Bridge over troubled waters

      Nabi and I had the good fortune of sharing breakfast with Gary Berntsen, author of Jawbreaker. Gary was selected by the CIA to head the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. He was "the go to guy on the ground" who orchestrated the defeat of the Taliban, within a few weeks of his arrival. He also led the CIA's team in Tora Bora. Their mission was to capture or kill Bin Laden.
   According to Gary "we had him covered on three sides. There was only one way for Bin Laden to escape and they turned down my request to deploy American soldiers into that area. We failed to seize the moment." He is of course very upset that they didn't follow his advice.
   He's a fascinating, forceful, and aggressive personality, known and probably feared for his candor. He has great stories. I've spent a little time "googling him" and learned that there is one facet of this giant among warriors that I wasn't able to locate in the articles I read. As we parted after breakfast, we learned that he was on his way to visit an orphanage in Kabul to determine how he may be able to help.

   Yesterday, Nabi and I planned to travel to Tangi Saidan to visit the site of a foot bridge under construction, funded by TIE. (pictured above and below). According to Wasay, the village leader,"the villagers are very happy that this former wish list project made the cut and they are ''praying for us."
   The bridge will save several thousand villagers the mile walk it currently takes to reach an area where it can be crossed. Many, who try to cross, lose their balance and fall in the river. Women must also lift their skirts to cross, something they should not, for cultural reasons, do. The bridge is another partnership project. We're providing the materials and they are contributing the labor. Total cost to TIE--- $6,780.


bridge #3

   The villagers wanted to thank us personally and we wanted to meet them at the bridge. Wasay finally concluded we shouldn't, for security reasons. Why? Too many people have cellphones. He was confident that we would be able to travel safely to the village and would be safe while there. The return home was the problem. The word would get out that we were in the village and someone could call to arrange a kidnapping or attack on our return home. We followed his advice and stayed away.

   Nabi has stated several times that he is not that worried about suicide bombings or terrorist attacks. The law of probabilities is on our side. He is more concerned about being kidnapped. I argue that a kidnapping is just a business transaction. Nabi will negotiate the ransom and I'll be able to watch two Afghans negotiate. That has become my favorite pastime in Afghanistan. Once they agree on a number, the ransom will be paid and we'll be free.
    When we conduct this exchange in the presence of others Nabi invariably says, "my wife may not pay". We make light of the subject, well aware that it's a defense mechanism.
   The insecurity of the security makes it increasingly difficult to interact directly with the villagers outside Kabul. Nonetheless, they feel and pray for our presence.

Five days down, and four more to go. So far, so good.

Budd

If we are captured, it will be Nabi's fault. He insists on wearing pressed slacks, ironed shirts, a sports jacket and shined shoes. I on the other hand purposely wrinkle my shirts, wear frayed cargo pants, a soiled, dusty North Face jacket,and scuffed boots. Moving below the radar is exactly where we want to be.

Pay my ransom first. It will be much smaller than his.