Afghanistan Notebook

Here we are in Kandahar

Fifteen minutes out of Kandahar everything inside the transport plane went black. Seconds later, the pilot started a series of banks and dives just in case someone on the ground launched a rocket.

Inside the plane, there was no concern among the 20 passengers -- about half military and the rest  civilian. Everyone seemed to be a veteran of these combat maneuvers.

The soldier next to me slept as did the contractor at the other end of the row.

About all I could see inside the plane were tiny, flashing green lights of electronic gear and moonlight streaming through the C-130’s portholes.

Being that this is a combat zone, the preferred mode of transportation from Kabul to Kandahar – a distance of about 300 miles – is an airplane.

First, it’s much quicker – about 65 minutes by air versus eight hours by ground. Second, it’s safer. There are no roadside bombs for a plane to dodge and the Taliban doesn’t have an air force.

I flew here to visit troops of the 218^th Brigade Combat Team stationed in these parts and report on the work they’re doing.

Sixty soldiers of Company B, 1^st Battalion, 118^th Infantry Regiment represent the largest group in the vicinity of Kandahar Air Field. There also are some officers in the regional command of Task Force Phoenix, and a few dozen S.C. soldiers are in support jobs like computer and radio technicians.

Most of the 250 soldiers in the embedded training teams, including about 70 from South Carolina, are – as military folks say – down range, working with the Afghan army and police.

The base is about 15 miles from Kandahar City. Although it’s desert, mountains are in all directions.

This place, though, is hardly a frequent destination for travelers.

Globalsecurity.org, a Web site that tracks military issues, says the base is “one of the most remote, landlocked and desolate places the Army has ever tried to build a combat base.”

But its location makes the base “a perfect hub” for troops to go into the mountains and hunt down Taliban and al-Qaida forces, Globalsecurity added.

The base is run by the Canadians, who’ve built a hockey rink with an artificial surface that can be used year round. This, of course, is hardly hockey country given that the summertime high usually is over 110 degrees.

Also in an area called the “Boardwalk” is a Tim Horton’s. It's the Canadian version of a Starbucks. I haven’t tried the coffee yet, but locals offer rave reviews.

There’s also an international feel to the base, which is the second largest in Afghanistan. Approximately 10,000 U.S. and coalition service members are stationed here representing more than a dozen nations. U.S. personnel include the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy.

Besides military personnel, there are hundreds of civilians who work for contractors on the base. The civilians, too, come from an assortment of countries.

Although, I’ve been here less than 48 hours, it strikes me that everyone seems to get along just fine.

Now, if only the world outside the gates would be that way.

 

Catching up with the notebook

It isn't the mall, but every Friday Afghan merchants peddle everything from sunglasses to Persian rugs at Camp Phoenix.

Troops who shop the weekly bazaar at Camp Phoenix have become quite comfortable with bartering. That’s out of necessity because Afghan merchants don’t put a price tag on anything.

So if you’re interested in a rug, the negotiating might go like this:

You: “How much is the rug?”

Merchant: “How much is it worth to you?”

Sometimes, the merchant will give you a price. It's definitely a battle of wits.

If you low-ball, the merchant’s bound to laugh it off and say you’re making a joke. And, if you offer too much, he’ll compliment your deal-making prowess.

All transactions are cash and the Afghans prefer U.S. dollars. The local exchange rate is 50 Afghanis for $1.

There no receipts, no paper trail of a transaction. All deals are sealed with a handshake.

But if you have to make a return, no questions asked. The Afghans want your business and know word-of-mouth is good advertising.

I'm still working up the courage to barter for a Persian rug, but I’ve splurged on DVDs. For $2, you can buy the latest releases. And, in some cases, you can buy flicks that have just been released in the States. That’s a better deal than Blockbuster. Besides, you own the video.

Of course, there might be some copyright issues and possible federal prosecution.

But as one might say, what happens in Kabul stays in Kabul.

Holy Hooah!

With Americans and Afghans working on the same base there’s bound to be a little rubbing off of cultures and language.

When the soldiers were at Camp Shelby, Miss., they were issued a CD with recordings of certain phrases in Dari, the official language of Afghanistan. From what I’ve heard, the troops who go outside the wire are making good use of those lessons.

Some of the Afghans are picking up English, but with a distinct U.S. Army dialect.

KBR, the company that feeds the troops and maintains the base’s buildings, hires a number of local residents to be day laborers.

