The Faces of Kabul

First, let me thank all of you who've stopped by while I've been "silent" and inquired about my well-being. Doing fine, but I needed a break. I went home on leave where I thought I'd have more time to blog...NOT! My last day at home I hauled 6.5 tons of mulch, but I left it to my dear wife to spread.

While there I did all my medical checkups. When next I return in December, I've got knee surgery scheduled...on Pearl Harbor Day.

As you may notice, I'm in Afghanistan past the one year mark. Right now it looks like I'll be here until the end of April 2010 or beginning of May 2010.

Weather here has been much milder than in many years. There is still snow on the peaks west of town. We hit 99°F yesterday, but for the most part the temps have stayed around the mid-90's for the hottest part of the year. We still have not broken 100°F for the year in Kabul.

We're expecting next week to get a little more dicey with the election. So far the town is quiet, but we doubt the bad guys are going to let the elections go unchallenged. They've certainly made their hostile intentions well-known.

Today I'm just posting a bunch of pictures I'm simply calling "The Faces of Kabul." Some you have seen before, but since they are among my favorites there here again.

You frequently see men and women with their scarf or burqha clenched in their teeth.

Old man begging in the middle of the road.

Ladies out shopping.

Telling a story.

Baker done for the day.

Another very talented woman.

Are you talking to me?

Yep, something stinky nearby.

Six Pashtun men.

Day laborers waiting for jobs.

Pashtun goat herder.

What's this? Boys, talking to girls! In public!

Walking home from the bus stop.

Begger boy.

Ok, there's a little bit of a story to this one.
The hottie on the left is my "girl friend" (it's a joke with my driver).
She frequently flashes me -- drops her veil and smiles when we see each other.
I almost caught her here.

For the guys, note the sexy eyes on the one in the pink shawl.
It's incredible how sexy a woman can look without revealing much.

Homeless old man.

Same little guy from the earlier picture, different day.

Woman begging in the middle of the street.

Crossing Guard.

School Girls.

Cool hippie dude. Note the shades.

Old woman begging.

Fashionably pink.

Blind man eating outside a mosque.

56 Men...

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four signers of the Declaration of Independence were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: Freedom is never Free!

It's time we get the word out. Patriotism is NOT a sin! We needn't be ashamed of our country.

The Fourth of July is about more than beer, picnics, and baseball games. It's about those 56 patriots, their sacrifices and the sacrifices of thousands of others who made our great nation possible.

I'm proud of my service as a soldier to the United States of America and to its legitimate citizens.

I'm proud to continue serving with great patriots of all religions, races, men and women, who value more than personal wealth and glory - who value service to the United States of America. I'm proud of their current efforts serving the United States and helping the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Borrowed from an email I received from a fellow patriot and soldier: Tim Reutter

Signs of the Times...Literally

This post is literally about signs. Just about any business in town that wants to look modern uses English on their signs. I once asked one of my interpreters (a proud young father of an 18-month old boy) what was the most important thing an Afghan child needed to learn. He said, "English."

Well, sometimes the sign painters do a good job and get it right...

Super Kabul Gym
Nary a Dari word in sight.
Bodybuilding is part Russian legacy and the modern ideas of body image.

Other times...almost...

Wesal Beauty Purler

But more to the point it is election season in Afghanistan! Thankfully, their campaigns don't last two years like ours do. This year over 17 million Afghans are registered to vote(an increase of about 4.2 million over the last election).

Campaign posters on lightposts
At least they're using them for something other than hanging bodies.
They haven't been lit since the Afghan Civil War following the Soviet withdrawal.

The leading candidate is still Hamid Karzai. He has the power of incumbency and he's using to maximum advantage...

Showing you the way forward...

Making Sure you get the point...

Calling on YOU!

And he's child-friendly too!

But he does have some competition...about 40 of them. Here's a few.

Campaign posters on a wall
Karzai dominates, note the more traditional appearance here.
Hedayat Amin Arsala at the top is a minor player.
The woman, Shahla Ata is not so minor. More about her a little later.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is probably the closest competitor. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and is fluent in English, Dari and Pashto and also speaks some Arabic and French.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah
Note the little white box with three tea kettles.
In a country with such a high rate of illiteracy, you need a system.
Each candidate has an election symbol that you will see on their posters/billboards.

Dr Abdullah and his "running mates."
Afghanistan has two vice presidents, but not all candidates specifically declare running mates.

At the moment the number three contender is thought to be
Dr. Ashraf Ghani, the former Minister of Finance.
He quit Karzai's government a couple years ago to protest the rampant corruption.
He's also an American citizen.

Now we come to the "Dark Horse" who might surprise a lot of people. Shahla Ata is currently thought to be a distant fourth. She is a well-respected Member of Parliament and is running on a progressive platform that includes compulsory education and equal rights for women. She's popular among the more educated people in the cities, but has quite a few enemies in the countryside...namely those who think of women as property.

Shahla Ata and Mohammed Daoud Khan
Nope, he's not her running mate. They don't allow corpses to run.

He's the first President of Afghanistan, who overthrew his cousin the King in 1973 and who was assassinated by the communists during a coup along with most of his family back in 1978. What Shahla is doing is aligning her policies with Daoud's. Also, notice that her election symbol is a bald eagle clutching the Afghan flag...hmmm. Daoud was trying to align his country with the West, which is why the Soviets backed the coup against him. Daoud pushed for women's rights and education. He also ruthlessly supressed Islamic extremists.

Some also rans...

Sayed Jalal

Mualana Abdul Qadr Amami Ghowri
"Mualana" tells you that he is a religious scholar.
His picture is also misleading.
He's quite a bit grayer these days.

Mirwais Yasini

Meytsim Basha Manhebi
You used to be able to tell which bus stopped here.
Manhebi's enthusiastic campaign workers obscured that information with his picture.

Of course the bad guys are picking up the pace to disrupt the election and we are picking up the pace to make sure that they cannot disrupt the elections. So it may be a "hot" summer even if the temperatures stay below normal as they have for May and June.

Last election people literally voted "under fire."    It's likely that they will again and their percentage will likely still be higher than our last election.

Americans stay away from the polls if it rains.

Sorta puts things in perspective and it doesn't reflect well on us.