Late Post -- Thailand Red Shirt Crisis -- end of CNAT

The past couple weeks have been hectic. I just could not seem to get around to posting this. Yesterday, I was informed that the State Department has cancelled the contract that I am working under – as of the end of June. Actually, they have decided not to extend the “temporary” work order under which we have been functioning. CPI has never had a proper contract – just performing under a repeatedly extended work order for the past two years or so. The work order has been extended every few months with a promise that a proper contract will be awarded down the line. They, apparently, have decided to simply scrap the CNAT program. Meanwhile, CPI is bidding on some other Afghan contracts. If they are awarded one that contains a position for which I am qualified, I hope to be able to just slide into the new position. This, however, is speculation on my part. I am returning to Kabul tomorrow (Monday) from Thailand, and I will find out then if I have any options. It could be that I will simply have worked for only four months – not nearly enough time to buy the Gulfstream executive jet that I’ve had my heart set on.


Back to the past two weeks:

Please try to read the Time magazine article last week about the problems a US Army company has had in just trying to reopen an Afghan school. It is illustrative of the bureaucratic and other troubles that occur with many, probably most, of the potential aid projects in Afghanistan. It demonstrates that the Afghan citizens have to deal with the reality that America and her allies may not have eliminated the Taliban nor have trained an effective security force before they leave. See: www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1982093,00.html

Acquiring an airline ticket in Afghanistan has proven to be an ordeal. Not the acquisition itself, but having any choice of itinerary or seating. I tried two different travel agencies and discovered that it is pretty much a one choice take it or leave it proposition. If you inquire about alternative itineraries it turns into a situation where what you were offered gets cancelled with no other options having been offered. Ask about a seat assignment and you are informed that you will be allotted a seat at the airport. Push the issue and you may lose your reservation. Once you have a reservation number, you can call the airline and they will assign you a seat, but you will likely have to pay (cash) for the ticket before you get a reservation number. The only good thing about the process is that they can get you a significantly better fare than you can find on the internet.

I was deposited into Bangkok at the height (so far) of the Thailand Red Shirt political crisis. There were nearly 30 people killed at a demonstration that got out of control a couple weeks ago and, the day before I arrived, an RPG was fired into a Sky Train station killing a bystander. A couple days ago the Red Shirts stormed the Chulalongkorn University Hospital searching for someone. Today there is a cabinet meeting at which the government will discuss the imposition of martial law. The Red Shirts are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1108114.stm
Thaksin is now a self-exiled, felony-convicted fugitive billionaire who is providing financial support to the Red Shirts and whipping them up with big-screen televised speeches at their rallies. He is a talented and chiasmatic politician that the poor and rural people see as the only political leader who has instituted political measures specifically to help them. He instituted some long overdue and needed populist reforms (which some opponent see as a step toward Communism). The fact that he moved political corruption and self benefit to a level that was previously unimaginable, seems to make little difference to his supporters. “Sure he is a crook, but they are all crooks – and he is the only crook that helped make my life better” seems to be the attitude.

Thaksin was ousted by a military coup about three and a half years ago. The military proved to be inept at governing and relinquished control a year or so ago to what has evolved into the present government. This present government is, however, is widely regarded as being manipulated by the military and, though the Prime Minister seems to be regarded as non-corrupt, his administration appears to me to be populated by ineffective and dishonest bureaucrats. The Hmong debacle four months ago provides a good example that I am familiar with:

 No one doubts that the vast majority of the 4500 or so Hmong that were repatriated to Laos were “economic” migrants just seeking a better life, but it is a clear fact that, among this large group, there were a substantial number of what has come to be called the “Jungle Hmong” who’s repatriation would subject them to almost certain harsh treatment, likely torture, and possible execution. Instead of just sorting the Jungle Hmong from the rest – a classification task that had already pretty much been done by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Thai military screeners – the Thai government separated the potential leaders from the large group but delivered everyone across the Mekong to the Lao authorities. Meanwhile, the Prime and the Foreign Minister blatantly and repeatedly told the public that:

1. The repatriation was voluntary,

2. All the refugees were of an economic nature, and

3. That there was an intergovernmental agreement that would guarantee good treatment of the refugees by the Lao officials (the specific terms of this “agreement” were A. never disclosed, B. were, apparently, never reduced to writing, and C. have no provisions for monitoring and/or verification. I can find no record of any other non defense related agreement between governments that has these characteristics). It seems evident that the “agreement” was (if it even ever existed) a vague verbal understanding between officials that, if they even had the authority, never bothered to do what is customary to move the understanding beyond a conjectural possibility.  None of these items, presented by the government officals were true.

The bottom line is that the present Thai government was blatantly dishonest about this particular issue that I care about, so it is reasonable to suspect that they have behaved in a similarly unscrupulous manner on other issues.  That is my personal assessment of the present governmental situation, based on this one specific issue that interests me as well as my general observation of ineptitude.  As I write this, the present government is asserting that some leaders of the Red Shirts are anti Monarchist. If there is any one thing that almost all Thais feel strongly about it is their common love for this King. Any believed suggestion of an anti Monarchist sentiment is likely to provoke large numbers of Thai citizens to blind outrage. This was proven in the fall of 1976 when dozens of Thai students were slaughtered by a group of Thai citizens who (erroneously) believed those students to be against the King. Based on the observations related above, you can likely guess that I am skeptical about these present charges.

A little more than a year ago, it was the Yellow Shirt group that demonstrated and shut down the BKK airport. They are the group that, generally, support the present government and are staunchly anti Thaksin. Last week a Multi Colored Shirt group was formed and held a couple large rallies to protest the disruption and economic harm that the other two main groups are causing. Everyone hopes that this lovely country and it’s delightful people can find a way to come together. Presently, however, it appears that the two main factions are becoming more hard-nosed and more militant. 

