An Afghan commander shares chai, a traditional Afghan tea, with his soldiers at a base near the village of Khakaran, Zabul Province, Afghanistan. Sharing chai is an essential part of Afghan culture and friendship. (Photo Copyright 2007: Scott Kesterson) (Photo taken from Beloblog)A Tale of Two Wars -- Afghanistan Shrugged
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I plagiarized that one from a great novel; but it's a superb opening to illustrate the difference between the war that we fight as ETTs and the war the Combined Joint Task Force- Phoenix (CJTF-P) fights. CJTF-P is the headquarters for the ETTs here in Afghanistan. I could understand a marked difference between conventional coalition forces and ETTs; but there's such a huge dichotomy from us and our headquarters.
The difference came to light recently when we received some replacements through Camp Phoenix.. We were briefing them on our day to day activities and they were telling us about what they were told at Phoenix. What they were told was shocking and if you followed their guidance it would ensure that you were universally disliked by the ANA and would accomplish nothing here.
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My Comment: An extremely well written piece. It gives a taste of what our guys are doing in Afghanistan.
And yes .... I also like chai (tea for those who want the english translation).