Hello from LT Miller Sep 21

Hello all from Afghanistan.
We are coming to the end of the 120 days of wind. The dust storms have died down and the temperatures have moderated to around 100 daytime with nighttime temps in the 60's. Like everything in Afghanistan there is a trade off, now the flies are swarming. A common expression in Afghanistan is "we have problems" and I see why because it is always something.

We have a satellite now for the base so we can get some American programming like CNN, Fox News, ESPN and various mixed in prime time TV shows from last year. I was able to watch the Bears beat/spank the Packers, definitely worth staying up to 4:30 AM. It is interesting to see what Americans are seeing. The news stories are mostly truthful when they are not editorials but not necessarily the complete story. The stories tend to start out that an American got killed then work down into how bad the war is going. That kind of reporting actually feeds into the enemy because the highlight of the story points out that they are killing Americans, which is their goal. It is almost like the whole story and focus is on body counts. It is actually kind of sickening to us. How about some stories on the fact that nothing is being done to stop the drug trade? Absolutely nothing else matters until we get that stopped. That is the prime source of the enemy funding. Or a story on how brutal the enemy is to its own people, or that these people like to shoot at ambulances and medics, or that there are more children in Afghan schools than ever before or that GITMO looks like a resort compared to the living conditions here.

We have found it rather interesting the past few days over the uproar about the Pope. The Afghan government asked for an apology from the Pope. I found that request quite ironic coming from a country that punishes Christians by death. This is not some random act from clerics. It is written in the Afghan constitution that it is illegal for a Muslim to become a Christian; the punishment for doing so is death. When we were first coming over here an Afghan politician that admitted to becoming a Christian was sentenced to death. George Bush had to request from the Afghan president a way out, so the individual was declared insane (Afghan law does not allow the insane to be executed, which rules out half the population) and he was allowed to leave the country. Briefly made the news in the U.S. and no outrage by Christians throughout the world. Go figure.

The latest village we have been working with is a Pashtun village that was created by the Taliban to try to settle this area with pro Taliban people. They have avoided the Americans so we arranged a meeting with the elders to see if we could help them out. Their first request was of course water since we have been working on wells with other nearby villages. They were very friendly and I enjoyed interacting with the children. Since this is a village that was (is?) sympathetic to the Taliban, women are treated very poorly. When I was handing out candy the little girls were not allowed any and were pushed back by the elders and in some cases hit rather hard. It took a lot of restraint not to knock one of these men up side the head but I have to remember we cannot change this culture overnight. I made a deal with the little boys that if they did not take candy, paper and pencils to the girls that I would not give the boys any. They agreed and the little girls immediately ate the candy because they knew it would be taken away from them as soon as we left. The elders have asked for help in starting a school for the girls and boys so they are starting to move away from the Taliban ways. Girls in school is a mighty big change in the way of thinking for these people. Like most villages they will go to whoever will help them so by the Americans helping we hope they will shift their loyalties. In reality I just hope they learn to get along as a country and a people. My goal is to teach each person I have to work with how to function independently so that we can get out of here. Now if I could just convince the Army of this.

The funny or in this case the stupidity for this update is with the Afghan National Police (ANP) reminds me of the old grocery store (I may be showing my age on that one). We have about 20 older Ford Ranger pickup trucks that we are trying to get rid of. They are in good shape and run well. So when we heard that the ANP was having trouble patrolling because of a shortage of vehicles we offered them our old ones. They said great. A few days latter they came out to pick up the trucks. When I took them out to the trucks they just looked at me and shook their heads and I asked what is the problem. They said that they only wanted new trucks. I asked my interpreter how do you say are you shi??ng me in Dari. They were serious and would not accept used trucks. I guess beggars can be choosey.

Take care and keep in touch.
LT John Miller US NARMY

Hello from LT Miller September 1 2006

Hello all from Herat Afghanistan. Another month down, another week
completed, another day done, but who is counting. Today is a big day
here. The Italians are now in command. So I am in the U.S Navy, assigned
to the U.S. Army, under the Italian command, trying to train the Afghan
Army. The British are also leading the NATO force and we are still
trying to figure out how we fit into that. Anyone have any ideas for
another layer of command?

Also got a new hut mate this week. He is a Navy LT specializing in
some cool stuff. Ray D. at my civilian job would appreciate this man.
The only problem is he is a Dallas Cowboys fan.

Good news on the searching for water front. One well of the 30
something the Russians destroyed in the mountains south of here has been
cleared and has flowing water. We are supplying materials (paid for by U.S.
service member donations) to the villagers and they are doing the work.
I believe this is the way to go. The Many Afghans do not appreciate
the projects that we contract out. They need to have some skin in the
game. I believe this will have a much better long-term impact than just
bringing in heavy equipment.

Best news of the past week is that we hard pack ice cream for the first
time with cherry sauce. Most of you know that is a big deal for me.
Ice cream is my favorite treat. We are not sure how the cooks pulled it
off but we really appreciated it.

Spent this morning working on about 20 trucks fixing flats and charging
batteries so that we can give them to the Afghan National Police. I
find it funny that the U.S. Army guys coming by were laughing at Navy
guys doing what they call mechanical work. I guess people do not realize
that a ship is a gigantic machine and we have to fix things when they
break. I also find it interesting that it takes a Navy lieutenant and
Chief to figure out how to jump-start a pickup when we have 6 Army
mechanics from E-4 to E-7 working here. All part of the mostly good-natured
teasing going back and forth.

We are entering into the final month of the famous 120-day winds in
Herat. I hope they end very soon because we are no longer allowed to wear
scarf's around our faces unless we are a gunner or in the Special
Forces. This ties into the funny for this time. A U.S. General (which
will remain nameless for now) in Kabul (which by the way does not have as
severe winds and dust storms) decided that he did not like the way
scarf's looked and ordered everyone in country to stop wearing them. He
sent us a nice e-mail telling us this so we would know it was coming
from him. I was tempted to send him a congratulatory e-mail back saying
the war must be about over if he has time to worry about this. I
decided against it since I would like to go home someday. We are allowed to
wear Army issue scarfs, which we were not issued and are not available
in country and those that have them say they are not effective.
Now for a special request for all of the troops. The election in
November is coming up. I encourage all of you to pay attention to the
people running for office. I personally believe it is every Americans
obligation to be informed and to vote. Many people are complaining about
how these two wars are going but nobody is really coming up with a
solution. At least not one the American people are willing to support. So
if you really want to support the troops exercise your right/obligation
to vote and lets hold our politicians accountable for results not
rhetoric.

Now for my favorite topic, Family Update. It was a big week back home.
My daughter Maggie started kindergarten. Hard to believe but my baby
girl not such a baby anymore and my baby Jack well he has always been a
Mommy's boy. Michelle as always is holding down the fort. God Bless
her.

Take care and as always keep in touch.
LT John Miller US NARMY