Last week the US Embassy hosted a town hall meeting to give advice about the situation. The advice they had was good even if, mostly, self evident. 1. Stay way from the demonstration areas, 2. Remember that you are not the target of the protests, 3. If you find yourself in a demonstration, be polite and move away from it, and 4. Have 72 hours of provisions and water at home in case you become isolated (good general advice in case of hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. too).

The Ambassador was charming and answered questions for about 40 minutes. One young man who sad he was a professional photographer who visits the Red Shirt area every day said the numbers of the Red Shirts are vastly underestimated. He asserted that the official estimation of 50,000 in the area is low by a factor of three or four. The Ambassador was skeptical. He said they are paying close attention and believe the official estimate is accurate.

After the formal meeting ended, the Ambassador was asked if anyone at the Embassy knows what has become of the heads of the families of the former US allies, the repatriated Jungle Hmong group. He seemed mildly surprised by the question and quickly stated something about not being able to talk about some things, but that the Embassy is monitoring the situation. He said they have learned that one cannot believe what the Laos say (what a startling revelation that must have been!). My prediction is that the Jungle Hmong adult males have already been “disappeared.” If there is ever any Lao statement about them it will be that they escaped back to the jungle. The rest will be disbursed around the country, Thailand will receive the bulk of the upcoming Lao hydroelectric kilowatts and investment benefits, and our US State Department will suck up to the Communist so as to expand the Lao American Embassy staff.

That’s it for now. Back to Kabul tomorrow, via Delhi. I’m anxious to see if I have a future employment possibility beyond the next two months and what the next two months will present as we shut down the program. It will be potentially devastating news for the Afghan CNAT team members and the Security team to learn that their program is ending – along with their jobs.

A Training Day and Mike Spann's death site

Since the team leader was in Kabul, here was no staff meeting Saturday. By Monday he had returned and I instructed an Introduction to Project Management Class that day. The entire CNAT team attended. The morning went very well, and the team members seemed to be enthusiastic, particapative, and receptive. After lunch, it still proceeded fairly well, but there was evidence of sleepiness and somewhat less attention. Aggravating this was the fact that the class really needed another four or five hours. The afternoon, therefore, consisted of more lecture and less participation, in an attempt to introduce all the material. Maybe we can follow up at a later date.  The picture to the right is the CNAT team on our training day.

The weather has been nice. One hot day – up to 105 F, but mostly comfortable and clear. There is never-ending dust in the air. It looks like mild smog, but it is dust. A thin layer on everything.

We still cannot do field trips because of not having a reliable second vehichle. DynCorp loaned us a tire to replace the one that blew out a couple weeks ago, but the F-250 is so junky that the Security chief does not want to take it out of town.

I visited the Quala-i-Jangi fortress where Mike Spann was killed. Mike was a CIA employee who was the first American killed in what became the Afghan war. The Mike Spann Army base is located near the site of his death. The events associated with his death occured in late November of 2001. The Taliban had been pretty well defeated in this area by the Northern Alliance. You will remember that Ahmad Shah Massoud, the legendary leader of the Northern Alliance, had been assassinate by Al Qaeda operatives posing as journalists just two days before the 9/11 attack. His successor, Gen. Dostum, in late November, negotiated a deal with the defeated Taliban. The agreement was that, if the Taliban would surrender their weapons, the Afghan Taliban would be allowed to go to their homes. There were, however, several hundred foreign national Taliban. Apparently Gen. Dostum’s staff and the Afghan Taliban leaders agreed to make it seem that the agreement applied to Taliban generally, though it was never intended that the foreign nationals would be allowed to leave, at least not until after they has been interviewed about Al Qaeda. During the disarmament, some of the foreign nationals, probably smelling a rat, secreted grenades and, possibly, some hand guns in their clothing. This group of several hundred foreign Taliban were transported to the fortress.

The fortress was build back in the late 1800's. It is massive. It probably measures 300 - 400 yards on each side. It consists of a wall around 30 feet high and 30 feet thick and is divided, more or less in half, by a another wall running East and West. The Northern half contains General Dostum’s headquarters and his residence. The Southern half, containing a few buildings which included an armory, became a makeshift prison for the foreign Taliban. The Taliban disarmament occurred on Nov. 24th and some of the Taliban were moved to the fortress that day. The rest followed on the 25th. Some of the prisoners were put in a building near the center of this compound, but most of them were seated in the open field area. Some, but not all had their hands bound. There were only a few guards, and the oversight of the prisoners was not well organized. On the 25th Spann and another CIA agent began interviewing the prisoners, one of which was the infamous “American Taliban,” John Walker Lindh. The interviewing had gone on for a while when one of the prisoners blew himself and a guard up with a grenade. This triggered a general uprising which included Spann being attacked by the prisoners near him. There were some journalists and medical personnel in the compound along with the few guards, Spann, and the other CIA operative. Spann stood his ground and fought with an AK-47, then a pistol, then his fists while the others fought a retreat action through the gate into the North half of the fortress. Most who have studied the action believe that the others would likely not have made it except for Spann’s standing his ground. He was eventually overwhelmed and beaten to death. All the other friendly foreigners made it out.

