1 August

Drove all around Kabul today looking for a suitable place to house an ANCOP battalion. The ANCOP commander, Brigadier General Shareef accompanied us. We first went to a site about a 1/2 hour northwest of the city. The site was not owned by the MOI (Ministry of the Interior) but some another ministry. The site was currently occupied by an ANP District HQ and since there were no dedicated toilets, the police just went everywhere. The place smelled like one big pile of shit. The bonus prize was the pile of UXOs (unexploded ordnance) some jackass literally threw into a pile on the side of the buildings. The other problem was the fact that if we got this site all fixed up, the other Ministry may step in and re-possess the site.

The next stop was south of the city and like the other site it was a ANP District HQ. There was a building which was being renovated and it was quite nice. Unfortunetly, ranking officials of the MOI had their eyes on it and they were not going to give up nice, new offices for a bunch of police. So, of course the shithole was chosen. Adjacent to this site was a large mosque and a madrassa (religious school).

Mosque under renovation

Me at the shithole.