In my last post I mentioned something along the lines of people in Afghanistan not being very forthcoming or straightforward with information. The same could be said of Iraqis and getting information from them. I suspect it's across the board with every people and nation when you are occupying their country.
Anyway, the statement reminded me of a story from my days in Iraq. Some time during my third deployment an IED went off against a police SUV, as IEDs tend to do. What was unusual about it was that the attack occurred in the city of Khanaqin, an extremely safe, Kurdish controlled town. So safe that 1-14 Cav actually played a football game in the soccer stadium. Now and again something would explode in the area but rarely against the local security forces.
Shortly after the attack the squadron commander went to Khanaqin to meet with various leaders including the police chief. I decided to tag along on this visit. During the meeting the commander asked about the IED attack. The police chief brushed it off and blamed Al Qaida as everyone in the area always blamed Al Qaida for these things (it was probably AQ, but it could also have been other Kurds). He also said it was a small IED that did little damage, we shouldn't worry about it. This was a bit odd since the report we got stated the police SUV was destroyed.
The police chief was likely trying to save face and was a bit embarrassed by the IED attack in his safe city. We didn't press the issue.
As we left the chief's office we got a look at the back courtyard area. What was sitting out there? A completely destroyed police SUV. The commander glanced at me and the operations officer and said something to the effect of, "that looks like more than light damage."
Back at our base at the nightly update brief the commander brought up the meeting and the SUV. We were all a bit amused that the police chief lied right to our faces when the clearly blown to hell SUV was in plain site. But that's the nature of this kind of fight. The police chief was attempting to preserve his honor and the reputation of his town. I also think he didn't want the Americans believing we needed to have more of a presence in his area. He was happy to have us stop by for a visit, or even do the occasional night patrol with his officers; but better the Americans be out of site as much as possible.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Thoughts On Caravans
Back in this post I said I was going to write a bit about each of the books I read in Afghanistan that related to the country. For this post I'll start with Caravans by James Michener, a fiction novel set in post WWII Afghanistan. Written in the 1950s, it's a great story and a must read for anyone who wants to have an understanding of the culture and people of Afghanistan. So here are some of the more interesting/amusing/revealing quotes from the book:
“In Afghanistan I expect no one to tell me anything, and what they do tell me, I distrust.”
While the people of Afghanistan can be welcoming and hospitable (assuming you aren't invading and occupying the country) they aren't going to be very forthcoming with information to strangers/foreigners. Makes human intelligence gathering a challenge.
“What danger can erupt in a Kabul bazaar?”
Heh...
"Whenever I was with Moheb I appreciated anew the fact that the future history of Afghanistan, if left to Afghans, would be determined by the struggle between the many bearded mullahs from the hills and the few young experts like Moheb, with degrees from Oxford or the Sorbonne or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."
While this may seem like an amazing bit of Michener using a crystal ball, the same could be said of most nations. A country's future is often a struggle between the conservative rural and the liberal urban. Still, the current fight in Afghanistan can be viewed as a conflict between bearded mullahs (Taliban) and the urban elite, educated in the West.
“It’s difficult to comprehend our attitude toward women,” Shah Khan confessed. “We cherish them. We love them. We protect them. And we dedicate most of our poetry to them. But we don’t want them cluttering up our lives.”
We demand they stay in the kitchen...
“The point is, Miller Sahib, that brilliant young men like you come to Afghanistan and say, ‘Such a quaint land beset by such quaint problems.’ When I go to France or Moheb to America we make exactly the same observation.”
An interesting statement about cultural differences.
"In Afghanistan almost every building bears jagged testimony to some outrage."
An understatement on the history of conflict in the region. Sucks to be a strategic crossroads that is the battleground of greater nations.
"Don’t be afraid of looking stupid, because one of these days we could be driven into war across this terrain, and you’d be the only American who’d ever seen parts of it. Keep your eyes open.”
America invading Afghanistan? That would never happen...
"But the rivers of Afghanistan, like the people of Afghanistan, never attack the enemy head on."
