The Last Journey
Article #17 “It’s Complicated”
As a young kid, I recall spending
my fair share of time in the principle’s office. It wasn’t that I really did anything
all that wrong rather it was usually due to some remarks that I made from time
to time that seemed to land me in the hot seat.
As an adult, that 
did not change all that much. These days, it just doesn’t matter as
much as it used to. I stay out of
trouble for the most part. I don’t
say that much and I’ve stopped biting my tongue because it hurts. But I always think back to that guy who said,
“the pen is mightier than the sword”.
I was supposed to go on a
mission last night but at the last minute my seat was not available. Although I was disappointed I had only to
say, “yes sir, I completely
understand”. It just happens
that way once in a while. I feel like
I’ve failed not going on the mission but it was completely out of my
hands. In this environment, one must
realize that I am a guest and here by invitation, not by demand. The “media types” before me
apparently did not get that memo. They
messed some things up for me. One of
them fell out during a mission and couldn’t hack it. It causes problems for the next guy, which is
me. There will be more opportunities and
as they come about, I will take them one at a time. The months of training I
did prior to coming will be put to use soon enough.
In times such as these, it is
harder to write and 
produce something.
I received an email from a Lt. Col in the Army last night that
strengthened me into my inner man. His
name is Jim Murphy. I met him in 2004
while we both prayed over a man named Obadiah who had been critically
wounded. The wounded soldier was a spec
ops person. I had been told what a good
man he was. Jim was a Major at that time
and was/is a chaplain. He had been a
warrior for much of his military career and one day the Lord called him to be a
chaplain. He laid it all down, stayed in
the Army, and became the most profound chaplain I have ever met. Simply put, he is just a brother. I had been emailing him for some time and did
not have a response. I had given up but
kept him on my mailing list for this journey.
Last night, after I had been informed that my seat on the mission was
not available, I was down a bit. When I
checked my email, there was one from Jim.
It made me feel joy once again.
In short, his mission really
is caring for the soldiers well being. I think I care for the soldiers well being
on one level, but my eyes are on Jim’s care on a higher level.
I rose early this morning
after a long night. I was up on the high
place here that affords a good view of the morning sunrise. I had a cup of coffee and watched the sun
come up. Unbeknownst to me a man
appeared behind me. He is the person who
works in the MWR tent that assigns us computer and
phone time. He is a contract laborer
from
Back to Nishant.
He had never been up on this
high place since being here at FOB Boris.
He was startled at the view. He
has been here now over three months. He
used to work in 
zone are from
We spoke a bit about
geography and Nishant asked me if I knew that Bobby Jindal was the governor of
Yesterday we had more
incoming and as I was in the bunker, I was able to catch it on audio. Not too bad.
Most don’t get that experience.
Then I watched as the big guns of the artillery fired back in response
to the incoming. Got that on audio as
well, along with a few photos of the guys doing their thing with the big
gun.
In the late morning I
coordinated with a Captain 
who is in charge of civil affairs here at FOB
Boris. The local sub-governor, which is
like a city manager job, kind of, was coming by to pick up gifts to take to the
local towns people a few miles up the road.
During Ramadan, giving gifts of food and other things is kind of a
custom of sorts. Showing generosity is
the idea behind it, so I’ve been told.
I spent some time with this local government worker as he and two Afghan
police folks loaded up their ranger pick up bags of rice from somewhere, prayer
rungs made in China, and simple portable radios and back packs also made in
China. This is the hearts and minds
thing going on and I’ve seen it many times before. The sub-governor puts his life in severe
jeopardy by going out and doing such things in this area. I inquired if I could go with him as he
distributes these items. The photos
would be good and it would give me a chance to get out. Of course, that is a no-go. But I thought I would ask just in case. I
don’t want to complicate things.
While loading up the goodies
for the sub-governor, I watched as I’ve seen this show before in so many
other places on the globe. Earlier in
the week when I interviewed some cultural advisors, they told me that there are
other non Muslim nations that are supporting the Taliban. The first country mentioned by them was
China. What struck me today was we 
the Americans, were giving the local Afghan population
via the sub-governor, gifts for Ramadan to win hearts and minds, made by
Right now, as I write,
soldiers from here at FOB Boris are busy out in the field doing what it is they
are trained to do. They are very close
to the Pakistan border. Today, millions
and millions of dollars from the USA is being directed to Pakistan for relief
efforts due to recent torrential flooding there. We, the Americans, seem to help Pakistan out
a lot during such times. It is no secret
here that all the problems relating to the war here in
We are winding things down in
boggling to me.
What I know of the inner dynamics, which isn’t very much, is also
extremely intertwined with ethnic, tribal, geographical and cultural obstacles
that are very, very complicated to fathom. I’ve only just barely scratched the
surface of this land called
It’s just complicated. Get used to it. Maybe a ten pound bag of rice and a cheap
Chinese made back pack will win enough hearts and minds around here during
Ramadan to slow the flow of rockets being fired at FOB Boris. I hope so.
This year Ramadan could end on September 11th. Right now in
I’m glad I took
Nishant’s photo today and gave it to him to email to his fiancé. That was simple and it was free. It kept me out of the principle’s
office.
Jim Spiri
mailto:jimspiri@yahoo.com?subject=The
Last Journey