Dawn is breaking in Afghanistan and for the first time since my arrival I am able to see outside my window. Jagged snowcapped mountains ring the city, and a light haze crosses the sky. I arrived last evening, back to Afghanistan for the first time since June of 2002. At that time, we had just "won" the war against the Taliban. Looking through an old journal, I found my thoughts on the scenes I saw in Kabul. I called it, "a corner of hell".

In the drive from the airport last night, to be sure the signs of poverty were all around. This is by most measures, one of the poorest places on earth. But there has been progress from those initial post-Taliban days. Many more roads are paved, and they are filled with cars. At night the hillsides are lit up showing that electricity in homes is slowly becoming the norm. The fundamentals necessary for economic development in the modern age are getting put in place.

Still, most women who you see on the street are covered in the burka, and too many people are living in makeshift hovels built from cargo containers and scraps from construction sites. The difference could not be more stark from my last location on this trip; the city-state of Dubai.

Just 24 hours ago I stood atop the tallest building in the world, the 140 story "Burj Khalifa" which is connected to the biggest mall in the world. There were $50,000 watches for sale alongside the latest fashions from the top designers across the globe. But this morning it is a different scene. From the richest to the poorest in one day.

I prepare to meet with the team here and find out what the political situation and their take on what is the outlook for this land, and for our troops who are camped on the other side of the snowcapped mountains on the horizon.

A text message told me of the attacks, and then the sirens. The Taliban launched suicide bombers into the heart of the city today. One government ministry is burning. Heck of a welcome on my first full day in town. We carry on our work. They will not win, not today.

The attack was "worse" than a suicide bomber; it went on for three hours in the heart of Kabul. It seems two small teams took over a ministry building and also a cinema. I heard the sirens about 10 minutes after the first bomb went off, it took choppers another hour to get there, but the Afghan forces got them out. Our guys are out in the hinterlands. Connecticut Guard deploying - I will not say where - but I think of them often out here.