KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: The US influx of soldiers is complete but this war torn and weary capital city is viewed quite differently depending on one’s position. US Army General David Petraeus, commander of all NATO forces here in Afghanistan stated recently on a local television show that, “Kabul is obviously much safer and more secure now than it has been in the last few years. Look for yourself. There is hardly a presence of ISAF (International Security Assistant Force) or US military vehicles on the streets.”
He does have a point. Two years ago ISAF soldiers were everywhere. Uniformed personnel appear to be either Afghan police or recruits of the Afghan National Army. They man numerous check points through out the city and their vehicles are omnipresent. It’s worth noting that no employees of the US government, no UN employees and none of the numerous civilians here that draw their incomes from the US taxpayer live outside the wire. They reside in well guarded compounds and normally are allowed to leave only under armed guard.
One of the main streets in Kabul whose buildings still show the scars of the artillery barrage from the Russian war.
“You might say that Kabul very much resembles North Africa when ‘Rick’s bar, of Casablanca fame, was operating at the beginning of WWII. It’s a city of great intrigue, rumors of every variety; and at times quite great fun.” This opinion comes from Ben Farmer, correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph who has lived on the local economy in Kabul for the last two years. Mr. Farmer finds surviving this way is economically feasible, and quite safe within the city limits. Most of the foreign residents of Kabul proper are journalists or NGO workers.
“We’re about the only people working here, excluding the GIs, that aren’t making six-figure money” he said. On closer inspection it appears that there is quite an ex-pat scene here in Kabul that much resembles Saigon and Phnom Penh of the 1990’s. Alcohol is available for foreigners and non Muslims. Witness the crowds at the ‘Gandamack Lodge’, ‘l’Atmosphere’, or ‘Boccacio’. Rumours of hashish use and illicit affairs run rampart among their own crowd.
It’s been reported that the largest CIA station and the largest British MI 6 are located in this very secretive city. The same goes for the Pakistani ISI, the Iranians, the Chinese, the Russians and the Indians all have a presence here. The Russian residents have good connections made during their ill fated military adventure here in the 1980's. They were able to live in Kabul with their families while forming relationships that still bind. The word is big money is everywhere, its source being US funded programs run amuck, as well as the vast influx of military supplies brought in by civilian contractors. Kabul is rated by the UN as the second most corrupt country in the world after Sudan.
Razda, a local taxi and fixer has agreed to drive out from Kabul during daylight on all three main roads as far as they are safe after darkness falls. That’s when the Taliban set up their check points where it’s not uncommon for them to pull out any foreigner or local who they believe is working for the US and shoot them on the spot.
“If you like” said Razda, “I can drive you as far as Jalalabad during the daylight hours, but you’d have to wear Afghan dress. The Taliban have snipers positioned along the main highway who have on occasion ‘taken out’ passengers in western garb. Of course travel at night is impossible, even for me. Transport in any other direction from Kabul seemed to be out of the question, day or night.
The Afgthan taxi driver, Radza showing where the Taliban set up road blocks every night just a few kilometers outside of Kabul on the route to Jalalabad.
Two years ago it was possible to take a cab from Kabul to Jalalabad, at least during daytime hours, without jeopardizing personal safety. The same held true for the route between Kabul and Bagram, and Kabul and Kandahar. None of these routes are passable by foreigners today and would seem to contradict recent pronouncements from US authorities here on advancements in security.
Afghan tribesman watching the traffic along the highway from Kabul to Mazar e Sharif.
David Greenway, a columnist for the International Herald Tribune is staying at the Gandamack Lodge, a favorite of journalists in Kabul, while gathering information for an article. Mr. Greenway covered the Viet Nam war for Time magazine from 1968 until 1975 when Saigon fell to the North.
“This situation here in Kabul rather reminds me of Phnom Penh during the end of the war in Cambodia,” he reminisced. “The city was completely surrounded by Khmer Rouge fighters who fired in occasional rockets, but life continued as usual in town. It to, was almost entirely re-supplied by US aircraft.” He continued along that line. “Who could have guessed then, that the US would be embroiled in another war in Asia thirty five years later?”
