Well, after several months of thinking I was going to Baghdad, I got a pleasant surprise last week when I recieved my assignment notification to go to Afghanistan instead!
I think the job will be more interesting and it’s a more pleasant work environment, as well as a good deal safer. While it’ll mean spending 12 months away from my wife, we’ll get to see each other at least 4 times during that year. so it won’t be too bad. And I have a feeling that the job (political reporting officer in the Embassy, charged with parliamentary issues) will take up a lot of my time that would otherwise be taken up with missing my spouse.
So off to the land of kebabs, the Great Game and the Taliban August 2007!
I wish you well, but please be aware how bad the the situation is in Afghanistan:
‘The battle erupted on Saturday afternoon in the remote Chora valley when up to 150 Taliban fighters attacked a joint Afghan-Nato patrol. Mostly Dutch and Australian soldiers are deployed to Uruzgan, a lawless province where the Taliban’s leader, Mullah Omar, has close family ties.’
‘For the best part of two months, they experienced the kind of vicious combat British troops haven’t seen since Korea. Roughly every seventh man in the original 65-strong company was killed or wounded. One platoon, the 1st, lost almost a third of its fighting strength: not quite D-Day levels, where airborne units were halved by combat, but getting close.’
I know it’s not that close to Afghanistan, but a buddy of mine just got back from being a prison gaurd in Iraq. He actually plans to go back and visit on his own time. If you get time, he specifically mentioned going and visting Qatar. He said he would have done it while he was there, but didn’t have the money to spend. Apperently Qatar is to the mid east like Vegas is to the states.
From what I understand, Bahrain is the Vegas of the Middle East. I’ve done enough time in Qatar to want to go to Bahrain. It’s just a short jaunt up to the Northwest, but waaaaaay better’n Doha, Qatar.
I’ve been through Bahrain before, and it’s glitzy with Western-style hotels and casinos. However, I get 2 regional rest breaks to Dubai, which is even better; and 2 R&R trips to London. Something tells me I’ll be needing them.
Thanks for all your good wishes and statements of support. I think it’ll be interesting and for me it’s the right thing to do right now.