In Afghanistan
Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 8:33 AM by Barbara Raab
Filed Under:
Brian Williams
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I'm sorry that we could not preview our visit or announce it in advance in any way -- but we're here, in the capital city of Kabul.
We inserted into Afghanistan via Dubai, which is a trip in itself, and makes for a jarring comparison -- flying from a land of such opulence and unrestrained spending and construction, into this comparatively troubled and primitive nation.
We flew aboard Pamair, which was an adventure. The bus took us out onto the tarmac, where we first laid eyes on our transportation. Approaching the aircraft, the cables from the fuselage to the tail gave away its vintage: it was clear this was one of the first 737s to roll off the Boeing assembly line in Seattle. The engines appeared to be originals -- the old Pratt and Whitney JT8Ds -- that had been fitted with the "hush kit" extenders that many commercial carriers had to use to meet noise limits at various airports.
Inside, it was more like an aircraft museum -- a lot of the fixtures and furnishings dated back to the LBJ era. I could not find the usual manufacturer's plate on the door or door frame, which would have given me the exact age of the aircraft. Stickers over some of the instruction lights indicated it was once in service in a Portuguese-speaking country, much earlier in its life.
The crew was efficient and friendly, the food was good, and the landing was steep. We made three unexpected-seeming circles while in the landing pattern. It later appeared we were forced to give way to a few C-130 transport aircraft at the mixed-use (military/civilian) airport in Kabul.
Once we landed, it was an aircraft-lover's paradise. The first thing we saw was an array of three choppers hovering while taxiing from one end of the field to the other. All three were Vietnam-era American helicopters, two Hueys and a Chinook bearing fresh Afghanistan military markings on the fuselage. I saw two Soviet-made Ilyushins, a Beechcraft 900, and too many other prop and jet aircrafts to mention. Temporary military radar stands guard over the field, part of a self-contained unit hoisted atop a crane built for just that purpose and staffed by NATO forces.
I have traveled here with the lovely and sturdy senior producer Subrata De, who warned me last night in Dubai that we may have to pretend to be husband and wife on the flight. She knew that Afghan elders were likely to try to eject her from her seat near the front of the aircraft, and she turned out to be right. Before takeoff, an elderly man plopped his bag down next to her aisle seat, and was clearly making an argument to the flight attendant that he deserved to sit there instead of his assigned seat further back. Subrata, my pretend wife for those five minutes, was steadfast and won the standoff. I later noticed that upon landing she casually slipped the scarf she was wearing onto the top of her head for disembarking. All of the women we've seen on this trip are back to having their heads covered -- in most cases, the burkas (full-body coverings with slits for eyes or mesh over the face) have come roaring back.
A striking event took place on our interesting final approach to landing. While we were banking hard to line ourselves up with the runway, I looked down at a goat herder tending a modest flock on steep mountain terrain outside Afghanistan. It was a tableau that could easily have been from 2,000 years ago. At exactly that moment, my Blackberry vibrated to life in its holster on my belt, filling up with overnight emails from New York and elsewhere. A wireless society. A confusing, changing place.
We took a trip to a nearby open-air market this afternoon, where we interviewed an American with a local NGO who has been here on and off since the 1970s. You'll see the sequence on tonight's broadcast, as part of our segment on the food emergency.
The heat is withering, the sun blistering, and we're also getting used to the altitude, as Kabul stands at about 6,000 feet above sea level. A modest altitude by the standards of portions of this region, but it takes getting used to nonetheless.
Because of where we are and who we are, security is a big part of a trip like this, and we're well taken care of. Our travel team includes members of the same teams who keep Richard Engel and our Baghdad bureau safe... many of them veterans of the fearsome British SAS. The security situation will, however, prevent me from talking about our travels and upcoming broadcasts from inside this country: except to say that we are here mostly to check in on the U.S. military effort here. This is a tough place to get to, a tough work environment, and a tough place to get around. Our clocks are all screwed up, and it's only going to get worse as our airtime schedule (3 a.m. locally -- Afghanistan is 8 hours 30 minutes off New York time -- don't ask me to explain the 30 minutes) collides with daytime here and the need to do our shooting and reporting in daylight wherever possible.
I should also add that I've been trying to get here for some time, and while not everyone in New York was exactly in love with the idea of traveling here, the time was right and I appreciate being able to come here -- as I appreciate the hard work and precautions that have gone into this trip.
I sure hope you can join us tonight as we originate the broadcast from Kabul.
Photos by Subrata De/NBC Nightly News
