History Lesson Part 1

7 Mar 07

     Having my spine tingled by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony  (especially the fourth movement)

 

Urgent Emergency Order of Obscene Amenities Being Flown In

     Han has really been opening up to me lately.  In fairness, I haven’t worked a whole lot with him, but recently we’ve had some really great discussions.  He downloaded a ton of photos from the internet and proceeded to give me a history lesson, along with photos of events from the last 15 years.  It is pretty amazing stuff, and now you can be amazed too.  Han is passionate about getting the truth out about Afghanistan, and I’ve told him I will be happy to relate his story to all of you.  Han is certain that most Americans only know about the Taliban, and don’t understand everything else that went before.  So the two of us will do our part to educate as many as possible, while trying to make it interesting and painless.  There won’t be much humor.  As much as I love being witty (or at least trying to be witty), it just isn’t appropriate.

     Han has always lived here in Afghanistan, and was here for the Russian occupation, the civil war afterwards, and the rule of the Taliban.  It’s staggering that someone has been through so much, and he’s not even thirty years old yet.

    

     1940 - 1973 - Zahir Shah ruled as king of Afghanistan

     1973 - 1978 - Daoud Khan - Cousin of the King abolishes the monarchy, declares himself president

     1979 - 1986 - Babrak Karmal rules as president, Soviet Union invades in 1979

     1986 - 1992  - Dr. Najibullah takes over from Karmal - Soviets withdraw 15 Feb 1989

April 15^th, 1992 - The Mujahideen take Kabul and liberate Afghanistan; Najibullah is protected by UN.  The Mujahideen form an Islamic State and hold elections.  Professor Burhannudin Rabbani takes power.

     1993 - There is a civil war throughout 1993 between four main groups of Mujahideen; there is large scale fighting in Kabul and in the north

     1994 - The Taliban militia is formed and begin to take over the country.  Two Mujahideen factions fight against Rabbani and Masood's government; Kabul is reduced to rubble.

     1996 - 2001 - Taliban militia force President Rabbani and his government out of Kabul.  After the capture of Kabul, the Taliban enter the UN compound where Najibullah is being protected, drag him out, and execute him.  They rule until driven out by the Northern Alliance.

     2001 - Today -   Hamid Karzai’s government 

    

     The thing that impressed me about Han was his intense ernestness.  He must have copied over 100 photos to his thumb drive to show me, and the history lesson he gave me was fascinating.  I’ll go into it tomorrow in more detail, as time is fleeting (I’ve had a long, busy day).  But here are some tidbits for you to consider. 

1.  All the damage in Kabul was caused by the Mujahideen fighting with each other in 93 and 94.  When the Taliban took over Kabul, they did no damage, and when the Northern Alliance drove them out  in 2001, again there was no fighting in the city.

2. The Taliban never controlled all of Afghanistan.  The Mujahideen forces retained control of about 5% of the country in the north eastern part of the country.

3.  It was the Northern Alliance that did the majority of ground fighting to drive out the Taliban.  They had huge amounts of air support and special ops support from the US.

4.  The Taliban were once Mujahideen.  Taliban literally means “Student.” Afghans call them “Insurgents.”

    Tomorrow we will get into specifics of the things Han experienced. IN the meantime, check out the RAWA website.

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Care Packages

     Jed Black sent me another package stuffed with candy bars.  The pumpkin (and I) will be very happy.  Leta Carruth sent a box full of snickerdoodles and blonde brownies (they are like chocolate chip cookies, but in brownie form).  I’ve already ruined my dinner testing the quality of the brownies.  They are most excellent.  Leta, I can only imagine you either:

a.  Asked Jancy what dessert I really love

b.  Are psychic

c.  Are incredibly lucky

     Thanks, as always, though I may be twenty pounds heavier when I get home, they will be a very happy twenty pounds.

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Blog Watch

S asked how I could tell if a link to AWAC was on her site (I mentioned it yesterday).  Simple.  On about 50% of the hits I get, a source is indicated.  This is just one of the features of my provider.  No idea why it only works 50% of the time.

