ABSTRACT
On Great Massoud Road, in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, the US Embassy, ISAF barracks, and USAID offices occupy the site of the British cantonment of 170 years ago. The destruction of the British army that occupied that cantonment in the First Anglo-Afghan War is a cornerstone of Afghan identity. Although at 104 acres, the $750 million embassy in Baghdad is still considered the largest in the world, the Kabul US Embassy is on track to equal if not exceed the cost of Fortress America in Baghdad. It’s safe to say the last place I would choose to go in Kabul would be the American Embassy. Not only am I psychically ill-suited for cozying up to power or licking the boots of bureaucrats, but I’m also unfamiliar with the conventions of access journalism. I’m a freelance travel writer, with no pretenses about Ernie Pyle.
