27Apr Wednesday – Kabul Afghanistan Near US Embassy

For me the challenges of life are what make life fun and exciting. For many years I have not been able to sit at home or even be at home. I wanted to go, explore, and meet new people. Do something different. Now I have a greater chance to do that than ever before.

I will not go gently into that good night; instead I will rage against the dying of the light. I will live an adventure.

Yesterday, I traveled in an amour plated Toyota Land Rover from Camp Phoenix a suburb of Kabul to Kabul near the US Embassy. There are many compounds for government and military that are surrounded by concrete barrier walls, razor wire on top and guards at the gate. The drive through the city of Kabul was like driving through many 3rd World Countries. Afghanistan is poor like countries in Africa and much poorer than India.

We visited the NATO base near the embassy. When we left we had to stand outside waiting for our driver. Two very cute little girls with black hair about 8 – 10 years old were standing outside the gate asking the visitors and soldiers for money. They could speak a little English. They had friendly personalities. None of us had any money to give them. The smallest bill my co-worker had was a $20 and a $100.

One of the girls held his hand for a long time while we waited. I saw the same situation in Djibouti where young girls would walk along with western men, hold their hand, and ask for money. These girls do not have much of a future compared to American girls of the same age. But if Americans and the coalition forces were not in Afghanistan protecting the people, providing jobs, and spending money to support the economy millions of people like these little girls would be killed or starve.

You may have seen in the news that an Afghan pilot started shooting at people at the Kabul Airport. Quoting:
“Eight troops from the NATO-led force in Afghanistan were killed in a shooting involving an Afghan Air Force pilot at Kabul's airport on Wednesday, NATO said, in one of the deadliest incidents of "rogue" Afghans turning their weapons on foreign soldiers.
A contractor, whose identity was not known, was also killed in the shooting, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.
The shooting follows a string of attacks by Afghan forces against their NATO-led mentors carried out either by "rogue" soldiers or by insurgents in uniform who have managed to infiltrate their ranks.
Such incidents highlight the challenge for U.S. and NATO forces as they try to prepare for a gradual handover of security responsibilities that is scheduled to begin in July and end with the withdrawal of all foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

America cannot leave this part of the world. We are dependent on foreign oil and will be for many years to come. Without oil we cannot heat and cool our homes, drive our cars, or travel from place to place by plane. Americans would lose jobs if companies’ do not have enough fuel for their buildings, their factories, and their computer centers. Until America decides to build new nuclear power plants, drill for oil in the US, or years from now find new source of energy, or substantially lower our standard of living, we are dependent on foreign oil.

I am helping protect the American way of life so my family and every one like my family in the US can live the kind of life they live. The efforts of the US in the Middle East provide jobs for Americans and millions of foreign nationals so they can live and feed their families. I cannot protect the world or save everyone from poverty but I can do my part to help.