If an Afghan is attacking you face to face, beware his buddy about to stab you in the back.
“So if I tell you, Miller Sahib, that we have an Afghan way of doing things, and it works, please don’t think I’m being obstinate. It’s just possible that it does work.”
While working at ISAF Joint Command we had a saying: "Afghan good enough". When occupying a country and dealing with an insurgency, your ways of doing things may not be the best. The solution that the locals come up with may not be pretty, but it will probably work better than anything you come up with. This is a lesson that is often learned over and over and over again, often at the cost of lives and treasure.
“It was a terrifying punishment, to cut off a man’s right hand. Automatically it banished him from the food bowl.”
Afghans, like all peoples, are social and meal times are a social event where everyone eats from the same dish/bowl. The left hand is the unclean hand (I'll leave it to your imagination why) so if someone's hand has been cut off, for whatever reason, he will not be allowed to eat with the group. He is now forever cut off from the social group.
"If you have a society where women are forbidden, men must volunteer for the female functions.”
There's a story of an American unit that pushed into a remote valley that hadn't been visited in years, if ever. All the men in the villages came out to greet the soldiers and were very friendly. Excessively so. It took awhile, but the Americans realized that many of the men were actually hitting on them. These were poor subsistence farmers who could not afford wives and rarely interacted with women. Homosexuality is banned by Pashtun and Afghan culture, however, it's only homosexual if a man falls in love. If there's no love...well...
“A German can be many things,” Stiglitz explained robustly. “A Catholic, a Jew, a Lutheran, a Muslim. But always he’s a beer drinker. I have a dispensation from the mullah … the one you saw today. He’s an understanding liberal.”
This just makes me laugh. Stiglitz's character is a German who fled to Afghanistan after WWII in order to hide and converted to Islam. Still, he has to have his beer.
"Do you know what I expect… seriously? When a thousand men like me have rebuilt Kabul and made it as great as The City once was, either the Russians or the Americans will come with their airplanes and bomb it to rubble.”
Maybe Mitchener did have a crystal ball after all?
“In Afghanistan I expect no one to tell me anything, and what they do tell me, I distrust.”
While the people of Afghanistan can be welcoming and hospitable (assuming you aren't invading and occupying the country) they aren't going to be very forthcoming with information to strangers/foreigners. Makes human intelligence gathering a challenge.
“What danger can erupt in a Kabul bazaar?”
Heh...
"Whenever I was with Moheb I appreciated anew the fact that the future history of Afghanistan, if left to Afghans, would be determined by the struggle between the many bearded mullahs from the hills and the few young experts like Moheb, with degrees from Oxford or the Sorbonne or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."
While this may seem like an amazing bit of Michener using a crystal ball, the same could be said of most nations. A country's future is often a struggle between the conservative rural and the liberal urban. Still, the current fight in Afghanistan can be viewed as a conflict between bearded mullahs (Taliban) and the urban elite, educated in the West.
“It’s difficult to comprehend our attitude toward women,” Shah Khan confessed. “We cherish them. We love them. We protect them. And we dedicate most of our poetry to them. But we don’t want them cluttering up our lives.”
We demand they stay in the kitchen...
“The point is, Miller Sahib, that brilliant young men like you come to Afghanistan and say, ‘Such a quaint land beset by such quaint problems.’ When I go to France or Moheb to America we make exactly the same observation.”
An interesting statement about cultural differences.
"In Afghanistan almost every building bears jagged testimony to some outrage."
An understatement on the history of conflict in the region. Sucks to be a strategic crossroads that is the battleground of greater nations.
"Don’t be afraid of looking stupid, because one of these days we could be driven into war across this terrain, and you’d be the only American who’d ever seen parts of it. Keep your eyes open.”
America invading Afghanistan? That would never happen...
"But the rivers of Afghanistan, like the people of Afghanistan, never attack the enemy head on."
If an Afghan is attacking you face to face, beware his buddy about to stab you in the back.
