Signposts to Afghanistan - 2011

A former Afghanistan intelligence analyst looks back at his military years, and at dreams gone by.

Although I created this piece in January of 2007, I am surprised at how well it stands and reads today, how germane it remains in the harsh light of current events. I once served in Military Intelligence as an Afghanistan Analyst with the US Army (1970-71) and I can't help but compare those years with the situation today. This story is part history, memoir, essay, and personal lament. It also voices my heartfelt and public concern over the opportunities and quality of life issues that face all of our current and future veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These have been tough years for soldiers. How does a young family survive, financially and emotionally, through tours of duty with numerous combat deployments? What dreams do these veterans harbor for themselves and their families in the life that follows after military service?

Read Signposts to Afghanistan at the link below

Signposts

Laudizen

The Virgin Parking Lot Construction Company

This is Chesterman Dullard, world-correspondent for the Mentone California Telegraph and Bee, here at the World Headquarters of the Virgin Parking Lot Construction Company in the little-Sunni section of Baghdad, where I have the honor of interviewing Nassir Assassan, founder and chief operating officer of the Virgin Parking Lot Construction Company, the small minority-owned business that is the talk of the town.

CD: Mr Assassan, can you tell us about the genesis of your operation, the inspiration that led to the creation of the Virgin Parking Lot Construction Company.

NA: What with the closing of so many Islamic-charities, I felt I must do something for my people, something to give our children hope for the future. Creating parking lots out of unused pieces of ground seemed an untapped opportunity.

CD: A noble cause to be sure. Tell us about your workforce and the skills you need to succeed in your business.

NA: First, I must clear the lot. For that, I need men with a slight-build for tree removal. By wearing a small suicide-vest, they can wrap their arms around a tree and effectively remove it from existence, quickly and economically.

CD: How much does that job pay?

NA: Nothing. You are rewarded in heaven with virgins that will service you for all eternity in celebration of your tree-martyrdom.

CD: What other skill-sets are required.

NA: I need big men for large rock removal. For this, I have devised a specially constructed suicide-trouser. A big man needs to but sit on the rock and salaam, the rock is gone.

CD: And the pay-rate for this stone removal?

NA: Again, nothing. You are rewarded in heaven with virgins to service you for all eternity in celebration of your rock-martyrdom.

CD: Do you have any other staffing needs?

NA: Yes. At the present time I am searching for good god-fearing females, for women who wear the burqa.

CD: And what task will they perform?

NA: They will do the final grading on the site. For that, I have devised a small suicide-sandal that does an excellent job of smoothing the ground in preparation for paving. And the burqa keeps the dust down to a minimum during this process as well.

CD: What does that job pay?

NA: Nothing.

CD: Are the women feted by virgins for all eternity in celebration of their martyrdom as the men are?

NA: No.

CD: That doesn’t seem fair to me.

NA: They are but women, it matters not.

CD: Do any family members work for the firm?

NA: No, they live in Miami.

CD: Is it hard to keep good workers on the payroll?

NA: Not really. Every few months we stage a loud demonstration and complain about the Jewish rocks and trees that are infecting the land, and our hiring offices are soon overflowing with potential martyrs eager to win their way into heaven. Allah be praised.

CD: How is business?

NA: Booming.

CD: And the long-term outlook?

NA: Not bad. And I hear that there is a new start-up company in the little-Tehran section of the city that is going to come out with a state-of-the-art nuclear device that will quickly and completely prepare the lot for paving. When that happens, there can really be progress.

CD: Allah be praised indeed.

Signposts to Afghanistan, two years on....

Today, December 31 of 2008, is the second anniversary of the genesis of my story, 'Signposts to Afghanistan', written in early 2007. That story meant a lot to me at the time, and it still does today. It was the first time I had put down into words my motivations for joining the Army in the time of the Vietnam War, how I recalled my experiences gained during those service years, and how I came to follow the path I did after I was discharged from the Army.

Today, one year after writing that story, I am every bit as distressed over our presence in Iraq, and at the horror we have allowed to continue in Afghanistan, as I was then. After having served a year in Vietnam, I was an Afghanistan Analyst for Military Intelligence at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. I fell in love with the country of Afghanistan, and I dreamed of visiting it one day. But life didn't work out that way.

What is going to happen to the current war veterans and their families of today, what with the stresses of multiple deployments and separation, the interruption of careers. I fear that America is going to pay a fierce price for this war and their service. In this day of the assault on the middle class, and CEOs making billions in bonuses by shipping work off to foreign shores, what opportunities await the foot soldier here in America after three tours in Iraq?

