No Show

Last night at about 1930 there was a message: 30 people would be coming for lunch, confirm this message. We confirmed the message and we agreed with the chef that this time the warning came well in advance. He prepared a splendid, creamy vegetable soup and a fresh salad our own numbers + 30. No-one came, and no message about cancellation. At 1500 I called the HQ and kindly requested that in order to save food that the Swedish taxpayers have paid good money for, could they be so kind as to inform us about the cancellation of planned convoys and requested service support. They acknowledged the message.

There were, however, three surprise guests for lunch to make up for some of the damage. Two gentlemen from the U.S. Department of State came for a visit. They had met with the provincial governor to make an assessment of the damages of the recent earthquake. But what was more interesting, they were also scouting our compound (like they did in November) for the possibility to deploy an American development advisor here, as well as at the other PO's. The said that "we used to have a lot of money, but now we have even more money", and that the only problem was that it had to be spent in a sensible, co-ordinated fashion. Now, I've been in Afghanistan long enough to know that when a representative for a U.S. government body says that they have a lot of money, that means a LOT of money. It also means that if we get an American DEVAD here, it will be a LOT easier for us to respond to the many requests that come in from the locals.