050513 How much does it cost to wash a bag of laundry in Kabul?

050513  How much does it cost to wash a bag of laundry in Kabul?

 

               In Kabul the drawdown continues.  The impact personally is that the office has been told everyone has to move off base.  This means moving to another base or even living 'on the economy'.  Renting enough housing in Kabul is expensive and the security for such is even more.  So that was not a feasible option (although some contractors do exactly that.)  Other options were Bagram (a base 30 miles away) or IJC (the base next to the airport).  Those are possibilities.  We don't know when or where we'll move since the Army doesn't know either since its dependent upon political winds and those can change directions quickly. 

               Another topic is costs.  The US has been in Afghanistan for about 10 years now.  There are whole industries that have sprung up to support US operations here and many Afghans have become rich in that time.  We were wondering how much the US pays to have a bag of laundry washed (see pic) so I did some digging and researching and I was quite surprised to find out that it's $100!  Just F$%#@ing amazing!  I rarely have $100 worth of clothes to even wash and the US Taxpayer is paying $100 to wash ONE bag of laundry for me!  THIS is another reason the US needs to just leave.  Urgh.

R/Chris