A defense contractor just returned from Kabul reports that U.S. military personnel
there are “so bored that they are going out of their minds.” Commanders
won’t let their troops go out on the town under any circumstances, he
said. Even when they are off duty, they can’t go to the movies, go shopping
or even see the historic sights.
Commanders argue that the situation in Afghanistan is still far too dangerous
for individual GIs to be wandering around on their own in Kabul. But this contractor
disagrees.
“I think it’s bad for morale,” he said. “I realize
there’s a force protection issue, but there ought to be some way for troops
to let off steam. Even during the Vietnam War, U.S. military personnel weren’t
this restricted,” he said.
Allowing GIs to mix with the local population might even help improve the security
situation, the contractor suggested. In Vietnam, he said, friendly Vietnamese
would sometimes warn individual servicemen of an impending attack.