Cats, Diplomats and Marines

When it comes to caring for cats, Marines in Afghanistan have bigger hearts than diplomats at the Kabul Embassy, based on a story and photo essay in The Washington Post today.

The Kabul Embassy houses between 25 and 30 cats. Sometime in the past, a diplomat ended up with a scratch, which in turn led to a move to get rid of the felines, the Post reported. We all know what that means.

The cat crowd at the embassy fought back, pointing out that the resident cats -- including Gordo, Freckles, Dusty, Ferdinand and Maria Teresa -- have all been immunized, and since they are territorial, deter feral cats, vermin, poisonous snakes, rats and mice from penetrating embassy grounds.

More importantly, the cats provide a touch of normality for the staff of a bunkered down embassy. "We basically can't go out at all. We can't walk across the street; we have to take a tunnel. There are no kids, no families, and basically what we have is the cats," a member of the embassy cat committee told the Post.

Since the Post highlighted the Kabul cat fight with prime space on its website and in the paper today, I'm sure the fur has been flying at Foggy Bottom over this issue, with at least one or more high-level cat committees already formed and a lot of heavy staffing on the topic.

Pictures of adorable -- and threatened -- cats have much more impact than a photo of any lawmaker. Any cat picture is definitely worth more than a thousand words.

The Post also ran a photo essay of three orange, tiger-striped kittens rescued by some Marines stationed in an unidentified part of Afghanistan, including shots of Marines playing with, cuddling and sleeping with their kittens, putting the anti-cat embassy crowd to shame.

Real men and Marines love cats. I named my now departed favorite cat, "Sarge," after my platoon sergeant in 1st Battalion, 5th Marines and 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. His full name was Sgt. Herbierto Gonzalez Brewin, and he was one loveable guy who served as a steadfast companion for 20 years.