Opera Singers and Final Thoughts

Fa-la-la-la… hear that? That’s the sound of the fat lady singing. That means my Afghan adventure is over.

After 18 months, it was time. Basically, I had outlived my usefulness, given the changes going on in the South of Afghanistan. That was actually a good thing, as my position was going away due to changes in the support contracts. So, rather than wait for the boat to sink, I jumped ship a little early to avoid the turmoil.

My farewells were both wonderful and a bit anticlimactic. The Afghans were genuinely sorry to see me go and presented me with many honors and gifts. Most important to me was when the senior officers of both the Afghan Army and Police presented me with my former military rank (Lieutenant Colonel) in Afghan Army and Police Insignias. I had told them early on that, if they thought I had earned them, that that would be the highest honor I could imagine, and far more meaningful than a rug or a vase or a plaque. They came through, the Police even promoting me to full Colonel (although that may have been just to “show up” the Army ;-) ). Several Afghan officers also provided personal gifts for my wife and children. I am humbled by their generosity and honored by their respect. The anticlimax came with the Americans – after 18 months of living on the FOB, managing the internet service, and helping out whenever I could, I was told that it was “not convenient” for them to run me into KAF to start my outprocessing. Instead, they helped me coordinate a run in with another team – and changed the time/date three times in three days. Oh well, Doris Day sang it best… “Que sera sera.” I wish them the best of luck and success as they finish their tours.

Have been home for two weeks now. Very strange reintegrating into routine “home-life”. Having more than 81 square feet to live in is a huge difference. For 18 months I lived in a 9ft x 9ft box, with all my worldly possessions crammed inside. Now I’m rattling around my 1900 square foot ranch style and have found myself misplacing things all the time. Also strange to share this living space with three other people (wife and two boys) and the dog. I was used to a much more private/solitary existence. Don’t get me wrong, these are good things to get used to, as is not having to get completely dressed to go to the bathroom at 3am, having a very comfortable bed to sleep in, and being able to “pop down to Lowe’s, Walmart, Albertson’s, etc.) whenever we need something, instead of having to plan it for the next KAF/PX run.

“We’re” going to win in Afghanistan, but not because of any great strategic or tactical thinking on the part of McChrystal or Petraeus or Obama. “We’re” going to win because the forces of modernity have established a beachhead into Afghan culture that cannot be undone. Cell phones, satellite television, and the internet are “corrupting” the conservative Pashtun/Taliban culture beyond all repair. Between the cultural corruption and the actual corruption, Afghanistan will never be the same. Think Vietnam after we pulled out in 1975. It went through a repressive period, then, strangely, began to modernize and embrace Western “values”. It was the younger generation that had grown up with the Americans that did it – as they aged and took over the reins of power, they remembered what was good and put it to use. The young Afghans will do the same thing, trust me.

The “builders” always beat the “destroyers” in the end. Most young Pashtuns I worked with loved to see pictures of Western Cities. Many of them had been to “big” cities before – Kabul has several million now, Quetta is over a million, Peshawar and Karachi are several million each – but they all look dated next to the BIG cities of the West – New York, Hong Kong, Singapore – with all of their high-rises and vibrant economies. Google Earth was a wonderful tool to show these young Afghans that we are no strangers to urban sprawl – and that we’ve figured out how to ensure that all those houses all have affordable electricity 99.99% of the time, as opposed to the 20% or less time that the Afghans have in Kandahar. Try running a business when you only have power 8 hours out of every 48 (and it may be between midnight and 8 am). All I had to do was show pictures of high rise buildings, then ask the question “When’s the last time the Taliban built a high-rise? – when’s the last time the Taliban built ANYTHING?” Then I’d show them a picture of the Taliban blowing up the statues of Buddha in Bamian. Believe me, they got it. One interpreter, on seeing a picture of an 8-lane freeway full of speeding traffic asked, incredulously, “How do you stop and check for bombs?” He was amazed and at first refused to believe us when we told him that we do not have IEDs on our roads. He asked several other Americans to verify that we weren’t pulling his leg. He could not imagine a road without the danger of IEDs – but he can now.

As for me – I’m starting an exciting new business promoting proper nutrition and wellness. I’m promoting a product called Isagenix™ and I’m VERY impressed with both the product and the company. If you have stubborn pounds you need to lose or think you or your family could be healthier, please, check out www.isagenix.com to get an idea of what I’m talking about, then, if you think you could be both healthier and potentially wealthier, contact me and let me show you why I’m so excited about this.

This is also an energy thing for me – for 20+ years, I’ve been working in the Intelligence Community. Basically, my job has been to forecast the worst possible things that anyone could do and help my commanders plan to mitigate or eliminate the potentials. All of this has smacked of negative energy, and frankly, I’m tired of it, as good as I might be at it. With Isagenix™, I am helping people better themselves, from a positive energy position. It’s much more exciting and energizing to work from this position.

As for the blog here, it will stand for now – but this will be the last entry, methinks. I’m going to start up a new blog to go along with my new career. Check out www.astrolabealley.blogspot.com for my further adventures and musings.

As the dolphins said to the Earth in Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide” series “So long, and thanks for all the fish!” See you on the flip side!