2007-2008
Kabul
Kabul is the capital city of Afghanistan, were most of the Western diplomats, NATO HQ, and civilian aid organizations are located. As such, the fight for Kabul is a constant tug-of-war between security and the Taliban. Downtown Kabul is an extremely stark contrast against the rest of Afghanistan, which is more rural. The problem is that, being the capital, it is the proverbial “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario, and your hands are extremely tied as far as running missions and getting bad guys. I go into this in much more detail in Love Me When I’m Gone, and why being based in Kabul as a soldier is an exercise in the futility that is NATO.