Once the others were out, the few Taliban who made it through the gate killed or captured, and the gate secured, the Taliban were effectively contained within the walls of the southern half of the fortress. There were somewhere between 300 and 500 of them – probably closer to 300. What followed was an embarrassing series of events which continued for six days. These events began with an attempt to drop a “smart bomb” on the armory so as to deny it’s armaments to the prisoners. With the assistance of about four laser target designators from four different locations around the fortress, the 500 pound smart bomb missed the armory building by at least 100 yards. Apparently there were two or three more smart bombs deployed which missed by equally embarrassing margins. Meanwhile the friendlies are bringing more troops and more equipment to the walls of the fortress. Somewhere along the line they even get a tank up on one of the ramparts and it begins firing into the compound. Having the Taliban in a “fish in a barrel” situation, the good guys offered the bad guys a chance to give up. They refused. Soon the bad guys discover the armory and become well-armed fish in a barrel. For the next few days the strategy alternated between trying to kill them and trying to get them to surrender. Little by little the Taliban are driven from the compound into the largest of the buildings which contains a basement (where some of them had been held prisoner back on day one). Now the tank was blasting at the building, bombs continued to be dropped with little effect, and dozens (maybe hundreds of soldiers were blazing away at the building and the few Taliban that show themselves. Thinking, I guess, that a 2000 pound bomb would be smarter than the 500 pounders, the Air Force drops one of those huge bunker-buster monsters on the building into which most of the Taliban had now retreated. It produce an explosion like noone had ever seen or heard. It proved, however, to be even dumber than the five hundred pound variety. Not only did it miss the targeted building, but it hit the friendly tank – destroying it and killing several soldiers.

By the third day, all the surviving Taliban were in the basement of the building, but they still refused to surrender. We tried shooting into the building, dropping grenades through the basement windows, and bombing it. Most of the bombs missed and the few that did hit the building did not penetrate into the basement. We pored a large quantity of diesel fuel and gasoline though the windows and threw in a match. Apparently too much diesel and not enough gas – it burned but did not explode. No one comes out. On the fourth day, the General had the water from an irrigation canal diverted into the basement. No one came out. After several hours, thinking all are drowned, the solders cautiously started to enter. They were met with a grenade and gunfire. They kept the water flowing and, on the sixth day, the third day of flooding, the Taliban gave up. Eighty seven men finally emerged. One of them was John Walker Lindh who was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The Southern compound has not been repaired. All the buildings are a mass of bullet marks and explosive damage. It is a little grown over with brush and weeds. There is, however, a nice memorial to Mike Spann on or very near the place where he died.

Above is my security crew ready to take me to the office.  I live in the CONEX over my left sholder.

Still in Mazar -- My Fitness Test

A late report: While in Kabul, I had to take the CPI Physical Agility Test. This will give you an idea of why we IA’s may be the first group called on to back up the Recon Marines, Delta Force, or the Seals. Here is the test:

1. Walk a quarter mile in 10 minutes or less,

2. Walk up and down a 10-step minimum staircase,

3. Lift/press 20 pounds over head, and

4. (this is the one that really separates the athletes from the couch potatoes) Walk 50 feet carrying 20 pounds of additional weight.

Fortunately, I have been carrying at least 40 pounds of additional weight for many years, so I was able to make it through number four with only mild exhaustion. I just hope they don’t up the distance to 60 feet. Anyway, I passed. It may have helped that I was able to take a nap between number one and number two.

This week I readied the training materials for the Introduction to Project Management training. Late in the week we decided to do the training in one day – a “training day” – next Monday.

I was unable to take any field trips because we have no spare tire for the junky F-250. They had sent one from Kabul which proved to have a big unreparable hole in it. I have eight armed men to protect me and small housing complex to house them. There are two “hard” vehicles required for all movements. But, with all this in-place expense, it is necessary to use an abandoned F-250 as the second car (the original was wrecked a couple years ago) and we cannot find enough money to buy a tire for it. In this same vein, some of the site security chiefs are buying ammunition with their own money with which to train the guards.

There are a number of Counter Narcotics Assistance Team (CNAT) related things going on in Balkh Province. Since Balkh Province is virtually poppy free, most of the projects have to do with Public Information, Gender Affairs, and Alternative Livelihoods. Monitoring and Verification are ongoing, of course, but they are more routine. I will mention a few recent programs that seem to be forward looking and promising.

 The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently distributed 30,000 baby chicks to about 1,000 vulnerable women in the two of the districts of Balkh Province. The term “vulnerable” is not well defined, but the intent is that the women be in need of assistance and livelihood support. The Balkh CNAT proposes to augment this, and future, chicken projects with Colombo Plan add-on training for the care, feeding, and medicating of the chickens. The FAO has voice support for this effort.

.The Balkh Agriculture Directorate has recently distributed 2,500,000 saplings (both fruit and non-fruit) to the farmers of all Balkh districts. These saplings will provide alternative livelihood possibilities and will also help reduce soil erosion, regenerate oxygen, improve water retention, and promote a “greening” of the Balkh Province for a better environment. CNAT has been active at these distributions with counter narcotic messages and messages of support for the concept.

.The FAO, in cooperation with the Balkh Forestry Department, is in the process of establishing two pistachio plantations. These plantations will provide research data about the successful development of a pistachio industry in the area. There are obvious alternative livelihood possibilities here, and the plantations may also provide some rehabilitative employment for drug addicts. The head of the Forestry Department has voiced support for CNAT projects and involvement.

.There are a number of other project progressing in which CNAT has various degrees of participation.

.The FAO is distributing several species of animal semen to the local Vetenarians and educating the Balkh farmers about its use to upgrade the quality of the local livestock. The CNAT attends the seminars to give support and get it’s message out.

.There is an ongoing rug weaving training program that provides alternative livelihood as well as rehabilitive employment.

.The CNAT team participates in events such as the recent canal cleaning project in Dedade district and the Afghan New Year festivities to promote the counter narcotic messages.

.There has been $20,000 allocated to Balkh Province CNAT for PI purposes. The CNAT team is studying how to best use it taking into account the Governor’s objectives and how to maximize effectiveness.

I have submitted a recommendation that CPI revisit the policy about arming the AIs. Some of us already have more firearms training and experience than the sum of our Afghan security guards, and it is not particularly difficult to qualify a novice – if someone cannot qualify or does not want to, nothing is lost. With almost every expat here at the Regional Training Center (RTC) being armed (both inside and outside the wire), one wonders why the divergence of US policy.

