I'd like to mention the passing of a dude I had the pleasure to meet and work with. As a matter of fact, I probably spent most my time here working with this guy. He didn't have any rank, just a Patrolman, but he was in charge of his Check Point because of his experience, dedication to duty and the respect of his men. Gul Alam was taken by an IED recently and he will be missed. He is the model of what the Afghan National Police should strive for. (in the photo's he is meeting with village elders and handing out humanitarian aid to a local village).

On another note;

Witnessed something interesting and disturbing yesterday. I was waiting in line for the DFAC, (dining facility) to open. In line in front of me was an Indian man and in front of him an Army Staff Sergeant. We were in the wash/waiting area with several other people. It was close, but not over crowded. The Sgt turned towards the Indian gentleman and said “Hey, you’re in my personal space, we don’t do that” The other guy just looked at him. He then said “back the **** up” and pushed him back. Nothing serious, the guy wasn’t hurt, it was more a forced step back. I actually thought he knew the dude. Then the doors opened and we moved in to the chow line. I was a couple people behind the Sgt, and meatballs were one of the items available for lunch. There are three or four Indian guys working behind the counter, one behind each section of choices. He hands over his plate and says loudly, “just meatballs, I only want meatballs”. The meatball guy puts one meatball on his plate and the Sgt flips out, steps back and throws his hands in the air, yelling “ what the ****, can’t you people speak English”. He then walks away to the other side of the tent where they serve sandwiches, muttering about how he can’t understand why the people in this country can’t speak English. This guy’s picture should be in the dictionary next to Ugly American.
Several thoughts on this; I’m not sure what kind of training the military gives its guys to acclimated them to the culture of the countries that they may be occupying, but a lot of places in this region of the world don’t have the same views as Americans do as far as personal space goes. It doesn’t mean that much to them. Maybe the Sgt was an FNG to the Stan, didn’t look like it though. As far as the English thing goes, well, do I really need to say that this dumbass is not in Kansas anymore.
It’s people like this moron that are the reason why the US is having such a hard time accomplishing anything over here. It’s the general attitude of a lot of the military. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it, (it’ll be on the test), we are here to mentor and help in the Afghan’s fight against the Taliban. If this nitwit is treating the people that work on our bases like that, you can imagine how he treats the local villagers.
If the Officers here don’t know how their troops are acting, they need to open their eyes. If they do know, they better wake up and smell the Chai, before it’s too late.