One day, a group of KBR workers were outside my room washing down the exterior.

When their supervisor, who spoke English, told them to do something the workers answered “Hooah” or “no problemo.”

Military humor

While life in a war zone can be grim, there’s always humor to make it a little easier.

Lt. Col. Mike “Nuke” O’Neill, of Summerville, is one of the drier wits around.

The other day we were talking about the military’s near-24/7 work ethic and what a grind that can be during a yearlong deployment.

O’Neill then responded: “Somebody told me that if you sleep 12 hours a day you can cut your tour to six months.”

Then last weekend I went with some soldiers on a convoy to Camp Cobra, which is on the other side Kabul.

As the troops started to put on their body armor, the gunner, Sgt. Richard Law, of Jessup, Ga.,  cracked, “Well, I guess I'll put on my smoking jacket.”

 

 

Foot patrol update

On Monday, we reported that soldiers on a foot patrol found a mine along the Kabul River near a village close to Camp Phoenix.

The soldier who spotted the mine, Spc. Matt Swisher, just e-mailed me that the mine was removed by a member of the Turkish explosive ordnance disposal team. But there still were some tense moments, Swisher added:

"... He then brought the mine over to the vehicle we were riding in and put it in a small wooden box in the back of the truck. So SPC Johnson and i rode back to camp phoenix with this anti tank mine 3 feet behind us on those bumpy roads. Longest mile and a half I have ever traveled to say the least."

Swisher's from Spearfish, S.D., and one of 200 soldiers representing 22 other states who were added to bolster the S.C. Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team.

Moving to the city

Any doubts that the war was moving into the country's capital disappeared over the weekend when two suicide bombings claimed nearly 40 lives and wounded dozens more.

But the war's movement to Kabul, where Camp Phoenix is located, had been predicted earlier after Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces began hammering the Taliban in the southern sections of the country, thwarting the insurgent's "spring offensive."

So says analyst James Dunnigan.

Here's a summary of one of his articles filed May 31 and link to his Web site:

Another Taliban ambush backfired, resulting in at least 25 dead Taliban. NATO and U.S. aerial surveillance, and a growing network of informants, puts the Taliban at an enormous information disadvantage. When the shooting starts, the Taliban have only vague idea of who is where, while their opponents are getting live overhead video of the action. That, plus smart bombs and better trained troops, usually results in a very lopsided outcome. As a result of this, the Taliban now says it is getting out of the countryside and moving the war to the urban areas. This would appear suicidal, because the Taliban has far more support in the countryside than they do in the towns and cities. But with Pakistan and Iran forcing the remaining four million Afghan refugees to return home, it is believed that many of these people will settle in the cities. These refugees were the original source of Taliban recruits, and continued to be very pro-Taliban. Moreover, the Taliban believe they will be safer in the cities, carrying out a terrorist campaign. The Taliban appear to be ignoring what's going on in Iraq. There, the terrorist bombers are hated by the population, and most of the Iraqi Sunni Arab population that supports the terrorists, have been driven out of the country. Trying to move the war to the cities is a desperate measure, and one that will only make the Taliban weaker. It's bad news for the many future victims of Taliban suicide bombers, but good news in that it is a sign that the Taliban is losing and desperate for something that will save them.

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200753123115.asp

Bursting the Kabul bubble

This wasn’t a good weekend.

First, a suicide bomber on Saturday attacked a convoy in Kabul, killing four civilians. Then a soldier responding to the attack kills civilian a when his gun accidentally discharges.

A few hours later a U.S. soldier dies near Kandahar when a rocket-propelled grenade strikes his vehicle.

Sunday morning the news went from bad to worse:

• A suicide bomber blows up a bus loaded with police recruits outside a police station in Kabul, killing 35 and injuring more than 50.
• Three coalition soldiers and their interpreter are killed by a roadside bomb.
• U.S.-led coalition jets bombed a compound suspected of housing al-Qaida militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing seven children and several militants.

I mention these incidents because earlier this weekend, a fter a flurry of e-mails with editors, an entry about how peaceful things are around here seemed to be a good idea for the blog.

Twice last week I went outside the wire on foot and into the area villages with Guard soldiers.

Maybe we’re in a bubble here, but I didn’t detect any hostility or even indifference. People readily waved, gave a thumbs up, and even honked their horns at the troops. Adults as well as children offered to shake hands and greet us by saying salam, Dari for peace.

