Starring Tina Fey, “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” makes its debut on the big screen, an adaption of Kim Barker’s book “The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan“ which documents her surreal experiences in Kabul as the South Asia bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune from 2004-2009.

Having been in Afghanistan during the second round of elections in June 2014, I expected to either love or hate the movie. Overall, Tina Fey worked hard to make her character and the story line relatable, yet I was hoping to see a slightly more gritty narrative about the Afghans, the troops, the media, and the daily surreal fight for anything remotely deemed normal

Yeah, I know it’s not supposed to be a documentary ala Restrepo and I wasn’t in AFG for long but the day I arrived in the Balkh province, a donkey loaded with explosives was detonated just outside a NATO base resulting in me being covered with organic debris in the form of a tail part and mangled hoof – welcome to Afghanistan.

In my next post: Uzbeki warlords and the World Cup.

Photo attribution: Paramount Pictures and Terry Moseley

** No donkeys were harmed in the making of this post.