Last Minutes in Afghanistan

The W Bush terror years ended on a small note

While he sat opposite me, I watched his hand tapping on the table, then drop to his knee, his fingers trembling.
“What are you doing?” I said.
“Increasing my odds.”
He pulled his baseball cap downwards, hard, with his left hand.
“I don’t have a gun,” I replied, “and even if I did…” I shrugged.
“Then leave.”
I looked up at the bright warm sky. Around us the tables were full with relaxed chatter.
He was staring at me now, pupils dilated in nervousness and drugs, thick overcoat still buttoned. He wiped his hand on his thigh.
“Don’t..do it,” I said, slowly, as he reached for the detonator.

It almost happened like that. Almost, but not, and the not was the strongest part of it not happening. And anyway, if the bomb had gone off, it would have given the wrong impression of life in the Eastern Province.

I was a safety officer there during the George W Bush terrorist years. Safety came in when security failed, and security failed when they were shot. Twice the terrorists attacked the facility, sitting on the world’s largest oilfield in the desert, in the Kingdom of Saudi…