Strap-hanging

A few days ago, I was asked to write some remarks for the Ambassador to use at a Judicial Security Unit (JSU) graduation and a talking points memorandum for a meeting between him and the Chief Justice of the Afghan Supreme Court (the ultimate boss of JSU).  Of course, I only wrote a rough draft and the Ambassador’s people gave it a once over, but the foundation of what I wrote remained. As a result, I was asked to go out to the JSU compound for the event.

The JSU is a special unit of the Afghan National Police responsible for security of three national level courts.  Their responsibility will eventually expand to court security for the entire country.  The US Marshals Service is currently training them.  The event was to include the graduation, a demonstration of JSU capabilities, and a discussion between the Ambassador and Chief Justice regarding current and future security issues.  I was quite surprised at receiving an invitation given the high-level nature of the meeting.  I should not have been.  As it turned out, I did not get to be in the room during the discussion and spent most of my time waiting outside, strap-hanging.  That will teach me not to make assumptions!

Knowing that the US had spent roughly $11.5 million dollars on this program, I was excited to see the demonstration.  It was outside so I got to see it.  The JSU has staged three vehicles at one end of the compound: two police trucks and an armored Toyota Landcruiser.  As people moved toward the demonstration site, I eagerly awaited the climax of the day’s events.  The police loaded into their vehicle, an unarmed policeman playing the role of judge.  They all sat in the vehicle for a few minutes to simulate driving, I guess.  Then, all at once, everyone jumped out, weapons raised, immediately surrounding their “judge.”  The walked 50 feet from the vehicles, turned around, walked back and got into the vehicles.  Demonstration concluded.  Jaw completely open as a result of this $11.5 million demonstration, I looked to one of the trainers.  He shrugged and said that was all they could do.  I was dumbfounded.

However, I failed consider the unique circumstances of Afghanistan before passing judgment.  Three high-level Distinguished Visitors were present that day, each with their own heavily armed security detail.  One of the Afghan details was armed with AK-47s and a bag full of Rocket Propelled Grenade launchers in their vehicle.  Since a typical JSU demonstration involves flashbangs (used to simulate a bomb), it probably wasn’t a good idea to go all out given that most of the guards were fairly jittery.  This goes double for one of the Chief Justice’s guards who insisted on carrying his AK by the pistol grip with his finger in the trigger guard.

In the graduation speech, the Ambassador said they were not protecting just a single judge, but an entire justice system.  Yep, that was mine.  I’ll have to be content with that.  :-)