To read the entire story follow the link below.

Signposts to Afghanistan

Laudizen King

Bellicose Boy

First, we he have endured years of thankless military sacrifice in Iraq, a war justified by the George W. Bush administration with lies and deceit. Afghanistan, the initial poster child of the war on terror, was left to wither on the vine, and now the resurgent Taliban launch operations against various targets at will throughout the country.

Then Bush's friend and exemplar of the Administration's foreign policy success, Michel Shashkavilli, decides to go to war on Russia's border and is "shocked" by Russia's swift and crushing military response, and by the failure of the West to come to his aid (about as shocked as Claude Rains in the movie 'Casablanca' when he learns that gambling is going on at Rick's). Bush promptly sends the inept Condi Rice to the area so as to allow the peoples of that region the pleasure of ignoring her. And we follow that act of statesmanship with a treaty with Poland that allows the US to install missiles at Russia's border, further inflaming the attitude of the Russians and daring them to respond.

And in the Saturday morning paper in Los Angeles is an article stating that the US may have to take unilateral action against terrorists in Pakistan, since the new government there seems less responsive to our concerns.

Wait a minute. It is time for Bush to stop acting like the bellicose and petulant twelve-year-old boy that he is. For someone who so openly touts the moral high-ground he certainly has none. His administration has been one long slide downhill, his foreign policy marked by confrontation over statesmanship, decree over consensus, and the result is a growing disregard for the US around the world.

Has Bush accomplished anything? Yes. He abolished the inheritance tax and ushered in faith-based initiatives. Perhaps there is a future for a new inbred aristocracy in America, one modeled on the dark days of Europe, where the royal family was aided and abetted by the state-sponsored church.

It is time for George to take a respite from unilateral actions on the international scene, and to cease his war mongering activities around the globe. It is time for a new administration to take over the reins of foreign relations from this childish lame-duck, and see if they can salvage and rebuild the decimated image of the US around the world.

Signposts to Afghanistan

As our attention turns from the war in Iraq to the conflict in Afghanistan, I revisited this piece that I wrote in 2006. It recalled my Army years when I served as an Afghanistan Intelligence Analyst, and the dreams I had as a young man in the Army and as a new civilian making my way in the world. I also voiced concerns over our Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans, and the challenges they and their families face after returning to the States.

That piece seems even more relevant today, as the country seeks answers and questions what our mission is and ought to be. Follow the 'Signposts' link below to read the entire piece.


Signposts

Laudizen King

Signposts to Afghanistan, one year on.....

"It is December 31, 2006, and on this morning in Los Angeles, on the last day of the year, I am enjoying a good cup of coffee while reading the Los Angeles Times. I read the articles on Iraq and Afghanistan with concern for the military men and women serving there, and for what they all must experience and endure. There is one article in particular that catches my attention. It describes in some detail the Ring Road, a road shaped like a circle that lies within the borders of Afghanistan and connects the major towns and cities. I read the article with some interest; there was a time when the country of Afghanistan played a major role in my daily life. That was many years ago when I was a young man in uniform, serving in turbulent times, while an unpopular war was polarizing the country. However, today is, after all, the day for the remembrance of things past, so I sit back and relax and let my thoughts drift back in time."

Above is the opening paragraph of my story, 'Signposts to Afghanistan', written in early 2007. That story meant a lot to me at the time, it still does today. It was the first time I had put down into words my motivations for joining the Army in the time of the Vietnam War, how I recalled my experiences gained during those service years, and how I came to follow the path I did after I was discharged from the Army.

Today, one year after writing that story, I am every bit as distressed over our presence in Iraq, and at the horror we have allowed to continue in Afghanistan, as I was then. After having served a year in Vietnam, I was an Afghanistan Analyst for Military Intelligence at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. I fell in love with the country of Afghanistan, and I dreamed of visiting it one day. But life didn't work out that way.

What is going to happen to the current war veterans and their families of today, what with the stresses of multiple deployments and separation, the interruption of careers. I fear that America is going to pay a fierce price for this war and their service. In this day of the assault on the middle class, and CEOs making billions in bonuses by shipping work off to foreign shores, what opportunities await the foot soldier here in America after three tours in Iraq?

To read the entire story follow the link below.

Signposts to Afghanistan

Laudizen King