Exodus Afghanistan: A Personal Story, Chapter 34, "The French Connection"

Baker and Abbas couldn’t believe what Hennessy had just told them ... that Yasir, Farid’s Taliban captor, was actually an embedded CIA operative. Baker said, “Wow ... I didn’t see that coming.” Hennessy said, “Took me by surprise too.” Abbas asked, “So what does this all mean?” Hennessy said, “It means that Allah must be with your brother ... or Farid has nine lives and he’s pushing it. Either way, it appears that he is relatively safe for now. Deep Throat didn’t give me any further details on that. He knew more than he was telling me but it’s obviously a delicate and volatile situation. He said he’d be in touch with Baker in a few days.”

(Author’s note: This Thomas Baker series novel is based on true events and contains opinion commentary. Thomas Baker is the ‘Sunset Playland’, ‘Sweet Land of Liberty’, and ‘Something for Nothing’ trilogy character as seen in the “Activity” section on this LinkedIn website. I’m using the Baker and company characters to tell the true story of Farid Nuri, a retired Afghanistan Army Colonel, a war hero and helicopter Medevac medic who worked closely with U.S. forces but is now being persecuted by the U.S. State Dept. for reasons they will not disclose, and possibly at this point, in their defense, they don’t even know. As you read this story, it is happening in real life, in real time, the outcome yet to be determined. Names have been changed and locations and incidents altered at the author's discretion, to protect the innocent in the name of privacy, safety, and national security.)

They were all still at the table in back of ‘Aggie’s’ as Hennessy told of his meeting with Deep Throat. The waitress had been around several times by now serving coffee and tea refills ...

Baker said, “Let’s make copies of these documents and send a set to your attorney, Abbas. Let’s go over them thoroughly and try to understand the poppy field thing. The visa refusal mistake part of Farid’s dilemma is pretty easy to understand and would be easy to defend in court, especially if there are no witnesses to the contrary. It happened so long ago. The poppy field incident, however, is more recent and more complex. It could have ramifications beyond our control, especially if Farid was set up to take a fall, and especially if there are witnesses who would benefit from Farid’s guilt.”

Abbas said, “I’ll have copies made and sent to her overnight.”

Hennessy added, “ It may be a good idea to take another run at Bromley, for all the good that might do. Maybe it will sink in that it’s safe for him to get involved here. The issue is not below his involvement, or his integrity ... or whatever his problem is with this. Deep Throat said that Bromley’s intervention, as a U.S. senator and with Abbas being a Utah constituent, is ‘necessary and required’ by the State Department for resolution ...

... ‘Protocol’ ... they are big on protocol ...

... He didn’t say specifically why, but he said that they, the State Department, can’t understand why Bromley won’t engage on this issue. Farid is an innocent man. Bromley will only end up looking like a good guy, a hero. I guess his fear is that he will look like a bad guy defending ‘an alleged Taliban supporter’. The guy is always on the fence, flip-flopping whichever way the wind blows in his political favor.”

Baker added, “Yeah, some statesman. Takes no chances. Stands for nothing but himself ...”

Baker had received an email from the State Department back in September saying that they had given Senator Bromley the information about Farid’s visa refusal situation, but that “he may not have all the information” ... whatever that means. Was there a rift between Bromley and the State Department? Is it a separation of powers issue? Is Bromley holding something back that he’s afraid to address? Whatever it is, the “protocol” was slowing down the progress Abbas and Baker were making, and it was slowly killing Farid and his family.

... You know”, Baker continued, “I don’t get all this ‘protocol’ business, anyway. This is an emergency. All bets are off when a life is in ‘imminent danger’, which Farid’s is. When you need to pull a guy out of a burning wreck you don’t ask for permission or follow ‘protocol’ ... you assess the situation, you take your chances of injury to yourself, you make the decision to help save the guy’s life, and go for it. It’s heroic sure, you’re taking a chance, but more important, it’s the right thing to do. ‘Protocol’ is not even relevant in a situation like that ... like this.”

They all three agreed, but still held out no hope for Bromley’s help. Yasir may be their best bet ... and Farid’s only hope. Baker is anxious to hear more from Deep Throat again, especially about Yasir.

Baker continued his thought about Bromley, “Look, all kidding and ribbing aside, there must be a good man in there somewhere. I’ve seen Bromley stand up for what’s right before. Once, maybe twice but that’s it. So, there is still hope if we can just get past his staff and have Abbas sit down with him to give him the whole picture, like only Abbas can.”

Hennessy stayed at Baker’s home in Logan. Over the next few days, he and Baker, and Abbas, reviewed the “poppy field” incident documents. They had Dr. Val Grantham sit in with them on these sessions for his always valuable input. Baker trusted him as much as he did Hennessy and Abbas.

The phone records and emails the State Department had provided seemed authentic, but there was always the chance that they had been doctored. But since Deep Throat had worked at the State Department, and was responsible for the documents in the first place, it was assumed that they were all legitimate.

The documents told a chronological tale of correspondence between various Taliban leaders and a French military connection involving a poppy growing and harvesting operation, and the ultimate production of heroin to be sold on the international market. There were U.S. and Afghan military references as well. The money would support the Taliban’s military efforts in Afghanistan, and probably line the pockets of its leaders for their own personal pleasure. The French involvement was unclear but obviously significant.

Further complicating the issue was the American involvement. Whether it was U.S. military personnel or non-military was unclear ... specifically made unclear for the obvious reasons. But logic says that it was military given the circumstances.

