Andrew Klavin's new piece from City Journal on his trip to Afghanistan: read it all.

"Now, there’s one thing I know for sure I’d try to put into a War on Terror movie, one thing I found out the moment I got through the Kuwaiti checkpoint and onto the air base: even at its best, military life in these parts is damned uncomfortable. The whole atmosphere of the place was depressing: the endless brown desert of tents and huts, the unsmiling bureaucrats demanding such-and-such an order bearing such-and-such a stamp, the latrines dense with disinfectant and pornographic graffiti, and the sleeping quarters with up to 12 men snoring and farting on the bare mattresses of bunk beds, their boots on, their packs for pillows. To be sure, there were a McDonald’s hut, a Subway, and a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation tent where you could watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 followed directly by Good Luck Chuck. But after two days stuck here on the bureaucratic treadmill, I was more than ready to hire a limo to drive me back to LA.

In my movie, the lead won’t have to get shot at to be a hero. Dude’ll get a medal just for showing up."

Five Days at the End of the World by Andrew Klavan, City Journal Autumn 2008