Tears from Kabul Book Set: Tears from Kabul

Cover Design by Damonza

Copyright © 2013 by Michael Buckley

http://mikga45.blogspot.com/

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This is a work of fiction.

Table of contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Brief history

Mailing list for future releases

Author notes

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Tears from KABUL

Chapter 1

The Afghan government had a huge problem on their hands. They asked the US forces for help. The meeting was set up for all the NATO commanders of ISAF to meet at 19:00 hours at an undisclosed location. The meeting had begun.

The Afghan president stood at the podium, his hands gripping the side of the podium so hard his knuckles were turning white. His face was turning a shade of red. He picked up his glass of water and threw it across the room, shattering the glass into tiny pieces when it smashed into the wall.

Now that I have your attention, with the draw down of forces, NATO forces would be leaving Afghanistan. The streets filled with people ready to erupt, fear could be felt in the air. Demonstrations and rioting would be next. He did not have the manpower to handle the public disarray and to chase after the Taliban at the same time. And poisoning of women in the schools had been increasing at an alarming rate. Women were succumbing to poison in schools. Death threats and everyday harassment had become a way of life for the women trying to get an education.

Lt Gen Carmichael would be overall in charge of the newly formed NATO force to stop the Taliban.

They decided from past missions that the man he would pick to run the mission was a SSGT Jones US ARMY. If there was a man who was better trained or better suited for the mission than SSGT Jones, he hadn’t heard of him. The other commanders from other countries kept their mouths shut. They all knew of SSGT Jones and they all agreed there was no one better suited.

General Carmichael told his assistant to get SSGT Jones over here ASAP. The General told the other commanders to get some coffee and the meeting would continue as soon as SSGT Jones arrived. The General would talk to the Afghan president while they waited to find out the time frame he needed the task force fully operational by. Then he would try to get some Intel on the Taliban group they would be hunting down.

SSGT Jones showed up thirty minutes later and the meeting resumed. The details why SSGT Jones was attending the meeting were gone through. The question now, what’s needed to put the group together. He’s aware of having two people from the British, Canadian and Afghan police. He requested five men from all Countries, sent over to include five Afghan’s.

The General would assign a full bird colonel to give information to SSGT Jones, any lower rank might be held up, or asked questions. COL Wilson would be the messenger. He would receive information from the Afghan president as well as the General. The information he receives given to SSGT Jones. So he can keep up to date, on any new information on the Taliban and the women in the schools.

The general and the President decided it would be best to use safe houses to allow the women to continue their education. When the military came to Afghanistan, all the old drug lords abandon their houses. They made out like a bandit. They rent the same houses to the military at 50,000 plus a month for rent, depending on the size of the houses. The houses vary in size, nice three bedroom houses, to mansions with ten plus rooms. The houses were nice but the cement on the outer walls, deteriorating and falling off the walls. They had plenty of houses to use for educational purposes for the Afghan women.

Arrangements made to give the NATO commanders one day, to pick five people each. The second day they would report to SSGT Jones. COL Wilson set up a meeting the following day at one of the safe houses, which the women would be using for their education. The meeting was set for 0:9:00 hours with SSGT Jones and the leader of the women whom they called Niki.

SSGT Jones the following day arrived thirty minutes early with COL Wilson at the safe house to meet Niki. Twenty minutes later Niki arrived; she stood about 5 feet tall and appeared to be slender. She was wearing a chadri Burga, it was hard to tell who she was under her clothing. Niki went inside the building and changed her clothes, she came out in western culture style pants and a shirt with a scarf wrapped around her head.

She was an attractive and intelligent woman, brown eyes and brown hair. She spoke better English, than SSGT Jones. She had a slight accent. SSGT Jones was a black American, who grew up in Brooklyn, and has his own accent. He was 6 ft 2 inches and weighed 230 lbs of solid muscle. He spent a lot of his free time in the gym lifting weights and he ran a lot to keep his body toned and strong. At 34, he could run the younger shoulders into the ground. His job demanded that he stay fit, other people depended on him with their lives.

Niki and the men went inside the house. The other women had arrived. They wanted to have a talk with all of them, to find out their side of the story. The women all wore chadri so the Taliban would not see them and torture or kill them. The clothing helped to hide their identity. The women had a family member escort them on the streets to a secure area. They went unescorted to the safe house from there.

Niki told the COL and the SSGT about her class of twenty-five, how a week ago it was thirty. The other five died when the class poisoned, with bottled water they drank. It tested positive for toxicity. The whole class had high fevers, they were vomiting, and blood in their urine. They went to the hospital and five of the women died from the poison.

She went on to say, "The women have been under constant threat and they were always harassed when they walk the streets. The men for the most part, do not want change. They want the women to stay in the house where they belong.

