Spy Balloons Become Part Of The Afghanistan Landscape

In Kabul, Afghanistan, daily life unfolded under the watchful gaze of an aerial surveillance balloon tethered at a military base. Bryan Denton for The New York Times

Spy Balloons Become Part of the Afghanistan Landscape, Stirring Unease -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — The traders crouched beneath the walls of an old fort, hunkered down with the sheep and goats as they talked, eyes nervously flitting up from time to time at the blimp that has become their constant overseer.

“It is there every day except the days when it is windy and rainy,” said Suleman, 45, who goes by only one name.

“It watches us day and night,” said another trader, Mir Akbar, 18, his eyes following the balloon as its nose swiveled with the wind from east to west.

“I notice it all the time,” said Rahmat Shah, 28, a secondhand car seller, who was standing slightly aside from the other men. “I know there is a camera in it.”

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My Comment: The Afghan's should not feel that they are being specifically targeted .... some believe that it will only be a matter of time before Americans in the U.S. are also being watched.