There is one other small expatriate group here at the RTC that is also not armed. They are the Justice System Support Team – lawyers helping establish a modern criminal justice system – also a State Department project. I have been told that, in a firefight, they are not even allowed to pick up a downed guard’s weapon and use it to defend themselves. Someone actually said that with a straight face. There are clearly some DofS policy makers that are well qualified to work in the financial industry (see the mortgage fiasco last week).

That’s it for this week. It seems like about 90% of my past two weeks writing has been bitching. Oh, well. Maybe I need some R&R – I’m due in another 10 days or so.

Slow week in Mazur and the Mortgage mess

I have learned that the Buzkachi season is over – no more games at the stadium down the road. The match that I viewed from our guard tower may have been the last one of the year.

Saturday I attended the CNAT staff meeting.  They do not use the progress slides for the past week and the next week’s preview slides that the Jalalabad team uses.  Also, they did not pause for translation.  It was therefor, not easy for me to follow what was happening.  Each team member talked about their projects, and the interpreter translated what they were saying at my ear. It was very difficult to understand.  The fact that my hearing aid amplifies the person speaking as much (or more) that the mutterings of the translator does not help.

The CNAT offices are in town.  I estimate they are three or four miles from the RTC where I stay.  The team leader and the translator both recommend that I not come in every day.  I plan, therefor, to go there about three times a week. Sat. for the staff meeting for sure and two or three other days.

The building contractors here do not put "goose neck" water traps in the sink, floor, and shower drains.  The sewer gasses waft up into the bathroom.  Not a good idea.  The only worse idea is turning on the electric vent fan and closing the door so as to get rid of the smell.

I have learned that several of the team members are not computer literate.  Also, the team’s annual plan just consists of a rewording of their statement of work,  No details as to how they plan to fulfill the broad objectives, etc.  Wednesday, I proposed to the team leader that I teach a project management class.  He thought it was a good idea.  I can introduce some fundamental planning concepts and tools in the course of a very basic project management course.  I expect that I can give them enough to be useful in about three or four two hour sessions.  It is difficult to estimate because of the language thing.  I will prepare some materials and take them to the translator at the Saturday staff meeting.

This has been a slow week.  I have been occupied, though, with completing a refinance loan on my FL condo.  It has been a night mare.  I do not know how they stay in business.  Six months to complete.  One silly repetitive mistaken thing after another.  It deserves to be talked about. I’ll chronicle the miserable experience this weekend and add it to this posting.

The Mortgage Mess has been moved to it's own page at the upper left of the blog

Mazar-I-Sharif and the sport of Buzkashi

I am now in Mazar-E-Sharif, in the province of Balx (or Balkh), one of the Northernmost provinces.  It borders Uzbekistan (Turkmenistan is a little West and Tajikistan is a little East). A lot of history here. Alexander the Great spent some time here (around 300 BC), as did Genghis Khan in 1209.  Alexander once said "I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion."  Fifteen centuries later, Genghis Khan reportedly said “man’s greatest pleasure is to see his enemies flee before him with their cities in flames, to seize their treasure, and to gather to his bosom their wives and daughters.” I think that was even before sensitivity training became mandatary.

Saturday I boarded a Russian airplane to come here from Kabul. The Rusian airplane was not the strange looking passenger jet that I had seen at the Kabul airport, however. It was a 20 - 30 passenger Russian twin engine turbo prop airplane, the AN-26 – a solid practical aircraft that boards from a ramp in the back. I was met at Mazar by the resident AI, an Australian who has been an AI for over two years and who has been in several other foreign countries on UN missions for many years.

The Security Chief here is a former soldier in the Macedonian Army. CPI has three or four Macedonians as Security Chiefs at various locations here, along with a Croatian, a couple Brits and two Aussies. The guards (including drivers) are all Afghan and vary in number from about seven at places like Mazar, where the living quarters are aboard a military or police installations, to about 17 at places like Jalalabad where we have our own compound. At the military or police compounds, the perimeter guards are provided by the installation host. Here at Mazar we are contained in a police training center called a Regional Training Center (RTC). The trainers are contractors, police, and military from several countries including the US, France, Germany, and Sweden. The facility guards here are Gurkhas.

There is a Regional Reconstruction Team (PRT) (military) down the road, and a military airbase across the runway from the civilian terminal. The air base is run, primarily, by the Germans, though several countries, including the US, are represented there. We also passed a prison training facility on the way here from the airport. There is a lot of military and police facility training construction going on in this area. Huge areas adjacent to the military part of the airport are under construction, and other smaller ones out that direction in addition to the big prison project already mentioned.

This facility where I live is a square about 250 yards on each side. There is a wall of fence about 12 feet high with about 30 yards outside it until another shorter barbed wire fence. I do not know if that space is mined or not. On the other two sides is a space about the size of the compound in which expansion construction is taking place. There is so much military and police construction going on here that it seems likely that someone thinks we (the US) will be her for a while – at least in a training capacity.

The weather was cold at Kabul, and it was even colder at Mazar where it was also windy and hazy from dust. The cold remained through Wednesday (actually began warming Wed. PM), as I became familiar with the Mazar situation. It appears that the city is on a large plane that stretches North from the mountains toward the river that forms the countries boundry. It looks very green and fertile. The flat fields appear to be irrigated. Still, there is dust everywhere – a light film of fine dust is on everything.

The parts of the city that I have seen so far looks a little more prosperous than Jalalabad. There is more concrete (the gas station pump areas, for example) and there is a fair amount of housing construction going on which includes quite a few very large “villa” type homes. A building on the way to the Airport is about 10 stories high and is the tallest structure I have seen except for a row of grain elevators across the road from my compound. The streets are busy and the businesses appear to have customers. Ninety percent of the persons on the streets are men, and ninety percent of the women that are seen are wearing burkas.