That is why Niki has strived to help the women, and herself to get an education. They were people. Human, just like the men were."

SSGT Jones asked Niki to make him up a list of names, people who could be trusted and he would get the list tomorrow. He observed the class; the students were there to learn. They took education very seriously. It did not make sense to him, what had the crime been? Why target them? They were women, dogs were treated better, and they hated dogs. The culture would be hard to follow and understand.

He told Niki to call him SGT Jones, SSGT she did not have to use. He would go by the safe house in the morning to pick up the list from her. They said their goodbyes and he left with COL Wilson. The plan would be in the morning to select two people from each country to be part of his team. They would all have to go through a special qualifying course. In which the COL and SSGT Jones designed, with the buildings that were in place.

The second person in command under SSGT Jones is SGT Clancy who resided from West Virginia. Both men lost their rank the same day back at the Norfolk Naval base. They sat waiting there for a few days to be transported to South America on a covert operation. The mission was set up to look like they were just taking the new destroyer out on a training mission. They had a few stops with training at various locations to make the training mission credible and to hide the actual reason.

The second night they went out to have a few beers at one of the local clubs, three or four hours later a big brawl broke out. Five Navy guys lay on the floor busted up, bleeding from broken noses, and busted up lips. The price SSGT Jones and SGT Clancy paid, one night in lock up and they both lost one stripe for their actions. The reason for the fight a few Navy guys call them army pussy’s and all hell broke loose.

General Carmichael had to bail them both out once again, so their mission was not delayed. The General personally made sure they both, lost one stripe, he was pissed. He had to fly out to Norfolk, VA to get them out, and beg the base commander, that they're needed elsewhere. 

The morning arrived and SSGT Jones and SGT Clancy arrived at the location for the countries to qualify for his team. They had set up fifteen rooms and blocked off all sunlight so they were pitch dark. Each person received three bottles of water. They’re told they could be in the room for one hour or as long as two days. They were free to quit whenever they wanted to by knocking on their door. No matter what happened, they had to stay in the room until the all clear to come out was given.

The people selected for the mission if they survived, would be promoted one rank higher. The mission is considered a form of suicide, now is your chance to back out! SSGT Jones told them.

08:00 hours the fifteen men all locked in the rooms. The trainers that SSGT Jones had helping him were given orders to fire a magazine of AK 47 rounds outside of each door. And one hour later, to set off two large artillery simulators near the rooms. The rooms each had one bucket inside. If the need arises to use the bathroom, the bucket is their new latrine.

Jones and Clancy had no intention on going back there until tomorrow. If they could not make it one night in a dark room, he had no use for them. The ones who made it through that stage would go on to phase two of the qualification.

Clancy and Jones headed over to the safe house to check with Niki and get the list he asked her to make. They arrived and COL Wilson was outside talking to Niki, she had tears running down her cheeks. She was crying so much he could not understand what she was trying to say. COL Wilson filled the men in on the events that happened. When the women left the school to go home after their class had completed.

The Afghan guard working for us, worked for the Taliban. The Taliban must have paid him more than he was making with us. He shot two of the women as they left the safe zone, both died of their gunshots.

The women were scared and afraid to go home after class. Niki blames herself, nothing she could have done. No one knew the guard worked for the Taliban. The Afghan guards around the safe house, all replaced with Canadian guards for the time being. A US Soldier walking down the street saw the attacks and killed the Afghan guard.

Niki slowed her crying and asked SSGT Jones for help. She lost her father and mother one year ago, both worked on the US military base, after work they headed home. The Taliban ambushed them both in the street; they shot them so many times they were dead before help arrived. She has two brothers, age eight and twenty-one, one sister who is ten. They knew that to go home would mean more deaths and COL Wilson told the woman they would have to stay at the safe houses, not safe for them to go home, at least not until the Taliban problem is taken care of. The remaining twenty-three woman has at least an older sister, or mother to take care of their brother and sisters. Niki has no parents, and her older brother cannot even take care of his self most of the time Niki wanted to go get her younger brother and sister to stay in the safe houses. SSGT Jones told Niki to give them fifteen minutes; they would have a meeting with Col Wilson and see what he has in mind.

Col Wilson reminded SSGT Jones this was not a day care service, they were not equipped to take care of little kids. Jones reminded the COL they needed Niki and without her brother and sister she would end up getting herself killed trying to get them herself. Jones asked Clancy if he was given two mraps and fifteen men could he go get the kids. Clancy said, He was ready, and he saw no problem getting them in one hour.

COL Wilson got on the phone with GEN Carmichael and told him what he needed, people and mraps in one hour. The GEN said, They would be there in 45 minutes. COL Wilson would