Brave

I flew back to Kabul from Farah today (we always fly, as it is too dangerous to drive—every city in Afghanistan is surrounded by the Taliban, or by criminal gangs).  We took the scenic route, flying through Kandahar where this was the scene.

Watching these guys get off the plane and go to war in a place that is so hard and unforgiving created an awful lot of ambivalence for me. At once I am incredibly proud, and know these folks will do their very best to win an incredibly difficult war. But I also felt sorrow, as I know that many won’t return in the same condition in which they arrived.

Christ, they are brave.