Last week, I traveled to Afghanistan to get a firsthand perspective of the situation on the ground. I arranged the trip with help from the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Center for Afghanistan Studies. The center is one of the foremost resources in our country for information and expertise regarding Afghanistan. I spent about a week in the country, and met with Afghans, Americans, and others who are dealing day-to-day with the delicate situation in this volatile region.
As I said last election, our decision to shift our focus from hunting down Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to regime change in Iraq was an enormous mistake. It is clear from my travels, while the country is much better off than it was under the Taliban, progress seems to be stalling. Bin Laden and other terrorists are free to operate in the uncontrolled border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Life for the average Afghan is getting worse, not better. Security concerns are jeopardizing Afghanistan’s ability to hold free and open elections in 2009. We must refocus our efforts now, before we lose what gains we have made.
After 2 days of travel, including a 7 hour lay over in the Delhi airport, I arrived at the Kabul International Airport at 8:40 am. The term "international" is a bit of a stretch. The one and only runway is new, but the taxi lanes are in great need of repair and the grounds are unkept. There is one terminal which was built probably in the ’60s and has not been updated. Though, a new terminal is under construction.
The plane landed only 50 yards or so from the main building but we still took a bus from the stair-car to the terminal. Inside we waited in line to go through customs. There were a few members of the national police but other than putting my bag through a x-ray machine, very little security.
I was told before I came that I may have to walk a few kilometers to catch my ride. Since, cars are generally not allowed within close proximity to the airport. I began to walk outside when i heard my name. Hamidullah Anwari, who works for UNO and was the former Director of the Office of the Chief Justice, introduced himself. He phoned for our ride. An older gentlemen pulled up in Toyota 4Runner with the steering wheel on the right side.
The drive into Kabul is bleak and dusty. The landscape is desolate and the buildings are mostly rubble, shelled out long ago by the civil war that raged after the Soviet withdrawal. The road into the city was a wide boulevard with a dirt median down the middle. The road, like all roads in Kabul, was crowded with everything from cars, motorcycles, taxis, buses and trucks to men and mules pulling old wooden carts and many more people walking or on bicycles. There were no stop lights and apparently no speed limits or rules. Clearly, your best defense was a good offense.
On the road side were small wooden stands with people selling everything from fruits and vegetables to gasoline in plastic containers. The poverty of the country is staggering and immediately realized. The vast majority of the people are young, unemployed, and uneducated.
The only buildings that looked modern were the numerous wedding halls. Weddings are a big deal in Afghanistan. The halls look like something from Fremont Street in Las Vegas, gaudy all glass structures with fake neon palm trees and thousands of colored lights. Families spend anywhere from $10,000 to over $60,000 on weddings. That would be a lot in the US, let alone the fact that the average Afghan is lucky to make a few hundred dollars a month. It seems weddings are the only social outlet and it is the classic "keeping up with the Jones" scenario. However, some Mullahs are beginning to outlaw them for being too extravagant.
Kabul is a walled city. Everywhere are thick concrete, barbed wire topped walls protecting foreigners and the few rich. We arrived at the Kabul Inn which has an armed guard posted out front with what looks like an AK-47 slung over his shoulder. From the outside, the Inn doesn’t look like much, but inside the walls is a very pretty courtyard with flowers, shrubs and vined tressels with grapes hanging down. While old, it is clean and the rooms are simple but comfortable. They are air conditioned with satellite television, which is mostly channels from India, a third of which are in English. Kabul Inn has a small restaurant with decent food, old Mercury computers with internet access in the lobby, and laundry service. I was instructed to be aware of two things, my stomach and security. Luckily, the Kabul Inn seems to provide for both.
The people I met with in Afghanistan were working hard in their own ways to rebuild the country, but the signs of danger were everywhere. It was hard to go anywhere without an armed escort. The on-the-ground impression I got was that this region is in a very difficult place right now. We need to refocus our efforts on Afghanistan, and end the war in Iraq. We need to restore our standing in the world as trusted partners, something that has been badly damaged by this administration and its allies in Congress. The stakes in this region are much too high for our security and for the security of our allies. We cannot continue on this same path.
This is one of the fundamental differences between myself and my opponent. While I went to gain first-hand knowledge about the situation on the ground in a region that is vital to our national security, he was playing partisan games in Washington. Our district is home to a center for detailed and comprehensive information on Afghanistan, its history, its culture, and the current situation there. But our Congressman has not reached out, and has not met with the experts there to gain a better understanding. We need someone who is willing to talk to the people in our community, who is not afraid to ask questions, and will not play partisan games with our nation’s future.
Update: (thanks to angel d in the comments): More photos are available at our website, in our photo gallery