There was an earlier battle in Afghanistan. British forces were retreating from Kabul to Jalalabad in January, 1842. They were attacked midway near the town of Gandamack by tribesmen from the surrounding mountains. Out of a force of 16,500 British officers, colonial soldiers and assorted camp followers, one survivor reached Jalalabad. Dr. William Brydon had been allowed to pass safely from Gandamack, to bear witness to the massacre of the entire British force.
*A version of this article was published by the Press Republican on January 5, 2011.
One of the main streets in Kabul whose buildings still show the scars of the artillery barrage from the Russian war.
“You might say that Kabul very much resembles North Africa when ‘Rick’s bar, of Casablanca fame, was operating at the beginning of WWII. It’s a city of great intrigue, rumors of every variety; and at times quite great fun.” This opinion comes from Ben Farmer, correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph who has lived on the local economy in Kabul for the last two years. Mr. Farmer finds surviving this way is economically feasible, and quite safe within the city limits. Most of the foreign residents of Kabul proper are journalists or NGO workers.
“We’re about the only people working here, excluding the GIs, that aren’t making six-figure money” he said. On closer inspection it appears that there is quite an ex-pat scene here in Kabul that much resembles Saigon and Phnom Penh of the 1990’s. Alcohol is available for foreigners and non Muslims. Witness the crowds at the ‘Gandamack Lodge’, ‘l’Atmosphere’, or ‘Boccacio’. Rumours of hashish use and illicit affairs run rampart among their own crowd.
It’s been reported that the largest CIA station and the largest British MI 6 are located in this very secretive city. The same goes for the Pakistani ISI, the Iranians, the Chinese, the Russians and the Indians all have a presence here. The Russian residents have good connections made during their ill fated military adventure here in the 1980's. They were able to live in Kabul with their families while forming relationships that still bind. The word is big money is everywhere, its source being US funded programs run amuck, as well as the vast influx of military supplies brought in by civilian contractors. Kabul is rated by the UN as the second most corrupt country in the world after Sudan.
Razda, a local taxi and fixer has agreed to drive out from Kabul during daylight on all three main roads as far as they are safe after darkness falls. That’s when the Taliban set up their check points where it’s not uncommon for them to pull out any foreigner or local who they believe is working for the US and shoot them on the spot.
“If you like” said Razda, “I can drive you as far as Jalalabad during the daylight hours, but you’d have to wear Afghan dress. The Taliban have snipers positioned along the main highway who have on occasion ‘taken out’ passengers in western garb. Of course travel at night is impossible, even for me. Transport in any other direction from Kabul seemed to be out of the question, day or night.
The Afgthan taxi driver, Radza showing where the Taliban set up road blocks every night just a few kilometers outside of Kabul on the route to Jalalabad.
Two years ago it was possible to take a cab from Kabul to Jalalabad, at least during daytime hours, without jeopardizing personal safety. The same held true for the route between Kabul and Bagram, and Kabul and Kandahar. None of these routes are passable by foreigners today and would seem to contradict recent pronouncements from US authorities here on advancements in security.
Afghan tribesman watching the traffic along the highway from Kabul to Mazar e Sharif.
David Greenway, a columnist for the International Herald Tribune is staying at the Gandamack Lodge, a favorite of journalists in Kabul, while gathering information for an article. Mr. Greenway covered the Viet Nam war for Time magazine from 1968 until 1975 when Saigon fell to the North.
“This situation here in Kabul rather reminds me of Phnom Penh during the end of the war in Cambodia,” he reminisced. “The city was completely surrounded by Khmer Rouge fighters who fired in occasional rockets, but life continued as usual in town. It to, was almost entirely re-supplied by US aircraft.” He continued along that line. “Who could have guessed then, that the US would be embroiled in another war in Asia thirty five years later?”
There was an earlier battle in Afghanistan. British forces were retreating from Kabul to Jalalabad in January, 1842. They were attacked midway near the town of Gandamack by tribesmen from the surrounding mountains. Out of a force of 16,500 British officers, colonial soldiers and assorted camp followers, one survivor reached Jalalabad. Dr. William Brydon had been allowed to pass safely from Gandamack, to bear witness to the massacre of the entire British force.
*A version of this article was published by the Press Republican on January 5, 2011.
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