I am receiving an email daily intelligence report now that I did not get before. It discloses that there is some insurgent activity in virtually every province but, by far, the most activity is in Kandahar and Hilmand. The Afghan New Year (also known as the Solar New Year and the Persian New year) began last Sunday, and many people from outside the province came here to visit the “Blue Mosque” in the city. Mazur is generally one of the most secure provinces, though there are thought to be bad quys in the mountains to the West who come to this area and do hostile things from time to time. The security forces are extra vigilant for the New Year. By security procedure, most of my vehicular movements require two vehicles. Our second one here is an old F-250 which blew a tire Thurs. We will have to now get it fixed. Since the Mazar city area is relatively secure, though, I’ll still be able to take care of most business with only the “hard car” Land Cruiser.

I met the CNAT team on Tuesday with the resident IA who then departed for R&R. He will be back in mid April – I’m on my own until then. On Thursday, Farmer’s day, the CNAT team went to a celebration that included some instruction to the local farmers about artificial insemination. The Dept. Of Agriculture is trying to use it as means of upgrading the local animal quality. They plan to furnish high quality semen to the local Vets and encourage the farmers to avail their animals. CNAT will take posters and hand outs to get their message out, but they wish they had been given enough notice to try to get funding for a TV set or a Washer which have proven to be a big hit for a “lucky farmer” drawing at these events.

About a quarter of a mile down the road from my compound is a Buzkashi stadium – a big dirt field with bleacher seats along one side. This is where they play the equestrian sport of Buskashi. It is rough. Some say that a good Buzkashi match makes Ultimate Fighting seem like a playground event. The game is composed of a bunch of guys on horses (a big big bunch – maybe a hundred) trying to grab the gutted carcass of a goat or calf (calves are preferred because they resist being torn to pieces better) and carrying it on some predetermined course( that I don’t quite understand) so as to deposit it at a kind of goal. The game goes on and on and on – in some places for days. There are dozens of randomly moving riders just seemingly having no purpose around the edges while the intense action is occurring out in the middle in a cloud of dust and a wild flurry of ongoing equestrian activity. Sometimes the calf carcass will fly up into the air – I don’t know if one guy is throwing it to another or if it is just a part of freeing it up. Once in a while the center of activity will move close enough to see the riders whipping and shoving and punching and grabbing at the carcass while their horses (a good one is extremely valuable) lunge and shove among each other to move to the carcass or to move powerfully away if their rider has a good grip. At one point an excited and partisan fan lunged into the fray and began lashing at one of the horses. He was promptly knocked on his ass and trampled – no one batted an eye – he escaped with only a slight limp. No prissy riding suites, shinny boots, or well brushed helmets here – though I’m told that the riders dress in sturdy cloths and heavy turbines to help absorb some of the punishment. It looks like a free for all bar fight on horseback, but they say that it actually involves a great deal of skill that takes years to learn (come to think of it, that might be true of free for all bar fighting too). Most of the super stars of the sport are guys in their late thirties or in their forties. It is probably a little late for me to become world-class at either Buzkashi or bar fighting. Oh, well, nothing can take away my dream of becoming a ballet dancer or a hip hop star.  (the picture is from: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/29/afghanistans_ultimate_sport)  If you click on the picture, it should enlarge. You can see the carcass hanging down between the second and third horse from the left. I think the guy on the third horse presently has it, and the rider on the second is trying to take it away.  The fifth rider is holding the one with the carcass from escaping to the left and the forthe guy is coming in to help one side or the other.

Jalalabad -- lessons learned

The picture in the heading is of a couple kids helping with the opium harvest. They score the poppy pods with a sharp implement and the poppy begins oozing opium – you can see it as a dark streak on the pod parallel to the stem. They come back later (as in the picture) and scrape it off with another tool – as the older child is doing. The dark stuff on the pods is opium as is the glob on the scraping tool.


Saturday and Sunday were uneventful. We went to Jalalabad Air Force Base (“JAF”)to work out at their Gym and eat at their cafeteria.

JAF is a huge installation that provides aviation services for this part of Afghanistan. Army helicopter of all descriptions are the aircraft most evident, but one also sees C-130s, King Air 200s, and Predator drones fairly frequently. I have seen no fighter aircraft. Down the road a mile or so is the Provincial Redevelopment Team (PRT). It, too, is a US military installation, but it is focused primarily on projects that advance the development of the province e.g., bridges, roads, irrigation, etc. The PRT also does counter narcotics public affairs ( PA) projects and provides PA materials, such as posters, balloons, tee shirts, etc., to CNAT for distribution. We use them in conjunction with the volleyball tournaments, football (soccer to us) matches, etc. The procedure is to stop all traffic while vehicles enter and leave these bases. This creates a large traffic problem. There is plenty of room to build a kind of ramp system to take vehicles off the road and feed them into the base gates, but this has not happened. The traffic just piles up day after day. Maybe someone should propose it as a AID project. I would certainly help facilitate commerce.

From the inside of a Land Cruiser, the town of Jalalabad is a great deal like Kabul in appearance, but there is much less traffic. Where there are spaces for sidewalks, there is mostly dirt. There are many pedestrians in the street along with the push carts, donkey carts, etc. Both Kabul and Jalalabad have far fewer motorcycles than I expected. While they are very plentiful in Thailand and even more so in Viet Nam, they are somewhat rare here. It seems to me that there are more bicycles in the streets than motorcycles. Only the main roads are paved. There is dust everywhere. Even where there is concrete or asphalt (rare except for road surface), it is covered with dust. The filling stations have gas pumps sticking up from dirt surfaces. When patrons show up for tea, the shopkeeper sweeps a spot on the concrete, or sweeps the dust from the hard packed dirt, for the customers to sit on.

