Kabul’s frustrated expats run the streets FEATURE 08/17/2010

Kabul’s frustrated expats run the streets

FEATURE 08/17/2010 KABUL — The group of foreigners jogging past mounds of fetid trash on the streets of Kabul attract bemused stares from locals, but the brief escape from bulletproof cars is a welcome break for ex-pats living in war-torn Afghanistan. For the small crowd of intrepid foreigners whose lives are confined to heavily-secured pockets of the Afghan capital, the weekly “Hash” is a chance to do something normal in an environment that is anything but. On a run earlier this month bodyguards and armored cars securing the route tried to be low-key, but the surreal scene of Westerners running was hardly inconspicuous. “Car at the rear, goats in the front,” bellowed the leader of the 12 runners, dodging a farmer’s herd to reach an old military fort at the top of Kolola-Poshta hill in a residential district of the dusty, fortified city. Pausing briefly to fly a kite on a roof with an excited group of young men, they ran past the gilded homes of former Afghan warlords, through bustling bazaars where men clad in traditional Muslim garb looked on mystified.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100817com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL JBC: Still a Palace adjunct FRONTLINE No hope for credibility FEATURE Kabul’s frustrated expats run the streets NO HOLDS BARRED An open letter to P-Noy AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A mad desire to read focus Obama policy feeds violence on Kabul’s doorstep FEATURE Petraeus holds out prospect of reconciliation with Taliban