The soldiers returned the gestures of friendships and some of them even carried on short conversations with the Afghans.

At the shura I covered on Wednesday, elders from the villages surrounding Camp Phoenix appeared to be openly warm and gracious toward the S.C. soldiers.

A good indication that folks got along is that the meeting ran about 90 minutes longer than planned. And when it was over, the building’s owner insisted that we go up on the roof and soak up the scenery.

We were four stories above the traffic on the hyper-busy Jalabad Highway, which makes Two Notch Road at rush-hour seem like a country lane.

On the roof, the world below seemed tranquil and the scenery was breathtaking. Everywhere you look, you could see mountains, many of them still snow-capped.

And the war seemed very far away.

Below is a picture of some of the shura participants: Lt. Col. Bob Bradshaw, middle, is commander of the security forces of Task Force Phoenix. The task force is commanded by the S.C. Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team.

A round of applause, please

Last week I spent a couple of days at the Kabul Military Training Center reporting Sunday's story about the S.C. National Guard mission to train the Afghan National Army.

It was quite tempting to compare the training of an Afghan soldier to what I've seen at Fort Jackson.
In some ways, there wasn't much difference.

All soldiers march, shoot, and march some more.

The Afghans, though, seem to dedicate a lot more time to marching. But then, if you saw an Afghan soldier march you'd understand.

Their marching style seems to be a combination of the German goose-step and the stiff, swinging arm action of the old Soviet army.

It isn't something that you do on your first try. As we rode around the training center, we saw platoon after platoon marching across the parade deck or down a street.

The newcomers were clumsy and out of sync. Some recruits seem to trip over their feet trying to coordinate arms and legs.

But the finished product appears impressive. It's also a bit deafening as the rhythmic clomping of feet sounds like an approaching time bomb.

We also rode out to the ranges. As you may know the area is mountainous, which the trainers use to their advantage. In some instances, the mountains serve as towering berms for artillery shells.

Also, much of the range area is not secured. Sentries have to be posted to keep an eye out for insurgents as well as sheep being herded across the range.

Perhaps the most interesting difference is the relationship between Afghan recruits and their drill sergeants.

While observing one class on firing rocket-propelled grenades, I noticed that sometimes the recruits interrupt ed a drill sergeant's spiel with a polite round of applause.

Then I tried to imagine how a Fort Jackson drill sergeant would react if his soldiers applauded. My guess is that he would would bark at the soldier to drop and give him 20 push-ups.

One last observation: The pen may indeed be mightier than the sword.

Afghan soldiers keep a pen in their shirt pocket while their American counterparts tuck pens and pencils in a pocket on the sleeve of his uniform. For a U.S. soldier, a pen in the shirt pocket is sloppy.

Having a pen is something to an Afghan soldier is proud of, said Brig. Gen. Bob Livingston, commander of the 218th Brigade Combat Team.

That's because in a country where half the population is illiterate, the pen is a symbol that the soldier knows how to read and write, Livingston said.

 

Blast at Camp Bucca spares S.C. Guard soldiers

Got an e-mail today from Lt. Col. Bryan Tutko letting us know that  none of the S.C. National Guard soldiers stationed at Camp Bucca detention center in Iraq were injured in Saturday's attack.

Six civilian prisoners were killed and 50 others were injured in the attack, which a U.S. military spokesman characterized as an "indirect fire attack."

Wire reports indicate that the prison was hit by either mortars or rockets.

Tutko, commander of the 251st Rear Area Operations Center, said the base was attacked about 7:30 a.m. local time.

More than 40 troops are in the 251st , which is  based at the West Columbia armory.

The unit, which expects to return home in a couple of months, was sent to Camp Bucca to teach local Iraqis on how to run the prison, which is Iraq's largest detention facility. About 13,000 prisoners are held at Camp Bucca, according to wire reports.

Camp Phoenix group driven to help Afghans

Troops at Camp Phoenix took another step today toward winning the hearts and minds of Afghans.

During a brief and informal ceremony at Patriots Square, members of the base’s Project Outreach delivered a new $25,000 van to officials of a local hospital.

The van is just part of $100,000 worth of projects that Project Outreach has planned for the 114-bed CURE International hospital in Kabul. The money comes from the Commander’s Emergency Response Program.
Also planned for the hospital are 25 new oxygen generators, a construction program that will partition the hospital into separate wards for male and female patients, and upgrading of security, said Capt. Charles Patzner, a member of the Oregon National Guard’s 41^st Brigade Combat Team.

