Hey Ya'll

Hey Ya'll just checking back in from good ol' Kabul. All the books describe this place as metropolitan in a third world sense but it's still very rustic. You can still see donkey carts right in the city itself and the farther out you get from downtown the less likely it is for buildings to have electricity and running water. The people in the city are a strange eclectic mix as well. Shoulder to shoulder you can see a traditionally dressed Afghan man; and a very European dressed Afghan. It's the same way for the women some dress in a very European style, some wear a little scarf over their head, and some are still wearing burqas. The society here in general is just very adamant against change. They are very used to being occupied by foreign armys that they can't beat militarily so they just patiently resist any change. Some of the young people are more open but for the most part the society is still trying to maintain it's roots in the 6th Century.

For me things are to bad. I do get a chance to get out from time to time. I don't interact with the Afghans as much as some people but I do get a chance at some of the meeting I attend to talk to some of the Afghan leadership. It is amazing how so many of the people on our staff don't go out and try to understand the Afghan point of view and try to ensure that we mentor them and teach them so eventually we don't have to come here any more. A lot of the staff guys read about the Afghan culture and history before we came over here but it seems like as soon as we got over here they threw all that out the window and now they want to win "the war" in a week. Maybe it is competition because we are taking over from the 82nd or maybe it is just that so many of them haven't deployed before. Either way it is frustrating how many people don't see the big picture.

Overall though things aren't to bad. I'm living pretty comfortably and once we get folks to calm down the job won't be too bad....I think. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.