We got mentioned in the Dallas Morning News:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-voxpopnu_03edi.ART.State.Edition1.4494aa9.html

 

And here’s a link from fellow Papillon 911 Rescue member Jelena

Sunshine and Rope Swings

http://rawrsunshine.blogspot.com/

Helen Chen's site meter is working again, and she passed 2,000 hits. Congrats, Helen!

 

Next week VAJoe is having an NCAA March Madness Tournament with $3,000 in prizes. You must be military to enter or the relative of an active duty member or veteran: http://www.vajoe.com/ncaa/ .  This is the website that did an interview with me last week.

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The William Arkin Obscene Amenity of the Day

(Named for William Arkin, the blogger who thinks the military is made up of mercenaries with too many amenities).  Don’t be a stranger, Bill.

 

Today’s amenity is the large quantity of laundry detergent available in the local PX.  This is a bit unusual, as there are no washing machines for us to use; we all have to turn our laundry into a central laundry facility.  But just knowing that I can go to the PX and buy Tide makes me giddy.  I really can’t imagine why its here, but if it annoys Mr. Arkin, it’s worth it.

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Five Seconds of Fame

     Yesterday’s quote ,“ I thought I’d ask for your theories, mock them, and embrace my own.” is Dr. House from the appropriately named House.  If you watch House but didn’t know that Hugh Laurie had a long career in British comedy, including Black Adder and Jeeves and Wooster.  It is really amazing to see someone so funny play a role so obnoxious.  The winners are Lorrie Cramer, Peter Flemming, Tammy Vallejo, and TSgt Derek Paris from right here at CMA.

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Quote of the Day:

“How many weapons you plan on bringing? You only got the two arms.”

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Some days are born great, some days achieve greatness, some days have greatness thrust upon them.

- Bear

traversa@gimail.af.mil

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Here’s Rat.  He sent a post late last night, and another today, so that’s why there are two.

6 Mar

      Well I made it to the garden spot that is Gardez. I was here in August, and when I arrived by helicopter it was about 3:00 am. We had just gotten bedded down for the night, and at about 5:00 am I awoke to the sound of someone screaming "INCOMING."  The first rockets came inside the wire. We quickly rolled out of bed and got inside the bunker. As luck would have it, the Taliban are not great shots, so the rockets landed harmlessly off in the distance. Welcome to Gardez!

     Well, here I am again, and from what I'm told, there hasn't been an attack for some time, so things look to be pretty safe. The convoy down is the most dangerous part of the
trip. We travel through open terrain and through a narrow mountain pass. There are plenty of places for the enemy to take advantage and place an ambush, but today it was not the case. We had a beautiful drive with the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and no real problems to speak of. We had a brief delay as one of the supply trucks had a maintenance problem but after a short 20-minute stop it was repaired and we were back on the road. My interpreter was a little apprehensive about the trip. He has only been down here once and he told me he didn't like being here. His words to me were "if they capture us they will kill me first." I assured him I would keep him safe even if it meant giving my life and he seemed to calm a little. You see my mission puts him a greater risk and it is my responsibility to ensure his safety and I take that very seriously. As luck would have it he was necessary on the trip. During our stop there was an Afghan vehicle that had someone in it who had a heart attack and was seeking medical attention. Having him with us the driver was able to relay that to us and our medic was able to check on the patient and assist as they continued on the medical treatment at the next town. What a day, I'm glad to be down here and to get started training. It makes the time go bay faster and gets me closer to coming home to my wonderful wife and daughter.

7 Mar

Well another day in Gardez. Nothing happened so I am thankful once again for another quite day. I spent most of my day rounding up the usual suspects to complete the required training. The system I'm teaching is relatively simple, as a matter of fact it is really a Vietnam-based Army supply system. It is all manual, since there is very little automation in Afghanistan. The calendar here is based on a lunar system, so the year here is 1385. With the exception of cell phones and automobiles, it is just about 1385. So we have to find a system that works for them and does not require computers or anything that requires electricity.