This Jalalabad CNAT team is regarded as one of the most effective in the system. In addition to the training I am recieving from the resident IA I am, therefore, interviewing the CNAT team members, where possible, to try to ascertain what they think makes their team successful and how the IA’s can best contribute to the effort. These are some of the things I think they are trying to educate me about:

1. CULTURE Taylor your messages and project composition to the local situation. Be aware that Afghan culture is not Western culture. Here the beliefs and attitudes may differ markedly from valley to valley, even village to village, but they will all differ from those of a Westerner. Where education is highest, is where attitudes will be most flexible, but everywhere there will be some deep-rooted attitudes that must be taken into account. For example, Democracy in Afghanistan is often regarded as a system that encourages promiscuity – for better or worse that fact is very important. Further, it is seen as a system that gives as much weight to the opinion (and vote) of a degenerate, imbecile, or criminal as it does to a respected elder. The more educated the local people are, the more they will be willing to examine other characteristics, but they will also have a bit of that attitude. Maybe Democracy can not function properly until education is quite high. Meanwhile, plan your messages and projects within what is possible.

By the way, in the national election last fall, there were about 1.2 million persons who had voting cards – only 200,000 votes were cast. (I have not checked these figures)

2. LOCAL LEADERS The two most important persons in a community are the Mahlech (headman) and the Olemar/Moulah (religious leader). Try to make them a part of your efforts. The Mahleck position is usually familial – belongs to a prominent family. It would be very unusually for the Mahleck to be replace by a person from another family.

3. SURVEYS Periodically survey the communities and the districts for the purpose of determining what project and needed (and feasible). These surveys should be the basis for the formation of future plans – the development of project possibilities. Share the findings with other organizations (both governmental and NGO) so as to steer their efforts into productive channels and so as to get funding for deserving projects. Areas to look at are irrigation, electricity, access to media (esp. radio), drinking water, education, agriculture (better methods, crops, etc), PI possibilities (sporting events, Moulah (religious leader) counter narcotic training, developing good relationships with the media (explain our mission and request their support).

4. PLANNING. Based on the information above, have a plan for each CNAT division. Insist that the plan be reviewed regularly (probably weekly) as to A. work status and B. future goals. Here, at the weekly staff meeting, each division briefs what occurred during the past week and what they want/expect to do the following week – all within the context of an overall plan.

5. OPERATIONS Make sure each division has a plan (anual and weekly, more or less), that they know what the plan (and the plan’s purpose is), that they know what to do to implement the plan and, as security permits, THAT THEY SHOW UP, GET OUT OF THE OFFICE, AND DO THE WORK. This last was emphasized several times.

6. IA PROJECT VISITATIONS The IA’s benefit by having an understanding of what is happening in the field. As part of, #1, however, before going assess the effect on the project. IA’s are required to travel in body armor and with armed guards. In some situations this could seem to send the messages: A. we do not trust you; B. we are looking for a fight; and C. we feel immensely self important.

7. LIAISON AND FEEDBACK The IA’s provide a very useful function to the CNAT team by being a communications and advocacy link to the foreign entities that provide funding and other assistance. The are also the best source of feedback from these entities. IA’s need to remember to ask for this feedback and to pass it on to the team. If the team identifies a project which is handed off to one of the assistance agencies, the team needs to know if it becomes abandoned and why.

I returned to Kabul Thursday. Will fly to Mazar I Sharif (in the North) early Saturday morning in a funny looking Rusian fixed wing airplane. After a few day of familiarization, I will fill in there for the resident IA who is going on leave.

Jalalabad and Micro Hydro

I went to the airport early Saturday afternoon to fly to Jalalabad. Eleven of us were weighed, together with our baggage, and boarded a Russian MI-8/MI-17 helicopter along with a crew of five and at least 2,000 pounds of luggage. The engines screamed, the rotor blades whirled and the aircraft lumbered into a ten foot hover. We climbed to the base of the clouds and proceeded Southeast at about the level of the mountain peaks in that area. After about 20 minutes, we came upon a mountain pass. The clouds were just above us, the mountains of the pass poked solidly into them, and the pass itself was obscured by fog, mist and scattered clouds. The pilot took a good look at the situation and returned to Kabul. He could have attempted to "scud run" through the pass but he did not. My formative opinion of the professionalism of the aviation service went up. Time will tell, but I am now prepared to be happier with this air transport operation than I had expected to be.

On Sunday the young lady that is the Embassy’s project manager for our operation came for lunch. I’d guess that she is a couple years short of 30, but she has had two previous foreign postings. I met her boss, who I think is close to 40, last week. I feel like a dinosaur. It is interesting, though, that I see a fair number of "grey-beards" among the contractors as I go from place to place around Kabul. The group I was with on the MI-8, however, contained only one person over 45 (besides me). They all looked to be in their early 30s and almost all of them carried at least two weapons. Another new IA arrived today, and he too is a Vietnam vet a few years younger than me.

Monday I went again to the airport and boarded the MI-8 at 0830. This time we had 19 persons aboard and about 2.500 pounds of baggage. No problem for the MI-8, as the ugly beast has a useful load capability of over 8,000 pounds – a pretty impressive machine. The Thai military recently announced that they are purchasing some MI-8s because they can get three of them for the price of one H-60 Blackhawk. The weather was clear and we proceeded to Jalalabad. The countryside en route looks much like central Nevada – mostly desert mountains with isolated patches of green. The green areas are usually well-defined small fields that appear to have dikes around them. Some are terraced. As we came closer to Jalalabad the green areas became more frequent and larger. The terrain became rolling and the valley quite broad. Near the city, it is mostly farmland. Tora Bora is in the mountain range just to the South and the Pakistan boarder is quite near. The resident IA, a dynamic young Italian, together with the security supervisor, a former Sergeant Major from Masadonia, met me. We filled the rest of the day with familiarization and orientation, including a lunch visit to the Jalalabad Air Force Base, which is a large American installation.

Tuesday I continueded familiarization with the site and the job, and Wednesday we visited two Micro Hydro projects. Let me tell you about Micro Hydro.