“So if I tell you, Miller Sahib, that we have an Afghan way of doing things, and it works, please don’t think I’m being obstinate. It’s just possible that it does work.”
While working at ISAF Joint Command we had a saying: "Afghan good enough". When occupying a country and dealing with an insurgency, your ways of doing things may not be the best. The solution that the locals come up with may not be pretty, but it will probably work better than anything you come up with. This is a lesson that is often learned over and over and over again, often at the cost of lives and treasure.
“It was a terrifying punishment, to cut off a man’s right hand. Automatically it banished him from the food bowl.”
Afghans, like all peoples, are social and meal times are a social event where everyone eats from the same dish/bowl. The left hand is the unclean hand (I'll leave it to your imagination why) so if someone's hand has been cut off, for whatever reason, he will not be allowed to eat with the group. He is now forever cut off from the social group.
"If you have a society where women are forbidden, men must volunteer for the female functions.”
There's a story of an American unit that pushed into a remote valley that hadn't been visited in years, if ever. All the men in the villages came out to greet the soldiers and were very friendly. Excessively so. It took awhile, but the Americans realized that many of the men were actually hitting on them. These were poor subsistence farmers who could not afford wives and rarely interacted with women. Homosexuality is banned by Pashtun and Afghan culture, however, it's only homosexual if a man falls in love. If there's no love...well...
“A German can be many things,” Stiglitz explained robustly. “A Catholic, a Jew, a Lutheran, a Muslim. But always he’s a beer drinker. I have a dispensation from the mullah … the one you saw today. He’s an understanding liberal.”
This just makes me laugh. Stiglitz's character is a German who fled to Afghanistan after WWII in order to hide and converted to Islam. Still, he has to have his beer.
"Do you know what I expect… seriously? When a thousand men like me have rebuilt Kabul and made it as great as The City once was, either the Russians or the Americans will come with their airplanes and bomb it to rubble.”
Maybe Mitchener did have a crystal ball after all?
Saturday, January 4, 2014
I May Not Be Here As Long As I Thought
There was a crisis in the office earlier this week. In reality it was two problems that blended into one big mess that more than one person in the office is blaming on my company's baffling policy of seeming to hire anyone that walks in the door. My company's hiring techniques are something I won't get into but the consequences are the reason I fell into the position I'm in now.
Anyway it started off with one individual on my team quitting...or at least claiming he was quitting. For reasons that are not known to me he put in his two week notice on Monday. The problem? He was scheduled to deploy in two weeks. This puts the program in a bind in that they now have to find somebody to replace him on short notice. The person he is replacing in Afghanistan may have to extend, someone may have to work two jobs for a time to cover any gaps, or the worst solution, the position remains vacant until somebody can be found to fill it.
This immediate crisis was temporarily solved the next morning when the individual decided he didn't want to quit after all. However, from the office RUMINT this is not the first time he has pulled something like this and the leadership are not expecting him to complete his pre-deployment process in Indiana or get on the plane to Afghanistan. The problem is currently festering.
The problem became a crisis when my replacement in Afghanistan apparently had a melt down and was removed from his position by the customer (the military). By Friday he would be escorted off the base and is currently on his way back to us. Learning this hit me hard of course because I'm the guy who handed over the position to him and told my section he would do fine. I had been hearing rumors about things not going so well and the sergeant who is in charge of the section had messaged me on Facebook right after I left that they really needed me back. I figured it was just a matter of a new person learning the job, position, and role. I was wrong.
Currently the only other person on the program who is on the base will be filling in for my replacement and doing two jobs until somebody else can get out there. My boss scrambled to try to find somebody who could quickly deploy and fill the position for 2 to 3 months before being replaced. Options were extremely limited. Virtually the entire team is either just back from Afghanistan or scheduled to go in the next few months. The other teams are in the same position.
For a brief moment in time I considered going back.
2 or 3 months? Doing the same job I was just doing? I could do that in my sleep.
WTF? Am I insane? I've been barely back two months! Why would I do this to myself.