The Kabul hospital contains a comprehensive women’s healthcare center that sees nearly 10,000 patients each month, according to the CURE International Web site. The hospital also emphasizes pediatric care and has a unit to care for children suffering from malnutrition, said Jim Kline, the hospital’s executive director.

Project Outreach, made up of service members of all branches at Camp Phoenix, also has raised money to pay for some local children’s heart surgery.

Two children, a 9-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl, suffered congenital heart conditions that required them being flown to India for surgery.

The condition of one child was discovered by service members staffing a medical civil action program, called MEDCAPs. The other child was brought to Camp Phoenix by an interpreter who works at the base.

Troops working on a MEDCAP go into the local communities to offer free medical help. Afghans are so poor and the medical care is so limited that it isn’t unusual for the troops to see nearly a 1,000 people in a few hours.

A lot more work is ahead for members of the S.C. Guard unit, said Maj. Jeff Kerby, a physician’s assistant with the camp’s Security Forces unit.

“The previous group really has thrown the gauntlet down for us,” said Kerby, of Lexington.

 

 

 

Mixing branches, combat patches

On Thursday, the paper published a story about the 218th Brigade Combat Team's combat patch. It sparked a letter from Sarah Cochran, who has an interested story behind her patch. She agreed to let me share it with readers, hoping that it might lead to a change in policy. Let us know your thots:

From: Sarah Cochran [sarahe682002@yahoo.com] Sent: Thu 6/7/2007 12:26 PM
To: Crumbo, Chuck
Cc:
Subject: Army Combat Patch
Attachments:
View As Web Page
Sir: I enjoyed reading the article about the Army National Guard unit receiving the combat patch on the anniversary of D-Day. I too received an Army Combat patch that had history/background and one I was very proud to wear with honor and prestige ---- the Third Army Patch created by General Patton.

I write to you today to bring up a point on the combat patch between Branches of the United States Military. Raised in poverty in a small town in South Carolina I did not see a future (other than working at a fast food restaurant), so I decided to join the Army at seventeen years of age to defend my country and have a better career.

At that time drinking beer was a cool thing to do but illegal under the age of 21. I waited 5 years serving my country before I was old enough to drink alcohol. Looking back I am not angry at the state and country's decision in the age limit. Too many young people make bad choices and unfortunate circumstances happen when someone is too immature to handle the effects of alcohol.

However, by the time I was old and mature enough to drink, my Army Reserve Transportation unit was ordered to Active Duty to deploy to Saudi Arabia and work at the Port loading ships. Of course, as my luck would have it, alcohol was not allowed in the country. Everything worked out o.k. and we were able to have non-alcoholic beer. Towards the end of our deployment and after long hours 7 days a week (sometimes over 14 hour work days) my unit was awarded the Third Army Patch as our combat patch because of our outstanding service, support and dedication to the war effort.

A few years after my return back home from Saudi Arabia I was transferred from South Carolina to a North Carolina Reserve unit, to complete the last year on my enlistment contract. Since I left for the deployment as a new mother of an 8 month old son I felt it was not in the best interest to reenlist (missed first steps, first birthdays, etc.) and decided to take a break from the service to have my second child.

When my second child turned 2 years old, my first child 4 years old, I decided to go back in the military and was advised to enlist in the Air Force. I retook the ASVAB and joined the local Air National Guard in NC. It was then that I realized that Air Force Personnel in the Weather Flight Squadron could wear a Army combat patch if they were attached to a Army Unit supporting weather operations (even if they had not been in a combat environment). This puzzled me when I ask the question about Army personnel transferring from one branch to another and being authorized the wear of the combat patch, deployed with a unit, and was deserving of, but "NOT" authorized to wear. I have ask several high ranking officials and all pointed me to the Air Force Instructions (Regulations) that states it is not authorized.

Since joining the Air Force Reserves I have been on active duty orders for the majority of my 11 year career (so far) and moved over 15 times while volunteering to support the Global War on Terrorism. I have reached the rank of E8, Senior Master Sergeant and have less than two years before my retirement. My dream is to see a change in policy and for those deserving to be able to wear their combat patch "Earned".

It's not just for me that I write to express my feelings about the right to wear the combat patch --- it's for all military personnel who decide to switch from the Army to another military branch of service and that have fought, supported and made many-many sacrifices to defend our country and deserve the right to wear the patch no matter what branch they are assigned to.