Basically, you can instal a water turbine, connected to a generator, anywhere you have rapidly flowing water e.g., an irrigation canal. If it is a place where the water flow exists anyway, there is virtually no downside. The water continues downstream to whoever will ultimately use it without any loss. To be efficient, you need to channel the water out from the source, but you put it back in within 50 or 60 yards. No loss and, depending on the volume and the speed, you can turn a generator that will service a village of 200 - 500 families. This province has become the poster child for Micro Hydro over the past few years and CNAT has been involved in most of them so far because of it’s application to helping find alternative likelihoods for farm villages that would otherwise be growing poppies. The electricity goes to schools, sewing machines, carpet weaving machines, etc. Jalalabad CNAT has a couple engineers in the group and is involved in nearly fifty of these projects with over half of them now completed. At least one neighboring village has decided to pool their money and build one on their own. The turbine is a waterwheel-like design inside a casing that looks like a barrel. The water flows perpendicular to the shaft which extends from the casing to a belt pulley that connects to the generator. The villagers know that the project funding is from the American Embassy so at the first site we visited (as a grey haired American) I was mistaken for the person that provides the money. They made a fuss and insisted that I be thanked profussly. It is intersting that the older men were very friendly with smiles and waves -- the young men, though, were expressionless and did not at all project a sense of welcoming.

Thursday is the staff meeting. (Gender Affairs, Public Information, Alternative Livelihoods, Moitoring/Verification. All the CNAT members told what they had done during the past week and what their plans are for the next week. All had planning and tracking documents to project on the screen showing the activity, location, purpose and beneficiaries, status, cost and percentage spent, and next milestone with target date. There was lively discussion of each project. This CNAT team has the reputation of being very well organized and effective.

Friday is the Afghan holy day and everyone but the guards are off. The senior IA will work on the weekly report (that's not me). I'll see if I can get rid of some of the glitches that have invaded this blog. There has been an 18 inch blank gap between the heading at the top and the first posting. I figured that one out in a mere two hours. Next I hope to discover why the posts are each in one big paragraph. When I type them and publish them they are each in several smaller paragraphs. Oh well, I have no idea why any of this works in the first place - every time something comes out right, it kind of startles me.

That's it for now. Tomorrow I expect to go to a volly ball match in the country. CNAT has provided uniforms with counter narcotics messages on them and helped organize a tournament.

Learning the Job -- Around Kabul

On Tuesday we received the proper licensing for the hard cars. I was, therefor, able to go the the Ministry of Counter Narcotics and observe a meeting there (on the left, you see me ready to go to the meeting). I first put on my body armor (the battle helmet was not required) and proceeded to the hard car. I received a briefing from the head of our security element, a former soldier in the British Army, about what to do if we came under attack or encountered an improvised explosive device (IED). The basic instructions are to remain low in the armoured vehicle while the guards repel the attack, wait for the other armoured car to extract me if mine is disabled, and move within the phalanx of the guards if it becomes necessary to go to cover away from the vehicles. The Chief IA and I were then driven to the meeting spot in a two car convoy with four armed guards headed by the Brit. I felt like a Sultan, though it escapes me as to why I am not issued a weapon.

The meeting was like all government meetings. Some useful information and a lot of bogging down about things that would seem fairly easy to deal with. This meeting flailed around for fifty minutes about who, and under what criteria, would pay for tractors that are destroyed or damaged while engaging in poppy eradication (they sort of plow up the poppy fields with a cultivator on the back of a tractor). Anyway, the people with tractors want compensation if they get torn up or blown up, and the funding folks don't want a lot of junky tractors declared total losses in the poppy fields and compensated at new tractor prices.

The next day, I attended the closing ceremony for a week of counter narcotic public information training that had been provided by the Colombo Plan folks from Siri Lanka. There were some speeches and they presented graduation certificates to about 150 student, including ten or twelve mullahs who can now go back to their provinces and make convincing arguments against the use and manufacture of drugs.

Thursday I visited the local variety store and found a pleasant surprise. There was a very good stock of western snacks, toiletries, and other convenience items. I saw several things, including the 2 in 1 shampoo I prefer, like a decent non-anti perspirant deodorant, Planters peanuts, and Grape Nuts cereal, that I can not even find in Thailand. It seems incongruous, somehow, to put on body armour, drive in an armoured car with body guards through crowded potholed muddy streets replete with cars, guards, soldiers, humvees, pedestrians, push carts, donkey carts, wheelbarrows, beggars, etc. to a large store that has more Western convenience items than can be found in on of the best developed of the emerging countries. By the way, the low fat Coffemate was from Thailand and had to Thai writing on it just like in Bangkok.

I have finished my familiarization here in Kabul. Tomorrow (Saturday) I'm off to Jalalbad on a strange looking Russian helicopter.

On the job, Kabul Afghanistan

I departed BKK Wed. night at 9 PM. We flew to Dubai on an Emirates Airline Eurobus 380 -- a flying cruise ship. the upper deck has a first class section of around 15 persons (with two shower rooms), and the business class section holds around 75. with the crew members there are nearly 500 persons on board.


Arrived in Dubai to find that my onward flight on Safi had been cancelled. Safi says they had not received payment for the ticket, so the cancelled it 48 hours before departure. I was unable to use the local phone system, so I purchased a new ticket with my credit card.


Arrived in Kabul at 0700 and was met by a company employee. Kabul is a very dreary place with light misty rain, muddy streets, and barbed wire, guns, and walled compounds everywhere. I traveled to my company's compound in an armoured SUV with an armed guard and learned that, by contract, that is the only way I am allowed surface travel in Afghanistan. Have not decided if that is a good policy or if it just paints me as a target.


My first night in Kabul, there was a large bomb attack and shoot out at a hotel and guest house about a mile away. It occurred at about 0630, and I slept through it. It was fairly serious, though with more than 15 people killed. The buildings contained mostly Indian medical personnel who are providing services for local hospitals. The Taliban claim credit. It is thought that they are reacting to two things: 1. The large NATO operation that is occurring down in Helmand province, and 2. the resumption of talks between India and Pakistan.



