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Time to once again open my life up a little in order to share the plethora of wealth I'm about to absorb. I'm going to be back in Iraq through September, so hop on board and check back every couple of days, I'll do my best to update as much as possible. Questions? dtate38@cox.net And check out the site I'm working with: http://www.billroggio.com Support independent journalism!
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
My god, sometimes I just want to rip my hair out.
We've been in Kandahar since Sunday and already the Afghans are driving me nuts. In fact, Nadir has been driving me nuts since day one. Some of it is the communication gap, which I can overlook. The rest is just good old fashion whining, and I can't stand it.
I actually started even before I left. The problem is, is that I'm in charge of this thing, yet everyone seems to ignore that fact. Whenever there are questions for me, about me or just about things I know about, I'm skipped altogether. Small example:
We're supposed to rent a second car to take the gear. No problem. Nadir gets the money and I go to pack and rest my mind (the trip to Kandahar is very dangerous and I had to get my "what if" scenarios together). In the short period I'm gone, Nadir (all 23 years of him) decides we aren't going to take a second car. How do I find out? I'll tell you. So I go out to the truck to check on the progress (5 am the morning we leave) and notice there is no second car. At this time, I'm informed that Nadir has decided to take a trailer. So I ask, "Where will I sit?", and Nadir points to the front seat. So I ask, "Where will Abdullah sit?", and Nadir points to the front seat. Point is, this is MY operation and yet, I am not conferred with on decisions. So Nadir is packing away and wants to put a 30 pound BETA Cam behind our seat in the exact location I am thinking we can put Abdullah. So i tell Nadir to put the camera in the back where there is a ton of space. "But David, this is a camera and is fragile...", he says. "Really Nadir, I've never seen one before... you mean they're fragile?" I reply. "Oh yes... very fragile, David", he says. So in my mild manner, I finish the conversation with, "No shit Nadir, now put it in the back." Which he does in huff. Just one of many small examples.
As previously posted, the ride down sucks and is thankfully uneventful. Unfortunately, it takes just a few hours before Nadir is crying about "How long are we going to stay?". "I told you 50 times Nadir, from 2-4 weeks." "Oh, but my poor wife...," he replies. At this time, I explain to him that I haven't seen my wife in seven weeks, and won't see her for another six. I also explain that all the soldiers and Marines won't see their spouses for a year. And in a parting gesture, I hand him a tissue and tell him to wipe his eyes. I don't think he got the dark humor.
So Tuesday afternoon, I head back to Tarin Koht via C-130 and am once again in the dark, vast, dusty, hot, stinky, desert.
When morning breaks, I climb out of my broiling hot tent (at 7:30 am) and head for the media tent ( which is filled with gear from the Public Affairs soldiers). Being that my specific mission is combat footage, I can only wait until the operation starts to do any work. I spend most of the day sweating and reading a book called, "The FBI's 10 Most Wanted." I'm also fortunate enough to find a dazzling picture of the ubber-hot Uma Thurman and Jessicca Alba. Shortly after that, I'm dehydrated from drooling so much.
I also find out that the operation that was supposed to kick off Thursday, has been pushed back to Sunday. Oh yeah... A week out here with nothing to do. Hmmm... so I decide I'm going back to Kandahar to work on some stories I had started previously so not to waste too much time.
The planes here don't leave until late (10 pm) and we've been getting some probes on the perimeter from the enemy, so things are done in an extra cautious manner. In fact the radar picked up an incoming mortar round earlier in the day that missed by such a distance that no one knew we'd just been shot at.
Of course, tis leaves me with extra time which allows me to do a "logistics run" with some Marines into Tarin Koht. Actually what it is is a well armed patrol that goes shopping for various needs like floor mats, stoves, pots, etc...). Tarin Koht is a city form the past. Very poor and very Kipling. The Marines draw quite the crowd when they shop. It is like a big town event. As the Marines order stuff out of an undersized shop, the crowd gathers to watch, particularly the kids. Before long, big kids are pushing little kids into the Marines, little kids are slapping at us in a playful way and everything is just getting a little too close for me. I can only imagine what one guy with a grenade could do at this point. We spend an hour or so in town shopping and visiting the headquarters of the provincial governor, Jan Mohhamed before heading back to FOB Ripley.
Not long after, I'm a plane back to Kandahar. I get there around midnight and call Heidi because I'm stressing out. Our tenant owes us nearly $1,000 and it's stressing me knowing my wife is stressed about it. I gave her some direction earlier on ways to quickly rectify the situation, and I need to call her to see if there's been progress. Turns out the check was lost in the mail and everything would be straightened out by Thursday... we'll see.
