Hi gang,
This letter (Email) is from my friend Ed Webber. He and his wife TukTukl own the Tree Tops Lodge on Koh Samui Island. They are personal frineds of mine.
http://mushroomjohn.com/treetoplodge1.htm
Ed is English and lived in Nigeria for 30 years. He is married to a thai girl and built her a three story villa in Nathon overlooking the Gulf of Thailand.
Recently he was assigned to Afgthanistan. He keeps me updated on what it is really like in Afghanistan and how the Americanos treat the locals.
Most disgusting if you ask me.
Here is his latest letter to me about the situation in Afgthanistan.
MJ
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Hi John,
Here we are, another world, I'm once again in a land of mystrey, magic and mayham.
Afghanistan has always been one of the embattled crossroads of the world, hasn't it ? Right back to the mongols, and then Kipling's "Great Game", and the 20th century Russian adventure, and now the American/UN expedition ... .
The Afghanis seem ready to take on all-comers, don't they - or to re-frame their own rivalries according to the politics of whichever outside players come rolling through. Now it's the Webber.
Have arrived safely in Kabul. Snow covers the mountains that flank the city and there's a few feet on the ground outside my office window.
When we arrived at the airport it was minus 7 deg. We flew from Dubai in a big Russian cargo plane, somewhat similar to a Hercules, but with jets. We sat on boxes in the cargo area. No seat belts. People could smoke. We had blankets to keep us warm. One of the new people, an Australian called Dan, slept on a mattress on the floor.
Apparently most people prefer the cargo plane as it is claimed to be safer than Afghan Airlines.
The job is supervising HR for some 650 people from five depots, overseeing the finance department and IT section. There are four depots apart from the one I'm in. Each with its own admin manager or supervisor, who funnel everything to our section. It looks like I'll ultimately be doing liaison with government and others in Kabul.
Apparently they have others things for me along the line, especially on the finance side.
All in all, a big step up from my days at Anglo. Going from one industry to another is difficult but the magnitude of the leap is something else.
The only problem is its stuffing cold. Last night hit minus 24 degrees or so they say. I'm also not too keen on the guest house communal living. OK, it's an $8000 a month luxury house but still communal.
The company is a food supply operation that specializes in army contracts. Right now their main operations are Afghanistan, Cote-de'Ivorie, Bosnia and a few other prime locations.
Security in Kabul is pretty good, but you still have to be careful. It's most likely safer here than in a place like Johannesburg. The difference is you'll be shot with a gun, say five times in Johannesburg before you get blasted away by either a bomb or a shoulder mounted rocket here in Kabul. I'd take my chances in Kabul over Johannesburg any day. At least a bomb or rocket is quick.
Eid has just finished and we've had several bomb scares around where we work. The worst was a diesel tanker that had several bombs attached to it. Fortunately the Brits found it before it went off.
Outside Kabul is a different story. Definitely not so safe, especially in the south west around Kandahar.
It would seem the yanks are public enemy number one here. They swan around and treat the locals like dirt. Next in the pecking order is the UN. We are way down the list and quite liked as we employ Afghanis which the Yanks and others don't.
Anyway all fine up to now.
Cheers
Ed
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Well hopefully my friend will be okay there and not attacked by freedom fighters.
mj
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