At one point in the chronology, an Afghan military colonel was mentioned, a medic, Colonel Nuri was identified by the name on his uniform flight suit. According to the correspondence, Colonel Nuri and his American colleagues had suffered mechanical problems with their two Medevac aircraft, Mi-17 helicopters, after being struck by a Taliban RPG (see Chapter 10, ‘The Fog of War’). They had put down in a field close to where the Taliban had been controlling and cultivating a large poppy field in the Kandahar Valley region near the Arghandab River. Farmers in a nearby village were monitoring and working the field for the Taliban in exchange for “protection from the Americans” which amounted to extortion, and for some sort of cash payment or permission to use part of the land for their own crops. It was a symbiotic relationship that was working well for everyone involved.

The poppy field was on the other side of the hill from which the Taliban had a good view and fire position on the Mi-17’s and their crews. It could have been a slaughter. They were sitting ducks. But it turned into a standoff as both sides observed each other and anticipated who would make the first move.

Something was obviously up. The Taliban fighters held their ground when suddenly a tank flying a French flag came over the crest of the hill. The commander standing in the cockpit, waved at the Americans, then the tank turned around and went back down the other side of the hill where it had come from. One Taliban fighter waved at the Americans, in a peaceful way, to come up to them. It was Ahmad.

Colonel Farid Nuri spoke the language, so, trying to prevent a fight, he walked up to them. What was exactly said was never revealed, but Nuri saw the poppy field. When he went back to his colleagues at the Mi-17’s he said that the Taliban were protecting the poppy field and they did not want a fight. He said to his colleagues, “Let’s just get out of here while we still can.” They were grossly outnumbered.

The mechanics fixed the helicopter and they all safely left ... to fight another day.

Apparently, when the emails and phone calls about the incident started rolling in, Colonel Nuri became the star of the show ... but not in a good way. Things got twisted around so that it appeared that he and his American and Afghan colleagues made a deal with the Taliban and French for a cut of the profits ... they took a bribe so as not to reveal the poppy operation. It looked like Colonel Nuri, instead of doing the right thing to prevent a deadly firefight, which he did, was actually compliant with the Taliban, accepted the bribe for himself, and did not reveal the location of the poppy field to his superiors ... all of which was absolutely, slanderously, untrue.

As the story escalated, and people needed to cover their asses, Americans, Afghans, Taliban, and French alike, Nuri became the patsy, the bad guy by “providing material support to the Taliban ...” by not reporting their location, and that was on his record.

And just for the record, what actually happened was that Nuri saved the day. He actually saved the lives of many Afghans, Taliban, American, and French alike. And he actually did report the poppy field location to his superiors, but apparently no action was taken by them. They probably had a stake in the heroin operation as well.

After digesting all this information and having a more clear picture of what had happened to Farid Nuri, Baker, Abbas, Hennessy and Dr. Grantham all met at ‘Aggie’s’ again (table in the back, three coffees and a tea) for a recap and to formulate a game plan to move forward. Still no word from Deep Throat. Still no word from Abbas's new attorney. Still no word from Farid ...

Hennessy asked, “So what do you guys think?”

Baker answered first, waxing philosophical ...

“The situation in Afghanistan is worse than ever. Between the Taliban and ISIS, and whatever was leftover from Al Qaeda, the country has been thrown back into the infighting and radical Islamic violence for which it had always been known. A natural breeding ground for hatred and terrorism. Hatred for America and its “Western ways” still fuels the overall political doctrine, while the hatred and abuse of one another among themselves is a daily way of life. They never learned, they never will learn. Ignorance, stupidity, and violence are on the rise again, mosque bombings are killing innocent Afghans again ... the religious nonsense is overbearing.”

Hennessy said, “Oookaay ... ”

Baker continued, “Personally, I’m sick of it. I’ve seen enough. I can’t believe I'm involved in this lunacy again. I’m supposed to be retired. If it wasn’t for the injustice imposed upon Farid and his wife and kids, and if it wasn’t for the sake of Abbas and his family ... and if I didn’t feel empathy for the many poor Afghans just trying to survive and make it through the day, I would have dumped this sack of shit long ago and be done with it ... and to hell with them. Let the Taliban have it. Let the greed, graft, and treachery of the ridiculous religious leaders, these moronic self-appointed clerics, and the mendacity of the power class, whoever they are, wherever they are, play itself out to whatever end Allah has in store for Afghanistan ...

... I mean for God sakes, the Ukrainians are getting their teeth kicked in by the Russians and they are still putting up a valiant fight. Civilians fighting side by side with the army ... while the Afghan Army drops their guns when the U.S. pulls out, and run from the Taliban like little girls ... and the civilians just take whatever comes their way. And now they are back to their old “Middle Eastern ways” of religious and human rights abuse. You’d think they would be more concerned with the well-being of the Afghan people and Afghanistan’s role and imagery on the world stage. Join the 21st century. I guess growing beards and putting down women are more important to them. So be it, then, and good luck with that. The world is done with you ... we have bigger fish to fry. Who are you people? ... get your shit together ...”

With that, Abbas just said, “Right, Afghanistan should be more like the United States. The world’s moral compass. You guys really have your shit together. No graft and corruption, no treachery and mendacity ... logical, thoughtful, selfless leaders. The world’s poster boy for a sound, sane government, humility, respect for others, and a peaceful, undivided, non-judgmental way of life ... live and let live.”

They all four just looked at one another, there was a moment of silence ... then they all just burst out laughing ...

John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762