     As I have said before, most of the population here is illiterate due to the Taliban’s restrictions, so even basic functions can take on an extra level of difficulty. Imagine receiving a requisition for something in a warehouse. You give it to you warehouse worker to go fill, and he cannot read the request to know what to pull off the shelf. Then you have the need for inventory and stock control, so these are some of the obstacles I have to overcome.

     Out of the groups I deal with, I do have some who are literate, and they are the ones I am targeting here. I just have to find ways of making a complicated idea sound easy. When I speak, I speak through an interpreter who is responsible for taking my words and converting them into their language. I speak on a third grade level, not because they aren't smart, but because they have less words in their language than English does, so sometimes I have to say things 2 or 3 different ways to get the point across. I can make for a long day. Since I have been doing this for sometime now I have been able to hone my skills and it takes considerably less time now. So now all I have to do is get the right folks in the training, and before long we will have them fully capable of doing their own logistics. All this in the middle of a warzone...not the best place for a classroom. I don't really adhere to the no guns in the classroom policy either; you never know when you may need to defend your point.

Capt Douglas Templeton

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Here’s Odie:

Been returning to "The Manhattan Transfer" lately.  When I hear "Soul Food to Go" I wonder why I ever left.

     It’s not always easy for me to come up with scintillating blog topics.  You see, unlike Rat and Bear, I don’t get out much.  My job is in the Strategic Plans shop and it’s oh-so-exciting.  While they’re driving around the city and mentoring real Afghans, my day is going something like this:

 

0720-0800: Check email and eat b-fast at my desk before the 0800 meeting which sometimes is at 0800.

 

0800-1200:  Work on PowerPoint.  After much effort, I discover the “snap objects to grid” button and uncheck it so the icons now line up.  Get high fives from the other planners.  One of the old heads says my Kung Fu is getting strong.

 

1200-1230:  Lunch.  Refill tea stockpile.

 

1230-1600:  An exciting change is in store and I get to switch gears a bit and work on a Word document instead.  I’m in a “cut and paste” groove.

 

1600-1700:  Go to gym and attempt death by treadmill.  Fail again. 

 

1700-1800:  I go back to the office and work while I cool off (I have to sit on a trash bag since I sweat like Michael Richards at an NAACP convention).  I finally recover and take a shower (I usually use the bathroom with the “ducky” shower curtain – ahhh, what a luxury) and work on the computer until dinner.

 

1800-1830:  Dinner.  Sometimes I make eye contact with a local national counting people entering the DFAC.  It’s a cultural moment.

 

1830-1900:  Try to think of something interesting that I did today that 400 people will be immensely interested to read…that “snap objects to grid” victory sure was exciting; maybe I’ll use that…

 

1900-2200:  Boss sees me staring at the ceiling thinking about a blog topic and looks like he’s concerned about my mental state so I go back to work.  It’s not too hard to find some.

 

2200-2330:  No one has left the office yet, but my brain is mush, mushier than normal anyway, so I check out AWAC.  The boys from Phoenix are having hilarious and touching adventures with the Afghan Army and painting a disturbing number of cartoons on plywood.  Bear and Leta think I’m slacking again.  It’s possible.  The office is still full, but I’m no good to anyone at this point so I put on my cozy IBA and catch a van back to the safe house.  Another exciting day in the Afghanistan; I’m sure you’re glad you decided to read about it instead of one of those “other” military blogs.  Take a moment to let your pulse return to normal.

 

     Picture of the day (from one of my rare trips).  This is from a government meeting with locals in a southern province.

     I just loved this guys shoes.  Every other of the "elders" at this meeting was wearing some form of traditional shoes.  He must be especially high ranking because he gets the comfy b-ball kicks.

Camp Eggers reports all present and having a great day so...

Cheers!