Luckily for my sanity somebody else volunteered. However, that volunteer left Afghanistan about a month and a half prior to me. She's also a single mom of two kids, she needs to be in the States more than I do.
During all of this my boss asked me when I would be ready to deploy again. I don't know if he was serious or not. I told him it would have to be after hockey season is done. I don't know if I was serious or not.
I spent my 20's deployed to Iraq. Seems I'm doing my best to spend my 30's deployed to Afghanistan.
Anyway it started off with one individual on my team quitting...or at least claiming he was quitting. For reasons that are not known to me he put in his two week notice on Monday. The problem? He was scheduled to deploy in two weeks. This puts the program in a bind in that they now have to find somebody to replace him on short notice. The person he is replacing in Afghanistan may have to extend, someone may have to work two jobs for a time to cover any gaps, or the worst solution, the position remains vacant until somebody can be found to fill it.
This immediate crisis was temporarily solved the next morning when the individual decided he didn't want to quit after all. However, from the office RUMINT this is not the first time he has pulled something like this and the leadership are not expecting him to complete his pre-deployment process in Indiana or get on the plane to Afghanistan. The problem is currently festering.
The problem became a crisis when my replacement in Afghanistan apparently had a melt down and was removed from his position by the customer (the military). By Friday he would be escorted off the base and is currently on his way back to us. Learning this hit me hard of course because I'm the guy who handed over the position to him and told my section he would do fine. I had been hearing rumors about things not going so well and the sergeant who is in charge of the section had messaged me on Facebook right after I left that they really needed me back. I figured it was just a matter of a new person learning the job, position, and role. I was wrong.
Currently the only other person on the program who is on the base will be filling in for my replacement and doing two jobs until somebody else can get out there. My boss scrambled to try to find somebody who could quickly deploy and fill the position for 2 to 3 months before being replaced. Options were extremely limited. Virtually the entire team is either just back from Afghanistan or scheduled to go in the next few months. The other teams are in the same position.
For a brief moment in time I considered going back.
2 or 3 months? Doing the same job I was just doing? I could do that in my sleep.
WTF? Am I insane? I've been barely back two months! Why would I do this to myself.
Luckily for my sanity somebody else volunteered. However, that volunteer left Afghanistan about a month and a half prior to me. She's also a single mom of two kids, she needs to be in the States more than I do.
During all of this my boss asked me when I would be ready to deploy again. I don't know if he was serious or not. I told him it would have to be after hockey season is done. I don't know if I was serious or not.
I spent my 20's deployed to Iraq. Seems I'm doing my best to spend my 30's deployed to Afghanistan.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Lebanon, Syria, Iraq...It's All One Big Mess
I've written multiple times about how the conflict/civil war in Syria has been spilling over into Iraq. But what about Lebanon? Things aren't going so swimmingly there either.
Now I fully realize that Lebanon hasn't exactly been the most stable of countries. Hezbollah, Israeli invasions, sectarian violence, etc, etc. I'm also not very knowledgeable on Lebanon and all its quirks. But when bombs kill anti-Asad leaders it becomes fairly clear that Syria is spilling over into Lebanon.
The leader who was killed was a former minister in the Lebanese government and had opposed Syrian President Asad as well as Hezbollah. Who is suspected to be behind the attack? Hezbollah.
Hezbollah also happens to be supported by Iran, who also supports the Asad regime. A targeted hit ordered by Tehran or a target chosen by Hezbollah themselves?
Part of me, the part of me that deployed multiple times with the US Army and knows how exhausted the organization is, wants to steer clear of any involvement with the Syria conflict and let the various players sort it out for themselves. However, the other part of me, the part that doesn't want an Islamic fundamentalist government in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon...and the part that relies on the military industrial complex for a job...thinks it may be time to consider some kind of US/NATO involvement.
This problem is not going away any time in the near future and it's only going to get worse.
Now I fully realize that Lebanon hasn't exactly been the most stable of countries. Hezbollah, Israeli invasions, sectarian violence, etc, etc. I'm also not very knowledgeable on Lebanon and all its quirks. But when bombs kill anti-Asad leaders it becomes fairly clear that Syria is spilling over into Lebanon.
