Greetings From Afghanistan

Hello from Bagram, Afghanistan.

Since moving assignments, I have not posted much here.  I am now in Afghanistan and, like my tour in Iraq last year, I have noticed a few things.

1.  The Western “Mainstream” media lies so much I doubt I could trust the times they give for sunrise and sunset.  In 2007 and before, everything was slanted or even made up out of thin air to slam President Bush.  Now everything is roses as Obama is going to ride to the rescue.  The lies of the left and the media are so vile that the sewage dumping point here smells good in comparison!

2.  We have noticed that the tone of the reporting has changed dramatically since the election and the Animal Farm/1984ish antics of the leftist media are so transparent that we can only sit and laugh because crying out at the arrogance, bias, and stupidity is useless.  I am still waiting for the media to use a less than flattering pose for the President Elect as they have for the current President all through the last 8 years!!!  The only poses I see are so engineered and flattering that even Stalin and “Kim the Ill” in Korea would be jealous.  The pure sycophantism and worshipfulness by the media is disgusting beyond measure!  The worst part is I know it will only get more so. (Sorry Scott, I do not think the media will ever stop with their blind worship and witch-hunts of critics).

3.  So much for “change”.  It looks like the Clinton Administration, with all of its disasters, stupidity, and arrogance is back again.  Unfortunately, President Bush in his “reaching out” never got rid of the previous administration’s underlings who have been backstabbing him and, well, that makes it easy for Obama.

4.  AFN (Armed Forces Network) is what is played in the area on public televisions in the DFACs (Dining Facilities)  and common areas.  AFN News is a military presentation with soldiers reading the news about DoD and service related issues.  It is followed by a mixture of CNN, MSNBC, and FNC.  O’Reilly has a program followed by Oberman.  I do not understand how then Candidate Obama did not understand this, but I think our programming will “change” soon and FNC will be removed.  Why is this important?  Because where Service Members can access Satellite TV, FNC wins out as watching CNN and MSNBC makes more than a few want to swear openly towards the television at the stream of lies CNN and MSNBC pushes off as “journalism”.

Now for what the media will not tell you but will suddenly appear as soon as the inauguration is over and the media then has to ensure nothing bad happens to discrace the new President they helped elect:

Afghanistan is, and always was, a fight.  A fight we are winning.

Patrols come and go here. Moral, even with the elections, is high. Casualties are VERY low. Planes of all types (and I mean ALL types) take off and land without molestation.  There are no High Obstacle Avoidance Landings as there were in Iraq.  Every plane lands here on a gentle glide slope.  The F-15s steak out on missions fully loaded, afterburners screaming, and climb to a gut wrenching height of only 200 feet before disappearing into the mountains on their missions.  The beautifully ugly A-10s lumber out with their massive bomb loads and heavy gun at a moments notice. MRAPS, HMMWVs, ASVs, NATO armored vehicles, and an assortment of other trucks leave daily on missions. They all come home.

People here do snicker and say the American People got what they were fooled into with Obama and AQ pretty much settled the question on if he is Islamic or not by calling him a traitor and an apostate. We do not understand AQ’s and the Taliban’s version of “Victory”. If taking 90% casualties and losing ground everywhere while we take minimal casualties is AQ’s idea of “victory” for their side, let them keep being “victorious”.  That whole “Americans are tasty” remark was a tad disgusting, but considering the barbarity of the AQ/Taliban and islamofascists in general, not surprising.

Bagram is nice, if dusty.  Cold nights followed by pleasant days and surrounded by mountains.  I am headed to Kandahar sometime soon.  Kandahar may be a tad different as there is less snow there and more raw sewage. I do get to play with the vipers, but they tell me I cannot keep one as a pet. They will not even let me have a scorpion. I tell you, no alcohol, no sex, and no exotic pets leaves me kind of bored. (To our “tolerant”, “open-minded” trolls, that last line is called ‘sarcasm’. Considering how angry you might be after reading this far, I felt I had to point that out.)

Afghanistan is no where near paradise, but we adapt. Iraq was much more robust and “civilized” than this area. Hard to believe the historical importance of the spice and silk routes through here did not do SOMETHING to civilize the place. The destruction of the country by the Soviets is almost total in many areas, which combined with the “all about me” culture hampers rebuilding.

We celebrated Thanksgiving here.  It was more peaceful than most cities and we were as happy as we could be.  Watching the media however was infuriating as usual.  MSNBC was playing last night on AFN.  They showed US Troops in Iraq having dinner and said it was peaceful enough to actually celebrate.  I hate to break it to the heirs to the “Ministry of Truth” that the leftist media is, but we ALWAYS have celebrated holidays in Iraq and Afghanistan!!  I do not know what I despise more about the media; the lies, the smugness and elitism with which they are presented, or the fact that so many people in America and the West actually BELIEVE these lies!

Done for the post. I will try to put up some pictures from around the area and of Thanksgiving. I will try to update as I move around but will be more off than on.