No VW's over here

[hambone]

Who blows up Buddha?
Get back safe!

[tristessa]

Who blows up Buddha?

Taliban. They decided that the Buddha statues were idols, and dynamited the statues .. being the Islamic religious fundamentalists that they are.

I'm all in favor of religious freedom, but I'm also in favor of the separation of church & state. The Taliban is one of those groups that wants to impose their version of religion onto others, at gunpoint if necessary. So .. fuck those guys. And while we're at it, fuck the Westboro Baptist Church too.

[hambone]

Yeah I heard of it. I just don't get it. My own species puzzles me.
What about the Perry Bible Fellowship? Oh yeah.
http://pbfcomics.com/

[chachi]

...

[Sylvester]

Supposedly they are still safe up there, that is on the opposite side of Afghanistan from me. I am 70 miles from Iran on the Western side of the country. I have flown to Kabul and Bagram but not further than that to the east. It sounds like a neat place to go, I have the book 3 Cups of Tea and it is about this area, but I have not read it yet. Still reading the book on Afghanistan I got in a book store in Kandahar that looks like it was dropped out the back of the truck before it got there. It gives it character I think.

[Sylvester]

Members of my unit in front of an Apache helicopter.



We are visiting the bread house on the FOB. The bread was not ready, but it sure is good when you get it fresh!



A shot up Mi-17 on the FOB, notice the number.



I ran a 10 mile run last weekend on base. I ended up circling around after finishing and ran with one of the civilians from my shop and did a half marathon. Since we are smiling this is before the run!



A bird that could not fly from his nest, an Afghan shopkeeper carried him for awhile. He did put him back in the nest, sure hope he learned to fly!



MA Carpet Company. I have not bought any carpets from this guy, but I have bought jewelry and coins from him.



More later, getting close to getting out of here.

When Johnny comes marching home again, hurrah, hurrah.

[tristessa]

Buy a carpet to bring home?

[Sylvester]

Buy a carpet to bring home?

Heck yeah they sell them like hotcakes here. Not cheap though.

[Sylvester]

Heading back now. Afghanistan is a very interesting place to go to. We have certainly invested a lot of time and effort here, in human life and hope. I will follow the events of the next few years to see this nation carries on without us or ISAF running things. The Taliban needs to be eliminated here by the Afghans themselves. The Afghans can certainly take care of themselves, without outside influence from anyone. Now it is time for me to get used to civilian life again. Even with all we had at our FOB, you still have so much more you take for granted back in the States.

[Amskeptic]

Heading back now. Afghanistan is a very interesting place to go to. We have certainly invested a lot of time and effort here, in human life and hope. I will follow the events of the next few years to see this nation carries on without us or ISAF running things. The Taliban needs to be eliminated here by the Afghans themselves. The Afghans can certainly take care of themselves, without outside influence from anyone. Now it is time for me to get used to civilian life again. Even with all we had at our FOB, you still have so much more you take for granted back in the States.

Thank you for your service and your amazing photographs. Sorry I am so late to the thread, AGAIN.
Colin

[hambone]

Great stuff man.