the crowd under control and restore calm to the city. The ANA is the new national Army for Afghanistan.
We then headed to the PRT for lunch. PRTs work side-by-side with non-governmental organizations to help build schools and roads, provide medical and veterinary services, and provide security to the NGOs and UN workers providing resources to the people. The PRTs have contributed to the construction of hundreds of schools, roadways that facilitate trade, and other infrastructure. It is still dangerous work in the hinterlands, but it's extremely rewarding for the soldiers involved.
After lunch at the PRT we drove the few blocks to the UN buildings. As with Kabul, the streets of Herat are fascinating. The people of Afghanistan spend much of their time out and about in the streets, working, trading, talking and just watching others. Many people here are illiterate and don't have electricity, so word of mouth is the way most information is passed. Therefore, people are everywhere and always talking.
The poverty present everywhere in this country is the first thing that always strikes me when we venture out of our compounds. But very quickly I am fascinated by the color, the activity, and the happiness of the people amid and inspite of extreme poverty. The scenes always strike me as something right out of National Geographic. It's really beyond description. But we are always greeted with smiles and waves. It's simply amazing.
Finally we headed back the airport for our flight out. Before we left, however, we visited the "heavy weapons cantonement area" where the weapons of the provincial militia are being collected to be turned over to the ANA where they will be under national control. The former governor on Herat had amassed what was considered the largest militia in Afghanistan and what is thought to be the largest collection of tanks, BMPs and other armored weapons. One after another were being driven or towed to the cantonement site. The problem was that the cantonement area was a dust bowl stirred up by our convoy of vehicles and a high wind. Dust here, as throughout the middle east, resembles talcum powder and when it blows it makes its way into your eyes, ears, nose and the very fabric of your clothes. We tolerated about 15 minutes at the site and then retreated to our vehicles.
The stand-down of these provincial militias and the standing up of the national police force and national army are huge steps forward toward building a secure Afghanistan. It's a Herculean effort to build these security forces as quickly as we are doing and, inspite of what the media may be reporting, the effort is going as well as can be expected.
We finally boarded our flight out at around 3:30 p.m. and needless to say, most of us slept on the way home.
As always, I got back to the office to deal with a myriad of emails and activities, including reviewing the opening statement for our standard Wed. press conference. By 10 p.m. I could no longer stand the dust caked on my face and in my hair, so I turned off the computer and headed to a hot shower and bed. Seven hours of sleep before I get up and begin the grind all over again. I love the work, I just wish there were six more hours in the day to get it all done.
I miss the peace and quiet of home, as well as family and friends. But the accomplishments taking place here become more evident each day and I become more committed.
I arrived at Kabul airport with a reporter and producer from the BBC and a reporter from Fox at around 8 a.m. on a beautiful, sunny day. Also joining us was a reporter from another news organization who was embedding with the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Herat for a couple of weeks.
The trip to the airport through the streets of Kabul was incredibly interesting. People everywhere, dust, children walking to school, billboards for cellar phones, people living in hovels, merchants displaying pots and pans next to sides of meat hanging in the open air, donkey's pulling the carts of farmers who can't afford trucks and farmers who can't afford donkeys pulling their own carts. At one point all traffic stopped while a shephard herded his sheep across the busy road.
Snow is evident on the tips of the Hindu Kush mountain range, now, and the air is beginning to cool. The airport is a busy place. One part remains public while a large portion of it is military. It's run by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), so we saw troops from several countries, including France, Czechoslovakia and Italy. I got a cup of coffee from an Afghan vendor at the airport while I waited at a make-shift passenger area.
Flying in a C-130 is a loud experience requiring that you wear ear plugs. You sit on hard red nylon seats of sorts that basically hang from the walls, facing each other in four narrow rows. The flight is part of a ring or circuit of flights around Afghanistan, so we were also carrying a vehicle and packages that were going on to other places. The flight took just over an hour.
Herat is actually a pretty progressive city, with trees, a large central park, several schools, a hospital, a university complex under construction. It appears to be a rather prosperous place, a bit different from Kabul. But lest I paint too positive a picture, like the rest of Afghanistan it is dusty and poor and many people appear to live on virtually nothing.
Our first stop was a building high above the city for a meeting with the provincial governor and an awards ceremony for soldiers injured in the riot last week. We had a fantastic view of the city and the awards ceremony was quite moving. Several soldiers received Purple Hearts for wounds they received, Bronze Star Medals, and Air Medals. Awards were also presented to several members of the new Afghan National Army who worked side-by-side with our soldiers to bring the crowd under control and restore calm to the city. The ANA is the new national Army for Afghanistan.
We then headed to the PRT for lunch. PRTs work side-by-side with non-governmental organizations to help build schools and roads, provide medical and veterinary services, and provide security to the NGOs and UN workers providing resources to the people. The PRTs have contributed to the construction of hundreds of schools, roadways that facilitate trade, and other infrastructure. It is still dangerous work in the hinterlands, but it's extremely rewarding for the soldiers involved.
After lunch at the PRT we drove the few blocks to the UN buildings. As with Kabul, the streets of Herat are fascinating. The people of Afghanistan spend much of their time out and about in the streets, working, trading, talking and just watching others. Many people here are illiterate and don't have electricity, so word of mouth is the way most information is passed. Therefore, people are everywhere and always talking.
The poverty present everywhere in this country is the first thing that always strikes me when we venture out of our compounds. But very quickly I am fascinated by the color, the activity, and the happiness of the people amid and inspite of extreme poverty. The scenes always strike me as something right out of National Geographic. It's really beyond description. But we are always greeted with smiles and waves. It's simply amazing.
Finally we headed back the airport for our flight out. Before we left, however, we visited the "heavy weapons cantonement area" where the weapons of the provincial militia are being collected to be turned over to the ANA where they will be under national control. The former governor on Herat had amassed what was considered the largest militia in Afghanistan and what is thought to be the largest collection of tanks, BMPs and other armored weapons. One after another were being driven or towed to the cantonement site. The problem was that the cantonement area was a dust bowl stirred up by our convoy of vehicles and a high wind. Dust here, as throughout the middle east, resembles talcum powder and when it blows it makes its way into your eyes, ears, nose and the very fabric of your clothes. We tolerated about 15 minutes at the site and then retreated to our vehicles.
The stand-down of these provincial militias and the standing up of the national police force and national army are huge steps forward toward building a secure Afghanistan. It's a Herculean effort to build these security forces as quickly as we are doing and, inspite of what the media may be reporting, the effort is going as well as can be expected.
We finally boarded our flight out at around 3:30 p.m. and needless to say, most of us slept on the way home.
As always, I got back to the office to deal with a myriad of emails and activities, including reviewing the opening statement for our standard Wed. press conference. By 10 p.m. I could no longer stand the dust caked on my face and in my hair, so I turned off the computer and headed to a hot shower and bed. Seven hours of sleep before I get up and begin the grind all over again. I love the work, I just wish there were six more hours in the day to get it all done.
I miss the peace and quiet of home, as well as family and friends. But the accomplishments taking place here become more evident each day and I become more committed.
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