Weekend update
The thing that strikes me the most is the carnage that occurs routinely here in Afghanistan, and the people back home seem just plain unaware. I thought I'd get lots of anxious queries on a daily basis. Nope. I know the Kabul-based western reporters are publishing the news articles. I guess none of my relatives are reading them.
I'm not in the combat arms. I sit at a desk and will not see action unless it's an insider attack. But that's the thing, there have been 5 insider attacks in the past 8 days around Afghanistan, and people back home are oblivious. On Friday an Afghan killed 3 Westerners on a shared Afghan-Western base in the south. Also on Friday in the south, 3 Westerners were killed by an Afghan police officer when they accepted his invitation to an iftar dinner (the meal they eat after a day of fasting during Ramadan). The killer first ate the iftar meal with them and then killed them.
The insider attacks are in addition to the daily carnage. I don't witness it, I just read about it, and still it's stunning. You lose track of all the atrocities that occur in Afghanistan, you have to go back and look at your email to refresh your memory.
Earlier this week there was a ramp ceremony here for a French soldier who was killed in action. His body was flown home from Camp KAIA where I'm serving. The night before the flight, his casket was placed in the community center with a French honor guard and with hundreds of people streaming in to pay their respects. (There's a mosque on base but no chapel despite the large number of Catholics and Protestants stationed here.) I stopped in and sat for a while. There were French soldiers all around, and one young Frenchman had his rosary beads out and was praying. I wish the family could know that this deceased man was never left alone.
The next day the French ceremoniously carried the casket out to the plane home, what is called a ramp ceremony. There must have been a 1000 of us standing out on the runway by the plane. I was so moved by the ceremony. At one point all the French soldiers sang "La Marseillaise" a cappella. I'll never forget it. I read online that this soldier was honored at home by the French president, defense minister and army chief of staff. I thought to myself how miserable it is that every American casualty can't get the same treatment. There are too many American casualties.
We have to get through the last week of Ramadan. braced for Eid al Fitr on August 18th. I am so not in the mood for a lecture on Islam-the-religion-of-peace and I am turning off the comments feature on this post.
I'm not in the combat arms. I sit at a desk and will not see action unless it's an insider attack. But that's the thing, there have been 5 insider attacks in the past 8 days around Afghanistan, and people back home are oblivious. On Friday an Afghan killed 3 Westerners on a shared Afghan-Western base in the south. Also on Friday in the south, 3 Westerners were killed by an Afghan police officer when they accepted his invitation to an iftar dinner (the meal they eat after a day of fasting during Ramadan). The killer first ate the iftar meal with them and then killed them.
The insider attacks are in addition to the daily carnage. I don't witness it, I just read about it, and still it's stunning. You lose track of all the atrocities that occur in Afghanistan, you have to go back and look at your email to refresh your memory.
Earlier this week there was a ramp ceremony here for a French soldier who was killed in action. His body was flown home from Camp KAIA where I'm serving. The night before the flight, his casket was placed in the community center with a French honor guard and with hundreds of people streaming in to pay their respects. (There's a mosque on base but no chapel despite the large number of Catholics and Protestants stationed here.) I stopped in and sat for a while. There were French soldiers all around, and one young Frenchman had his rosary beads out and was praying. I wish the family could know that this deceased man was never left alone.
The next day the French ceremoniously carried the casket out to the plane home, what is called a ramp ceremony. There must have been a 1000 of us standing out on the runway by the plane. I was so moved by the ceremony. At one point all the French soldiers sang "La Marseillaise" a cappella. I'll never forget it. I read online that this soldier was honored at home by the French president, defense minister and army chief of staff. I thought to myself how miserable it is that every American casualty can't get the same treatment. There are too many American casualties.
We have to get through the last week of Ramadan. braced for Eid al Fitr on August 18th. I am so not in the mood for a lecture on Islam-the-religion-of-peace and I am turning off the comments feature on this post.