I get a good night's sleep, but have the pleasure of waking up to Abdullah all elated because he gets to go back to Kabul Thursday and Nadir, who continues to complain about how bored he is and how much he wants to leave and "when is the operation going to be over" There goes another handful of hair.
We've been in Kandahar since Sunday and already the Afghans are driving me nuts. In fact, Nadir has been driving me nuts since day one. Some of it is the communication gap, which I can overlook. The rest is just good old fashion whining, and I can't stand it.
I actually started even before I left. The problem is, is that I'm in charge of this thing, yet everyone seems to ignore that fact. Whenever there are questions for me, about me or just about things I know about, I'm skipped altogether. Small example:
We're supposed to rent a second car to take the gear. No problem. Nadir gets the money and I go to pack and rest my mind (the trip to Kandahar is very dangerous and I had to get my "what if" scenarios together). In the short period I'm gone, Nadir (all 23 years of him) decides we aren't going to take a second car. How do I find out? I'll tell you. So I go out to the truck to check on the progress (5 am the morning we leave) and notice there is no second car. At this time, I'm informed that Nadir has decided to take a trailer. So I ask, "Where will I sit?", and Nadir points to the front seat. So I ask, "Where will Abdullah sit?", and Nadir points to the front seat. Point is, this is MY operation and yet, I am not conferred with on decisions. So Nadir is packing away and wants to put a 30 pound BETA Cam behind our seat in the exact location I am thinking we can put Abdullah. So i tell Nadir to put the camera in the back where there is a ton of space. "But David, this is a camera and is fragile...", he says. "Really Nadir, I've never seen one before... you mean they're fragile?" I reply. "Oh yes... very fragile, David", he says. So in my mild manner, I finish the conversation with, "No shit Nadir, now put it in the back." Which he does in huff. Just one of many small examples.
As previously posted, the ride down sucks and is thankfully uneventful. Unfortunately, it takes just a few hours before Nadir is crying about "How long are we going to stay?". "I told you 50 times Nadir, from 2-4 weeks." "Oh, but my poor wife...," he replies. At this time, I explain to him that I haven't seen my wife in seven weeks, and won't see her for another six. I also explain that all the soldiers and Marines won't see their spouses for a year. And in a parting gesture, I hand him a tissue and tell him to wipe his eyes. I don't think he got the dark humor.
So Tuesday afternoon, I head back to Tarin Koht via C-130 and am once again in the dark, vast, dusty, hot, stinky, desert.
When morning breaks, I climb out of my broiling hot tent (at 7:30 am) and head for the media tent ( which is filled with gear from the Public Affairs soldiers). Being that my specific mission is combat footage, I can only wait until the operation starts to do any work. I spend most of the day sweating and reading a book called, "The FBI's 10 Most Wanted." I'm also fortunate enough to find a dazzling picture of the ubber-hot Uma Thurman and Jessicca Alba. Shortly after that, I'm dehydrated from drooling so much.
I also find out that the operation that was supposed to kick off Thursday, has been pushed back to Sunday. Oh yeah... A week out here with nothing to do. Hmmm... so I decide I'm going back to Kandahar to work on some stories I had started previously so not to waste too much time.
The planes here don't leave until late (10 pm) and we've been getting some probes on the perimeter from the enemy, so things are done in an extra cautious manner. In fact the radar picked up an incoming mortar round earlier in the day that missed by such a distance that no one knew we'd just been shot at.
Of course, tis leaves me with extra time which allows me to do a "logistics run" with some Marines into Tarin Koht. Actually what it is is a well armed patrol that goes shopping for various needs like floor mats, stoves, pots, etc...). Tarin Koht is a city form the past. Very poor and very Kipling. The Marines draw quite the crowd when they shop. It is like a big town event. As the Marines order stuff out of an undersized shop, the crowd gathers to watch, particularly the kids. Before long, big kids are pushing little kids into the Marines, little kids are slapping at us in a playful way and everything is just getting a little too close for me. I can only imagine what one guy with a grenade could do at this point. We spend an hour or so in town shopping and visiting the headquarters of the provincial governor, Jan Mohhamed before heading back to FOB Ripley.
Not long after, I'm a plane back to Kandahar. I get there around midnight and call Heidi because I'm stressing out. Our tenant owes us nearly $1,000 and it's stressing me knowing my wife is stressed about it. I gave her some direction earlier on ways to quickly rectify the situation, and I need to call her to see if there's been progress. Turns out the check was lost in the mail and everything would be straightened out by Thursday... we'll see.
I get a good night's sleep, but have the pleasure of waking up to Abdullah all elated because he gets to go back to Kabul Thursday and Nadir, who continues to complain about how bored he is and how much he wants to leave and "when is the operation going to be over" There goes another handful of hair.