The leader who was killed was a former minister in the Lebanese government and had opposed Syrian President Asad as well as Hezbollah. Who is suspected to be behind the attack? Hezbollah.
Hezbollah also happens to be supported by Iran, who also supports the Asad regime. A targeted hit ordered by Tehran or a target chosen by Hezbollah themselves?
Part of me, the part of me that deployed multiple times with the US Army and knows how exhausted the organization is, wants to steer clear of any involvement with the Syria conflict and let the various players sort it out for themselves. However, the other part of me, the part that doesn't want an Islamic fundamentalist government in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon...and the part that relies on the military industrial complex for a job...thinks it may be time to consider some kind of US/NATO involvement.
This problem is not going away any time in the near future and it's only going to get worse.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
My Attempt To Understand Afghanistan
I've written a few posts in the past discussing certain books I have read, almost always after a deployment and looooong after I should have read them. I did not want to make the same mistake again and deploy to Afghanistan without at least reading a few books that would give me a general sense of the country and the current situation. I also wanted to spend my down time in Afghanistan reading some things that would broaden my knowledge.
My deployments to Iraq while in the Army had caused me to know enough about that country to get by but had led to a complete failure in my understanding of Afghanistan. Why read about Afghanistan when I was going to continuously deploy to Iraq? I was ignorant about Afghanistan, but at least I knew it.
Before I deployed I read The Looming Tower and Ghost Wars. I believe there were a couple of others, but it's been over a year and I don't remember. These books helped give me a general overview of Al Qaida, the rise of the Taliban, and the recent history of Afghanistan. They were a good start.
While deployed there were four more books that I read. The first was Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. A great overview of the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal and how the Taliban came to be.
The next two were The Bear Went Over the Mountain and The Other Side of the Mountain. Essentially a series of after action reviews, the former discussed Soviet tactics during their occupation of Afghanistan. The latter was a follow on book that discussed mujahedeen tactics against the Russians. Both were a bit dry and repetitive but I would recommend both for anyone heading to the country to occupy it. They both also show that history repeats itself and that the Taliban are fighting ISAF much the same way they fought the Soviets and that ISAF is repeating many of the Soviets' mistakes.
The last book worth mentioning was Caravans, which is a fictional story set in Afghanistan shortly after World War II. It was published in 1963 but does an excellent job of painting a picture of the country and the culture of the people. I'm also convinced the author had a crystal ball. Here's a quote:
"Do you know what I expect...seriously? When a thousand men like me have rebuilt Kabul and made it as great as The City once was, either the Russians or the Americans will come with their airplanes and bomb it to rubble."
In the near future I'll probably do a post for each of these books with quotes like the one above that I found particularly interesting or noteworthy. Stay tuned!
My deployments to Iraq while in the Army had caused me to know enough about that country to get by but had led to a complete failure in my understanding of Afghanistan. Why read about Afghanistan when I was going to continuously deploy to Iraq? I was ignorant about Afghanistan, but at least I knew it.
Before I deployed I read The Looming Tower and Ghost Wars. I believe there were a couple of others, but it's been over a year and I don't remember. These books helped give me a general overview of Al Qaida, the rise of the Taliban, and the recent history of Afghanistan. They were a good start.
While deployed there were four more books that I read. The first was Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. A great overview of the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal and how the Taliban came to be.
The next two were The Bear Went Over the Mountain and The Other Side of the Mountain. Essentially a series of after action reviews, the former discussed Soviet tactics during their occupation of Afghanistan. The latter was a follow on book that discussed mujahedeen tactics against the Russians. Both were a bit dry and repetitive but I would recommend both for anyone heading to the country to occupy it. They both also show that history repeats itself and that the Taliban are fighting ISAF much the same way they fought the Soviets and that ISAF is repeating many of the Soviets' mistakes.