In the early morning hours of my third night in Kabul, there was a 5.5 earthquake. I slept through it too.

The place I am staying is comfortable and the food is OK. As I mentioned, however, no one is allowed to go off the compound unless is a "hard car" (armoured car), so sightseeing and shopping is severely limited. To add to the dilemma, most of the hard cars were brought in early in the conflict (for all the contractors) and were operated with a kind of "wink and nod" without proper licencing or proper tags. Now the local police are starting to seize them and the DoS is making slow progress on getting them the correct credentials. Both of ours dare not leave the compound for fear of being seized.



I have learned a couple interesting things about the job:

1. There are seven counter narcotics advisory teams (CNAT) in seven different provinces. I will be assigned to one of them. They are 100% Afghan. I am their "international advisor." They have a team leader, office manager, public affairs officer, gender affairs officer (to work with women), alternative livelihood officers (to help find alternatives to poppy growing), a couple members to monitor poppy planting and verify eradication or change of crop, and an officer that coordinates with a UK funded project. They have no law enforcement function and are focused on moving the farmers from poppy growing to other livelihoods. They are located in the Provincial Governors compound of the provinces they serve and have ongoing advisory liaison with the governor, district chiefs, village chiefs, etc. CNAT has no money to provide their clients, but they are very active in acquiring funding for various self-help and capability-building projects to help provide livelihood for the Afghans. They then monitor the use of these funds. Therefore, they are highly regarded as being non-corrupt and honest brokers of assistance funding. I will give what advice I can and also serve as a conduit for information and liaison with other foreign organizations and the military where, because of security concerns, it is usually difficult for the Afghan team members to gain access to them. The CNAT team members report to the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics. The US Embassy has agreed with the Afghan government to provide logistical and administrative support as well as an International Advisor (me).

2. Most of the transportation my company is provided by a large government contractor who has a fleet of aging airplanes and helicopters (many, maybe most, of Soviet origin) piloted by foreign (and American) pilots. If the aviation contract is to the DOD, these planes will likely be operated to military standards. I am fearful, however, that it may be a DoS contract and that the aircraft may be operated as US "public use" aircraft -- which permits government agencies to pretty much establish their own safety standards. I have had a great deal of exposure to the "public use" concept in the past. It often means that there are virtually no standards at all, or that they change from day to day -- until there is an accident serious enough to bring outside scrutiny to the situation. I will try to get more information in the next few days.

The "Jungle Hmong" tragedy

I worked with the Hmong when I was with Air America and related companies in Laos (1968 - 1974) The sad situation that has befallen them has nothing to do with the subject of this journal, although the Golden Triangle was to the world’s opium supply what Afghanistan is today. They were good soldiers, good fighters, and valuable allies, however, and their story needs to be told.

This section has been moved to a stand alone page which can be accessed on the upper left side of the blog.

Becoming a Government Contract Employee

In August, 2009, I applied to a government law enforcement contractor. I filled out a number of forms, was fingerprinted, and acquired a physical and dental examination. All this under a semi-urgent attitude by the company -- usually "this must be completed within 48 hours."

In late September I was deemed qualified by both the company and the State Department (DofSt.), and I was offered the position, subject to State Dept. final approval of my background. I filled out an abbreviated background statement (SF-85 -- a mere 28 pages) showing where I was and what I did for the past seven years, military history, police record, etc. The company had already done a very thorough background check, but the DofSt. insists on also going through the SF-85 process. It turns out that what the DofSt. requires for my position is not really another D ofSt. background check -- It amounts to a statement that they have no objection to my being hired. You would think this would happen quite quickly. You would be wrong.

The company said they expected it to be done in two to six weeks and was fairly insistent that I be ready to deploy in early Dec. The company was also wrong. My SSF-85 was complete in early Oct. I got the notice that the St. Dept. had approved me (no objection) on Jan. 6th (almost 90 days). As far as I have been able to determine, they did not contact a single person I mentioned in the SF-85. Go figure. Not a big inconvenience to me since I have a comfortable retirement annuity and am spending my waiting time in Thailand -- good weather, good food, good golfing, and friendly people. But, had I known, I could have taken that golfing trip to New Zealand, studied Thai or one of the Afghan languages, or signed up for that ballet class that I've always wanted to attend (this last one is an attempt at humor).

Anyway, I'm now ready to travel to Afghanistan, right? Wrong. Now my employer has to request a letter of authorization (to travel) from the DofSt. While we are waiting for that authorization, we learn that I can no longer get the proper visa in Dubai. Conferences occur about this situation and, in late Jan., it is determined that I will definitely not be able to get a visa there. On Jan 28th I apply for a second passport at the US Consulate in Chiang Mai.

The second passport was granted but has to be printed in the USA. I applied on Thursday the 28th of January and had the passpot in my hand the next Tues., the 2nd of Feb. This is the same agency that took nearly ninty days to decide that they had no objection to my background.


I sent the passport by UPS to my company on Tuesday, and they had it in hand Friday. Their visa service promises two day service. I'm almost there, right? Wrong. The big blizzard has hit the East coast and the Afghan embassy shut down. About a week after the passport arrived at the company, their passport service got it to the Afghan embassy. They expect to have it back to me in about a week, and I will travel to Afghanistan the 24th.


By the way, Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I am waiting, is close to the "Golden Triangle" -- the area where Thailand, Burma, and Laos come together. The Golden Triangle used to be the primary local for production of the world's opium supply -- that local is now Afghanistan. How the poppy crop here was reduce may contain lessons useful in Afghanistan -- and likely the counter narcotics people there are aware of those lessons. I requested a meeting with the DEA here in Chiang Mai to help educate myself, but they did not respond.

Anyway, I have my visa and my tickets. While I'm waiting I will prepare a blog post about the sad sad situation of the repatriation of the "Jungle Hmong" from Thailand to an almost certain brutal reception back in Laos.