Sixteen kilometers up the Alishang river valley from Mehtar Lam is the village of Watangatu.

Like all the villages in the Alishang valley, Watangatu is a farming village where the local Ghilzai Pashtuns grow corn and rice in the fertile fields irrigated from the rapid flowing river.

Rice paddies irrigated by the Alishang river.  Taken from the side door of a Blackhawk helicopter

But Watangatu has a distinction that sets it apart from its neighbors in the valley, it is a common ambush site which is why I was there along with the Governor of Lagham province, the Chief of Police and the Commander of the local Afghan National Army Battalion.

One could call it a Shura or a Jirga, but Americans would understand it as a town hall meeting.

Pashtun men from Watangatu react to a quip the Governor of Lagham province

The Afghan government with the support of USAID and the local military Provisional Reconstruction Team is building a paved road up the valley, but the sniping and violence is slowing construction.

Rather than go in with a heavy hand and use an infantry battalion like a sledge hammer to try and swat a few flys, the US Army Battalion in charge of Lagham province and the PRT decided to use the traditional Afghan approach--a Shura.

The exhuast from the four engines of a C-130 cargo plane is hot enough to cook flesh.

As you exit the cargo ramp, the exhaust has cooled down to a 150 degree 70 mile per hour wind.

As I walked out the exhaust blast I discovered the rest of FOB Fenty in Jalalabad felt just as hot.  

Jalalabad is one of the hottest places in Afghanistan in the summer but has a mild winter climate.

It is a sprawling city of concrete, mudbrick and dust at the confluence of the Kunar and Kabul rivers, is the dominant city in Nangarhar province. 

Jalalabad and Kabul river

Alexander the Great's army massed near Jalalabad before his invasion of the Indus valley in modern day Pakistan.

Sounds like the set for a joke, but I was met at the airport by two Afghans who work with a friend of mine in the logistics business.

Kabul International is a busy airport.  Several regional airlines run daily flights around Afghanistan and between international destinations like Dubai and New Delhi.

JD outside the old terminal at Kabul International

The baggage claim system in the new terminal works well and as an airport, it could compare with smaller, regional airports in places like Topeka, KS.

I was met by two local Afghans who took me on a driving tour of Kabul and then on to Bagram.

JD is short for Jawad, he is a Hazar, an ethnic group in the north/central part of Iraq.   

And Haji is Haji because he has made the Haj.  Haji also fought with the Taliban for a few years before going into the logistics business with a few western expats

JD (left) and Haji (right)

We took the scenic route, winding through Kabul from the airport to the Intercontinental Hotel, where we had lunch with a friend of mine from Iraq who is working with NDI running a team of election monitors.