Tuesday, November 25, 2008 – Flying out of Kabul

Kabul is a fascinating place. This ends my second trip into the country this year and progress is apparent everywhere you look, but the security situation had deteriorated significantly during the last few months – obviously a good reason to send me, right?

When you fly into a hostile environment a lot of things change about how you think and perceive. The normal maneuvering of the aircraft for final approach to the runway seem a little more like “swooping” to avoid any incoming ground fire – I’m convinced that what we experienced was little more than navigating around the Hindu Kush, but the thought cross my mind that we may be trying to avoid something.

Your senses come alive in a new, adrenaline pounding way. You are acutely aware of your surroundings – the people around you, the terrain, the buildings, the cars. You wind up practicing what-if scenarios in your mind and you clearly identify locations where you can take cover if you suddenly need to.

While in Kabul, we travelled by armored Landcruiser everywhere – even down the street from the office. On arrival we are issued handheld radios and cell phones, asked to keep them on at all times and to notify the control room if we have issues or concerns. We have explicit instructions about what to do in an emergency; whom to call, what actions to take, etc.

There is such a proliferation of weapons on the streets that seeing AK-47s and M-5s (not to mention side-arms) loses its significance. Following my last trip, it made me want to know how to use one if I absolutely had to. All of that considered, I am happy to report that no incidents occurred while we were on the ground. If they had occurred, we would have been as ready as we could have been.

This trip had us around and about the city more than the last trip. We visited a UN Guest house that looked like an abandoned castle, only to find out that 50 guests were staying there – let me tell you, it looked and felt like Stephen King’s The Shining! The dining room was dark with dim lights, but the tables were all set. We crept into the bunker under one of the buildings and discovered confidential UN documents mildewing…God help the people who’d be headed to that bunker. We half expected to find bodies down there.

The pool was emptied, yet the bar had several bottles of alcohol – unopened, but extremely dusty – it was right out of an old western movie. We were waiting to see the tumbleweeds roll past us.



We also visited the American Embassy – er…fortress – and met with some officials there. The US has quite a presence there and it was clear they were going to protect it at all costs. We did feel like targets, however, waiting for our Landcruiser to pick us up out front. There’s something about standing close to American forces in a hostile environment that makes you feel like an even bigger target (or perhaps just collateral damage).

On our last afternoon, two of our colleagues took us to a wonderful Lebanese restaurant not a block from our office – we drove of course. The meal was fantastic. I can now add Kabul to the list of cities I’ve visited this year, where Lebanese food was not only available, but exceptional.

Our accommodations are tightly controlled as well. We stayed in one of our Guest Houses within walking distance to the office – not more than 100 meters. It allowed us to get out and smell the fresh air. Our cook was fantastic and we had made-to-order meals most days. The rooms themselves were welcoming and comfortable. Apparently I was staying in the “Presidential Suite,” which meant that our president slept there when he was in Kabul on mission a few months ago. The Guest House atmosphere is probably the nicest part of the trip. Most visiting missions stay in our guest houses – you could liken the atmosphere to that of camp or a college dorm. Common bathrooms, common kitchen, common gathering room – and, since there’s very little in the way of entertainment, you wind up telling stories and getting to know one another a little bit more than you might normally. Of course hostile environments tend to draw people together as well.

The mission went well and was extremely productive. All in all, not a bad trip. The best part being that it was short!




(Pictures in this post are from my most recent trip and from my earlier trip in February 2008)