The last book worth mentioning was Caravans, which is a fictional story set in Afghanistan shortly after World War II. It was published in 1963 but does an excellent job of painting a picture of the country and the culture of the people. I'm also convinced the author had a crystal ball. Here's a quote:
"Do you know what I expect...seriously? When a thousand men like me have rebuilt Kabul and made it as great as The City once was, either the Russians or the Americans will come with their airplanes and bomb it to rubble."
In the near future I'll probably do a post for each of these books with quotes like the one above that I found particularly interesting or noteworthy. Stay tuned!
Friday, December 13, 2013
Do I Get To Go Back Soon?
Take a look below at this map of Iraq that I blatantly stole borrowed from Reuters through Business Insider. It shows the areas that Al Qaeda in Iraq/Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant either control or have a presence:
Yeah, I purposely made this HUUUUUUGE
Iraq didn't want US soldiers occupying their country anymore, fair enough. But then Iraq pulled its own military out of population centers and shifted from counter insurgency tactics to counter terrorism in an attempt to return to some sort of normalcy.
This has backfired on Iraq. The decrease in security forces gave insurgents some breathing space that enabled them to reconstitute and increase the number of attacks conducted. Then Syria fell apart.
The territory that AQI has presence is primarily in Sunni areas that border Syria. Look at all that war spill-over. Oh, and look at that northwest to southeast line of control that is marked "Hamrin Mountains". Where does that culminate? Could that possibly be Lake Hamrin and 1-14 Cav's old stomping grounds? Why indeed it is! Damn Kurwi tribe. Apparently the As Sadiyah, Jalula, Qara Tapa triangle is still causing trouble.
But what's up with the area south of Baghdad? As far as I know that's primarily Shia (the map also confirms this). What has led to AQI to control chunks of Shia dominated land?
How long before Iraq begs the US to send combat troops back into the country? Will the US agree? Will our allies follow? How long does the world sit and watch the chaos in Syria spread?
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
An Old Vet Speaks Of Today's Vets
Interesting article I just read, written by retired Marine lieutenant general Bernard E. Trainor. In the article LTG (R) Trainor discusses his memories of World War II veterans coming home as well as his own thoughts coming home from both the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Some quotes that jump out at me:
"When we went to Korea, all ties with home were cut except for mail, which we usually received weeks after it had been posted. We lacked...the Internet, Skype or telephone contact with loved ones."
"...there was nothing to distract us from the job at hand. What happened at home was history by the time we learned of it."
"Most troops of the Greatest Generation and Korea came home by ship. The long voyage home allowed all hands to talk with one another and decompress."
"Today’s all-volunteer soldier is alone; very few of his peers have served in the military, much less gone to war. He is largely isolated, with only his iPhone as a comrade."
The veteran of today's wars is unlike the veteran of previous wars. He has deployed often and frequently. He knows exactly what he is missing thanks to the internet. He has been forced to put his life on pause while everyone he knows continues on with theirs, and he gets to watch it in real time, stuck in a sort of suspended animation purgatory. Then when he comes home he has to pretend that everything is normal.
He yearns to go back.
Hat tip to Tom Ricks.
Some quotes that jump out at me:
"When we went to Korea, all ties with home were cut except for mail, which we usually received weeks after it had been posted. We lacked...the Internet, Skype or telephone contact with loved ones."
"...there was nothing to distract us from the job at hand. What happened at home was history by the time we learned of it."
"Most troops of the Greatest Generation and Korea came home by ship. The long voyage home allowed all hands to talk with one another and decompress."
"Today’s all-volunteer soldier is alone; very few of his peers have served in the military, much less gone to war. He is largely isolated, with only his iPhone as a comrade."
The veteran of today's wars is unlike the veteran of previous wars. He has deployed often and frequently. He knows exactly what he is missing thanks to the internet. He has been forced to put his life on pause while everyone he knows continues on with theirs, and he gets to watch it in real time, stuck in a sort of suspended animation purgatory. Then when he comes home he has to pretend that everything is normal.
He yearns to go back.
Hat tip to Tom Ricks.
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