The Serena Hotel in Kabul was bombed and attacked last Monday—and that’s a big deal. The Serena is so nice, it really doesn’t belong in Afghanistan. I can’t afford to eat there. Mostly the big shots hang out there, while I am down getting take out chicken at KFC (Kabul Fried Chicken).
Until this attack, the rules for engagement in Kabul were pretty clear. Bombers attacked the military, or the police, and would make a run on the airport every now and then. Military convoys were a major target, so everyone stayed away from them. The International guys like me mostly had to worry about kidnapping—we were seen as valuable for ransom, and we believed the weird criminal/Taliban combination needed the money more than they would need another head. As a result, if you with the ‘International Community’ you could go out to dinner, have a beer, and generally pretend like life was normal.
I think those days may now be gone. If the Serena could be attacked, which had pretty good security, then everyone is going to stay home and watch Seinfeld reruns on TV from under the bed. In a place with nothing to do, there will now be even less.
As always, we are left with the old ‘what does it mean?’ question. Is this a whole new strategy, and are the bad guys going to start targeting the NGOs, like they have in Iraq? Or was this just a one time aberration? I am not sure we will know for awhile, because there sure aren’t going to be many targets out there for a couple of months.
Until this attack, the rules for engagement in Kabul were pretty clear. Bombers attacked the military, or the police, and would make a run on the airport every now and then. Military convoys were a major target, so everyone stayed away from them. The International guys like me mostly had to worry about kidnapping—we were seen as valuable for ransom, and we believed the weird criminal/Taliban combination needed the money more than they would need another head. As a result, if you with the ‘International Community’ you could go out to dinner, have a beer, and generally pretend like life was normal.
I think those days may now be gone. If the Serena could be attacked, which had pretty good security, then everyone is going to stay home and watch Seinfeld reruns on TV from under the bed. In a place with nothing to do, there will now be even less.
As always, we are left with the old ‘what does it mean?’ question. Is this a whole new strategy, and are the bad guys going to start targeting the NGOs, like they have in Iraq? Or was this just a one time aberration? I am not sure we will know for awhile, because there sure aren’t going to be many targets out there for a couple of months.
No comments:
Post a Comment