where sorrow flows from the mountains

The sunsets and sunrises are beautiful. The Hindu Kush mountains are jagged, bold and look like a playground for the Gods. The dust from the valley creates a veil from which we view the high peaks. We see the sloping shoulders of the mountains as they lean into our valley. We see the creases where the river flows toward us. Each morning hints of early spring with frost and the promise of warm sun. Every evening feels like the end of an Indian summer with coolness flooding the valley as the sun flees behind the peaks. Beautiful.
The beauty is lost here. There is poverty, pain and anger. A war for each generation. The men carry guns on the game trails back to Pakistan. There the wait. You don't have dig deep here to find the bleached bones of the dead.
Sadness, sorrow and grief is what Afghanistan exports.

where is the band

Where is the band?

This year the war isn’t so sexy? When it started celebrities lined up to embrace the troops. Iraq was getting big names to tour through the country. Last year,the Fox sports crew did a show in Bagram, not this year. Maybe, it was a poor ratings week. Where are the Rockettes? And the USO shows?
Politicians make their perfunctory appearance and have as much crowd appeal as a popcorn fart. They descend from the clouds with a cadre of media and microphones giving a speech seeped in banalities. Thankfully they disappear to the relief of the many.
The soldiers carry it alone. They are on the edge of the empire whether they are inside the wire or outside. Tonight,a 19 year old kid with a 70lb. pack on his back and a rifle is at the gate. The winds from the Hindu Kush kick up dust, the stars are smothered in war and it goes on for another year.

what winter means

The weather in Bagram has been warm and nice. Like good fall days in Montana near the end of September where the mornings and evenings are cool with the sun giving off plenty of warmth during the day. Here no rain for over a month. There isn't any snow in the high peaks and the fighting continues. The hospital stays busy. This is the metric I use.

If the weather turns cold the bad guys can't hide their weapons in the ground. It is to frozen. They also aren't as mobile. Less water in the spring means poor crops and less funding for the Taliban. Eventually the mountain passes will close and the fighters will cross the Pakistan border and wait. This is their strength time.

We have elections and a population raised on instant gratification. They will cross the border and heal up to see what spring brings. Time is their trump card.

there is no lynch pin

Two days ago an Afghan Policeman trained by our forces took his weapon and killed six U.S. soldiers. Yesterday, was another Fallen Hero Ceremony on the base. Last week was another one and the week before. Sorrow and sadness traveling through the base. A heaviness that is tangible. And the war back home is a footnote. The American military doesn't deserve the American public.

Sancho Panza with an american accent

His Lieutenant was tall athletic and had the pedigree: his father was a General. The Sergeant was from somewhere like Kansas, Nebraska or Iowa. He shopped at Wal-Mart as did his whole family. The Lieutenant's family drove by Wal-Marts.
They were on a mission outside of FOB Fenty. Their medic was hit and killed. The Lieutentant was shot in the neck and their radio man went down. The Sergeant picked up the radio and called in the attack. He gave his units coordinates, the condition of the soldiers along with their terrain. He did this while returning fire. His forces were outmanned, temporarily out gunned and surrounded
The next day in Bagram at the First Sergeants meeting the Sergeant Major brought up the work of an unknown soldier praising both his effort and professionalism in battle.
He walked into our office two days later. He was a freckled face kid that would have been a second string lineman on his high school football team. He was the person you never really see unless he is under the hood of your car helping you. A bullet ricocheted off his weapon cutting up the side of his face. He would have some facial scars but nothing severe. In the hospital, they gave him one percodan and a bottle of Motrin. He and the Lieutenant were inseparable now.
The Lieutenant was quiet, reserved and didn’t talk about the attack. The Sergeant couldn’t stop talking about it. He talked about the sounds and how bullets snap as they pass you. How things slowed up and then went high speed. For three days they were part of the life at the Red Cross office. No one says, “Goodbye” people are just gone. We waited for them to come by when we heard the Sergeant and the Lieutenant left for Germany. The best way to see Afghanistan is the rear view mirror or 20,000 ft up.

Rip-its the energy preferred by Afghans

I met SSGXX last year in Bagram. He had come ahead of his unit and was energized ready for his mission. I saw him last night in the mess hall. He had lost weight and couldn’t keep his eyes focused. He was all over the place eager to leave. He has another week while staying out in the 500 man tents.
“How was it.” I said.
“You can take the whole country and all the Afghans and fuck em.
You can’t teach them anything. All they want are rip its.”
“You mean the drink,” I said.
“I spent months trying to instruct them. They would all nod their heads and after I was done they asked, ‘Where are the rip-its’” They are fucked.

NATO SUMMIT

15Nov10 Kabul, Afghanistan

Karzai calls Patraeus, "a mother fucker."

16Nov10 Kabul,Afghanistan

Patreaus calls Karzai, " a cocksucker."

Last weekend in Lisbon at the NATO Summit Patraeus and Karzai confirmed their friendship in moving Afghanistan forward.