Respectfully,
Sarah

No mosquitoes, plenty of flies, thin air

A month ago I kissed my wife good-bye at the gates of Camp Shelby, Miss., and began a 7,800-mile trip that landed me smack in the middle of a combat zone.

There might be saner things for an old guy to do, but this is my job.

Before leaving, the editors at The State suggested that I crank a journal for the Web site, or as some call it a "blog." It's supposed to be a collection of thoughts, ideas, observations and musings all entered in "real-time" on the Internet. Knock out three of 'em a week, the eds said.

Well, given that I've only put up one posting since May 4, it looks like I've got some catching up to do.
So here are some real-time thoughts and reflections:

1. Right now it's raining, which is something unusual for these parts. Most days the relative humidity is around 20 percent, perfect for a golf resort.

The low humidity, combined with Kabul's high elevation also means mosquitoes are rare. Which makes me wonder why the CDC recommends that travelers here take anti-malarial pills. But I understand at lower elevations mosquitoes are plentiful and rather aggressive. In fact, reports from troops who've been down range say that the mosquitoes bite through clothes. So when I head out, guess it'll be best to take  a gallon of Deet.

2. When it rains, the flies head for cover. And there are plenty of flies. They're such a problem that there's a double entrance to what the Army calls "the DFAC," which stands for Dining FACility. Strips of heavy plastic hang from the top of the door frame to the floor and blowers above the door attempt to stop the flies from flying in. Not only is it tough for the flies to get in, but it can be a bit of a challenge for a human, too.

Fly traps are all over Camp Phoenix. You see them fastened to the Jersery barriers that line the road through the B-hut village at the east end of the base and hanging near the doors.  There are people from Kellogg, Brown & Root, the civilian contractor that maintains the base's buildings, who manage the traps. I wonder if a fly-trapper makes $100,000 a year.

Flies flourish around here because Kabul is not the cleanest of big cities. More than 2 million live here and,from what I understand, Kabul doesn't have a functioning sewer system. Instead, streams of waste flow from houses and buildings into a foot-wide ditch between the sidewalk and street. (Please don't share this at the dinner table.)

3. After soaking up the scenery of snow-capped mountains, the second thing you notice is the thin air. Kabul's at 5,700 feet above sea level, about 500 feet higher than Denver. They say it takes a month to adjust to the elevation. The problem, as I understand from extensive Googling, is not that there's less oxygen in the air. It's that the atmospheric pressure is lower.

So if you had a shoe box full of air, there would be less oxygen in the box here in Kabul than in Columbia, which is about 314 feet above sea level. So when you try to catch your breath, there's less oxygen to breathe.   

4. Life here at  Phoenix, though, is pretty good. The base is small , maybe a mile square. Inside it, about 2,500 soldiers and civilians live, work, and shop the PX. Shopping the PX is something of a daily ritual because you never know when something you need is in stock.

Having a few extra hangers would be nice, but the PX has been out at least three weeks. And an incandescent desk lamp would be grand, too. My room is lit by an fluorescent ceiling light, which offers all the ambiance of a warehouse.

5. As far as accommodations,  I'm in great shape. My room is about the size of a walk-in closet of your average suburban home, but I have enough space for a bed, desk and wardrobe. The wardrobe, which fashioned from unpainted plywood, has four shelves and a place to hang shirts and pants. It was left by the previous occupant and probably was built by a couple of guys ahead of him, judging from the wear and tear.

6. The desk is the fruits of scrounging leftovers. When a Guard unit moves out, it's common for soldiers to leave things they don't want to ship home. My chair is the product of some horse-tradings.

One soldier, Spc. William Sox, of West Columbia, gave me a canvas folding chair someone had left in his B-hut. It's perfect for tailgating but not much of a desk chair. So I spotted a plastic lawn chair under a tree where the Rapid Reaction Force troops gather. We worked a deal and I got the plastic chair.

I bought two three-drawer plastic cabinets to use as a base for my desk. Then I found a piece of plywood to serve as a desk top. A couple of days later came an eureka moment. Someone left behind a bookcase, which I promptly claimed and now have stuff with computer, cameras, books, bottles of water, and DVDs.

The base has a self-help shop where soldiers can build whatever they need for their rooms. But given my meager carpentry talents, I opted to scrounge and am reasonably happy with the results. If I ever can figure out how to insert a picture, I'll post a shot of The State's Kabul bureau.