Odie

Comments

[doug kemp]

I see many photos of Afganistan, but i'm wondering if many Afgans see pictures of the US or any other western country. i remember reading that a U.S. reporter showed some Afgans pictures of the 9/11 destruction and the response was "I never knew you had such cities".
Do many Afgans realize just how wealthy they could be if they had a stable society? Many Afgans appear to live +/- the poverty line, few luxuries, etc. What if they were shown just how wealthy the west has become, with our stable democratic gov. Wouldn't they want the same?

[Jenn]

Odie, the description of your complete day had us right there with you so vivid it was ;). Perhaps you were just having withdrawls from yesterdays H2O intake????? Regardless your fellow Americans who support you 100% thank you, bear and rat for taking the time to share you life with us! Being given true knowledge and humor at the same time is truly a gift!
God Bless you guys and keep it up!!

[Matti]

Tide, but no washing machines? That's funny.

Thanks to you Bear and Han for the history lesson. I have to admit, my knowledge about the history of Afghanistan is pretty scant. You inspired me to do some research, so thanks. I look forward to the rest.

And thanks Rat for the updates, even while you're on the road. Like Leta said, be safe. My prayers go with you.

And Odie, reading about your day was like getting on a rollercoaster. One of those whirley upside down ones that make you strap on five different belts. Whether or not the coaster car was actually moving is another matter, but I couldn't help noticing the resemblance. Warn me next time, so I can hold on to something. :-)

Seriously, though, that was hillarious. Cultural moment? Death by treadmill? Tea stockpile? B-ball kicks?

Classic. :-D

[Tim]

There's another story about Rambo in tomorrow's CSM:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0308/p01s02-wosc.html

[Leta]

Is that "wheels up" from Bagram or Manas? Manas I hope!

Thanks for the link to rawa. Can't wait to find the time to read all about it. Am also looking forward to reports from you and Han. I LOVE getting info from the horse's mouth!

As for the chocolate chip cookie bars - I KNEW better than to send those to you but I had a moment of weakness I suppose. I wish I had a dollar for every batch of those that have found their way to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo - I could RETIRE!!! It's so rewarding to have grown men and women in a war zone appreciate simple things in life and offer their first born or other like "gifts" for MORE of them. LOL! Glad you like them. Did you share? Nope, didn't get the info from Jancy. You MAY recall that I asked for her email address from you. Alas I never got it. Hmmmmm. No, I'm not psychic. YES - I'm definitely lucky. Lucky? Oh, yes. Because of the opportunity to "know" and support our amazing military. Yep, I'm a very lucky American. A GRATEFUL one, too.

LOVE the amenity of the day. I got photos from Camp Eggers not too long ago showing the PX there with a full row of bottles of baby oil as well as another row full of fingernail polish remover. What ARE you guys (especially Odie since he's at Camp Eggers) doing over there???? I also got a kick out of the fact that the only shoes they had available for sale (via the photo) were size 15 or size 5. RIGHT!

Ratman - I supported a group that was at Gardez until just recently. From what they told me that is DEFINITELY not a spot to which one would aspire for assignment. Glad you are on a temperary assignment there. BE SAFE while there and on that convoy back. Sounds like the work you are doing there is challenging. I'm confident you're the man for the job. My best to you, your interpreter and the team assisting you.

Now Odie - what ARE we going to do with you? Based on your post today I'm afraid I could "probably" write most of your posts for you. Why? The one today reminded me almost word for word of emails I used to get from a Soldier just back from a 365 day vacation at Camp Eggers. Lived in one of the safe houses, had to "dress up" for the trip back and forth each day. Created more powerpoint and word documents in that year than most people do in a lifetime, blah blah blah! Want me to write a couple of posts for you to see how close I get? LOL! Guess I'll just wait for a couple more from you before we "go" there. Have you been down T-bone alley or Chicken street yet?

You guys are GREAT! Thanks for continuing to both educate and entertain us. MUCH appreciated but not nearly as appreciated as all of you are for serving our great nation AND for the fantastic work you are doing in Afghanistan.

Stay safe gentlemen. Thoughts and prayers with you each day.