I am now in Tirana, Albania and have already met with one of the mission group directors here. We had an espresso at a café in the city. Had not slept at all in two days so was attempting to stay awake until dark and then get a good night’s sleep.
It is morning now and I am feeling a little more rested. We have a very full day of meetings today.
More on all that later. Right now I want to flash back to my extra 30 hours in Kabul, Tuesday-Wednesday.
The hotel we found was quite nice. Given the reality I had already experienced in Kabul, this place belonged in some other world. But here it was, Kabul Serena Hotel. The coalition bigwigs stay there.
As we approached the place in our taxi the number and variety of troops increased. Half a mile or so from the property there were armed soldiers everywhere I looked; lots of Afghan forces, but also American troops in desert camouflage. Heavily armed, very serious-looking American troops. There was a sharp contrast between the American guys and the other troops. The Afghans mostly stood around looking bored. Either that or they were all piled into the backs of pickup trucks going for joy rides like high school kids zooming around the stadium parking lot after a Friday night football game.
The U.S. troops, fewer in number, were all business. I got the feeling something big was going down. When we got to the hotel I found out I was right. The Serena was hosting a bunch of Pakistani generals at something called the “Combined Forces Dinner.” The generals, along with many U.S. officers and a contingent of State Department-types were arriving about the time our taxi pulled up to the hotel gate.
And what a gate it was, 11 or 12 feet high, steel, set in a high wall that surrounded the hotel grounds. Guarding the gate were what appeared to be Afghan and Pakistani troops, but in front of them, clearly the ones in charge, were more American troops, guns very much at the ready, earphones and microphones wrapped around their heads, all communicating with one another as they took a close look at anyone approaching.We got out of the taxi about 20 yards from the gate. As we approached we were patted down, our luggage was opened and searched, and we were directed to walk through the sort of metal detector you see at airports.
Once through all that we proceeded through the gate and a hotel bellman waiting on the other side loaded our luggage onto a cart and led the way across an inner courtyard crawling with troops to the hotel entrance, where we passed through another metal detector on our way to the lobby and the registration desk. I felt like I was on the set of some sort of Hollywood war movie.Inside the lobby we saw more soldiers, some with German Shepherd dogs, and a bunch of Pakistani officers. In contrast to the American guys in their desert camouflage the Pakistanis were decked out in dress uniforms with medals and gold braid all over their coats. They looked like marching band directors. Lots of lower-ranking Pakistani soldiers were lounging around, too, looking bored out of their minds. Again, in contrast, half a dozen U.S. troops (I took them to be Special Forces guys but what do I know?) were stationed around looking ready to pounce if provoked. I said hello to a few of them and they acknowledged me respectfully but did not allow themselves to be distracted.
(Their vigilance was understandable and appreciated. I heard the State Department-types talking about a suicide bomber who had blown himself up near a U.N. patrol south of Kabul the day before.)
After nearly a week of sleeping on a floor, the hotel room bed was a welcome change.