7. The food's not too bad and every night the DFAC serves ice cream. Not much of a selection; strawberry, vanilla and praline cream. So far I haven't heard any complaints.

8. KBR does your laundry for free, although it won't starch your shirts and put them on a hanger. And, the satellite TV -- all nine channels of it -- is free.

I bought a 14-inch TV for $50 from a soldier who was heading back home to Oklahoma. I wasn't planning to getting a TV figuring I'm not much of a TV watcher and can find better things to do. But since I'm used to working in a newsroom with dozens of other folks, I find the background noise of a TV comforting.

9. One gripe I have is the SLOW, SLOW, SLOW internet. In fact, I think what's alleged to be broadband is slower than dialup. The connection speed of 100 Mbps is about average, but the bandwidth is too narrow for the number of users. And the cost is a little steep considering the level of service -- $35 a month!

But I signed up because I need to use e-mail to communicate with the editors back in Columbia.

Well, I'd better ship this off before my online goes offline.

My new best friend

Officer Qohistanni Naqid is my new best friend.

He kindly served as my interpreter and go-between when I needed to get my passport stamped. But for a while I wasn’t so sure I would survive that bout with Afghan bureaucracy.

You see, by being embedded with the S.C. National Guard’s 218^th Brigade Combat Team, I didn’t have to go through customs or stand in the line at the immigration counter after arriving in Kabul.

We just marched off a Charleston-based C-17 transport plane into a military building at Kabul International Airport. There we waited for a convoy to take us about five miles to Camp Phoenix.

Being a civilian journalist embedded with the military can be tricky. I am free to travel around Afghanistan with the military, visiting towns and bases. But, being a civilian I also stand out from the folks in uniform. As someone at the Afghanistan embassy said, “questions might be asked.”

Also, if I needed to leave Afghanistan on a civilian flight, I’d have to go through the immigration. An unstamped passport could result in delays, more questions and fines.

So we went to the airport to fix the problem.

But it wasn’t easy.

Lt. Col. Charles Kohler, who was my escort, was stopped and not allowed to enter the terminal because he was in uniform. I'm still not sure why he was stopped, but  I was on my own. Kohler gave me a walkie-talkie just in case.

After being frisked at the door, Officer Naqid, sensing I was more than lost, approached. I tried to explain my dilemma, though I feared the language barrier would doom me. Naqid, though, speaks nearly flawless English. He understood my situation and directed me to the immigration counter.

When I reached the area no one was around to help. Feeling lost and a bit scared, visions of the prison scenes from “Midnight Express” flashed through my mind. (Yeah, that's Turkey but I couldn't imagine Afghanistan being better.) I wondered if I should just forget the matter and head for the door. Maybe Kohler and a battalion of soldiers would be waiting to rescue me.

But at about this moment, Naqid appeared and on my behalf started to get things moving. I’d have to wait, he explained, until the officer with the passport stamp returned from lunch.

Naqid sat down in the airport waiting room and invited me to join him. Then a second officer sat down on the other side. With me sitting in the middle, they talked a bit and. From what I could figure out, Naqid explained to the other officer that I was a journalist.

“News media,” the other officer said in English, with a tinge of disdain in voice. He then got up and tended to other matters.

A small man with dark features, beard, moustache and a soft voice, Naqid reminded me of the late actor Bruno Kirby, who was Billy Crystal’s sidekick in “City Slickers.”

He learned English, Naqid said, just from talking to people in the airport. He also picked up a little French and German.

“I’d hear a word, a sentence, and then write it on paper,” Naqid said.

Franky, I thought his English was excellent and the accent seemed more American than British. Perhaps, I thought, he had studied in the United States. He said no.

Naqid and I then talked about being a cop in Afghanistan. He has been a with the border police four years. The good part, he said, was meeting and helping people. The lousy part was the low pay -- $50 a month. From this, he paid $30 for rent and $10 for electricity. Some officers might help smugglers to make ends meet, he said. He preferred to work a second job.

Low pay, though, is fact of life in Afghanistan. About 70 percent of those who work, make about $2 a day.

The officer with the stamp eventually returned from lunch and in a few minutes everything was, as the troops say, "squared away."

Naqid walked with me as I headed back through the terminal.

I told him how much I appreciated his time and effort. I couldn’t thank Naqid enough.

“Tashakor,” I said repeatedly, in what little Dari I knew.

Naqid shrugged it off.

“This was nothing. You are my friend,” he said.