Hello from LT John Miller Feb 4, 2007

Hello all from Afghanistan.
I hope all is well with you. We have been busy since the last update and that is good. Idle time is really slow and just makes you think about being back home. Since the last update I have run a convoy down to Farah on a resupply mission (see photo).


Not my first choice of things to do but was interesting to see more of the country. I have to admit I was not real thrilled about the assignment, especially since the last 4 convoys prior to that had been attacked so I thank God for getting us there, camped out for the night and back safely. I was kidding around with the Army guys saying once again the Navy came and scared off the bad guys. Then I quickly realized that someone might take me seriously and expect me to do it all the time. I
have also been out to the dam a few times, most recently yesterday and it is completed. Looks real good (see photo). It has already helped in reducing the run off and the ground water table in the area is higher than any of the elders can remember since before the Russians blew up the original dam in 1979. So we have made a difference to the people around here. I just hope and pray they do not attempt to grow poppies with the water. We also are pretty close to finishing 65 carries that
will bring water underground from the mountains to the south. Each one is a tunnel about 50 yards before the next upward access shaft varying from ground level to 60 feet. With that and a number of well projects the majority of the Herat Province will have access to some form of safe water. We have also made a trip deep into the mountains to the village of Bazargon scouting out a possible dam site (see photo, can you find the Humvee?). It would be a beautiful resort destination if it was not in Afghanistan and an hour from the nearest paved road. Really nice people and since they have been so isolated I think the rest of the world forgot about them. School will not start again for the children until March so no school visits lately. I am working on building an 8-room school down in Kalehkarchun but have not had any time to check on the progress since I have been back from leave. I am assuming it is not more than 25% complete since no one has asked for money for supplies, which gets paid out in 25% progress increments. We are in the middle of an Army rotation with the First Division sending in replacements for the remainder of the 53rd guys. It will be interesting to talk to them since many have been to Iraq also. I always like to remind people back home that they are different situations. Both countries are part of a bigger problem but different in their own right. For the most part the Afghans are not fighting each other and understand why we are here and
welcomed us. The Afghans respect people that stand up for themselves and view us as having to be here since this is where the attacks of Sep 11 were planned and the leaders lived. As bad as things may seem to us this is the most peaceful most Afghans can ever remember. All one needs to do is drive by a cemetery on the outskirts of Herat and see 20,000 civilian graves from the March 1979 Soviet air raids. This is from a city of roughly 200,000. If someone could figure out how to seal the Pakistani border it sure would help with the current situation. Not that all Afghans agree on everything but they do for the most part want to be left alone in their respective Provinces and tribes. Most disputes are over land, water or drugs. With no court system to deal with problems most are solved by fighting. That being said the American military personnel here would appreciate if our politicians would stop pointing their fingers at each other and realize this whole thing is going to
require teamwork to solve. Also Americans have to stop flogging themselves over all of our problems it does not help. It actually makes us look like fools to the rest of the world. I spend most of my days working with Afghans where I am the only American around so we tend to talk some politics and the Afghans cannot figure out why we fight each other so much on the news. They get CNN, Fox, Al Jazeera and BBC here. The best comment I have heard was from an interpreter who said,
"Americans keep arguing about all of your problems and not working together to solve them you will end up like Afghanistan where it is always someone else's fault and before you know it some outside influence will come in and take over." I don't think we will get to that point but I have heard people say that this is our own fault because of our failed policies. I have a challenge for anyone who thinks that. I will sit down with them and come up with at least a dozen successful policies for every bad one we have made as a country. Remember Americans are human and not everything we try will be a success but we have a much better track record than any other country in the history of the world. Also remember we did not draw the borders in this part of the world that was done by many of those nations that are critical of us. Also think of how many people are trying to get into the U.S.A. not escape it. Finally I usually find some humorous event to report on but this time I will close with a request. I would like you all to pray for Sayad Rahman's wife and family. He was an Afghan soldier that I was working with and got to know, he was killed by a suicide bomber on Jan 30th while driving a bus load of soldiers to our base from their homes in Herat. I heard the blast and my heart immediately knew something bad had just happened. He was a good man.