27 July 2009
Sangin, Afghanistan
Afghanistan as seen from Washington and London.
Afghanistan as seen from the shoes of pundits who do not land here, who often say we have enough helicopters. Any politician who says we have enough helicopters should be shunned for incompetence, lying, or both.
Afghanistan as seen from the eyes of Big Business and regional powers.
As seen from the altitude of the International Space Station: Most of the world's opium supply is produced in the area depicted. The 'Green Zone' is an artery of opium and a vein of Taliban.
As seen from the altitude of an SR-71.
As seen from the top of Mt. Everest, if Mt. Everest towered another 26,000-odd feet atop the about 3,000 feet of this hot Helmand 'desert of death.'
The Helmand River as seen from Google Earth. Nearly everything in this image is under Taliban control. British and U.S. forces (almost exclusively British here) are contesting this control. The British are making progress in the Sangin area. We are vastly undermanned and under-resourced; however, some villagers in outlying regions here believe that the British are Russians from the last war. Near the top of the image is Kajaki Dam. The British control the dam, but the Taliban are in uncontested control of the surrounding area. The enemy fired on a helicopter at Kajaki this weekend, and shot one down at Sangin a couple weeks back.
As seen from a British helicopter through my camera between Camp Bastion and Sangin. The 'Green Zone' in the upper left is the Helmand River Valley.
Some days earlier, an Mi-26 helicopter was carrying supplies on this same hop from Camp Bastion to FOB Jackson in Sangin. The big helicopter was flying low to avoid ground fire. Some news reports indicated that the helicopter was on a humanitarian mission, but actually it was resupplying FOB Jackson, where these words are being written. In this photo, we are on that final approach. (The specific final approach varies.) There are reports that enemy antiaircraft weapons are in Sangin.
The Helmand River through Sangin: British Soldiers on nearby FOB Jackson, such as Sergeant Major Keith Evans, were watching the Mi-26 on final approach. They believe an RPG struck the tail. Evans told me that he saw flame burst from the tail, and the tail rotor fell away to the earth. The large helicopter was carrying a sling load which oscillated to the level of the helicopter, seemed to pause, and the sling load oscillated back to the same level on the other side. The load and helicopter impacted the earth simultaneously perhaps four hundred meters from the perimeter of FOB Jackson. An explosion roiled into a fireball. Everyone aboard was killed instantly, along with some Afghans on the ground.
Our helicopter roars in at low level. The cargo is not strapped down so that we can exit quickly. So loaded is the helicopter that the tail gunner sits on a box of cargo. The lack of helicopters have left soldiers on FOB Jackson without mail for three weeks, while other soldiers have been stuck here for at least two weeks while trying to get back to Bastion. The lack of helicopters is making this and other places into 'FOB Hotel Californias.' Even General Officers are having difficulty getting helicopters out of the main base at FOB Bastion. A British officer told me that the British military refused to haul Prime Minister Gordon Brown, citing lack of helicopter lift. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gordon Brown insists that we have enough helicopters. He is wrong.
We roar into FOB Jackson and a second helicopter lands beside us. An Afghan with a sniper rifle appears on the scene.
British Soldiers from 2 Rifles rush to unload the cargo I came in with. The helicopter exhaust feels nearly hot enough to singe hair.
Our helicopter roars away from FOB Jackson.
Two Apaches overhead offer little protection against a lone wolf with an RPG, but these helicopters slip off into the sunset.
And that's where Sergeant Major Keith Evans comes into the scene. I laughed saying he looked like Billy Idol after the helicopter rotor wash, and Sergeant Major Evans laughed and kept on working.
Preparing for a mission. When they are not fighting, many soldiers watch war movies such as Blackhawk Down, Platoon, or Apocalypse Now.
After long missions in the heat, soldiers often come back to base, strip off the weapons and body armor, and jump into the cold river, uniforms and all.
Blackhawk Down, Platoon, or Apocalypse Now from Fiji. I first got to know Henry during the hard fighting in Basra, Iraq. Excellent soldier and well respected. On 22 July, Henry prepares to walk into the 'Green Zone' with other soldiers from 2 Rifles. An officer told me that the soldiers from 2 Rifles come from 32 countries. The diversity is amazing and enriches the unit, but sometimes I have difficulty tracking with accents, though Henry is very easy to understand.
The soldiers carry rockets of various sorts.
Many soldiers wear these headbands, otherwise the eyes become awash with sweat. The British helmets can be uncomfortable and give you headaches, and my American helmet used to do the same until a reader sent some 'comfort pads,' which make a huge difference. (Thank you for those comfort pads. They work!) The British soldiers carry tourniquets and a medical kit on the right side, so that when they get hit, it's easy to find. Important to keep those sleeves down and to wear gloves; just recently a soldier's rucksack caught on fire during a fight.
Metal detectors help ferret out the IEDs. 2 Rifles and attached units have taken 12 KIA and dozens of wounded in the past four months, mostly from IEDs. Despite this, morale is very high and some would like to get more fighting.
Into the Green Zone. Unfortunately, I was unable to go on this mission as I am assigned to another platoon, so this photograph was made from base. This soldier is fully into the battlefield.
Hundreds of bombs have been placed in the area. According to British officers, this area of operations, in and around Sangin, sees more IEDs than anywhere else in Afghanistan. A few days ago, soldiers from 2 Platoon, to whom I have been assigned, got flat-blasted by an IED but no soldiers took frags. One of the soldiers is tantamount deaf for the next few days, and I must yell when talking with him. That was his fourth close blast. Two in Iraq, and two here. Some men are hard to put down.
And there they go, courageous men into the Green Zone, the very beating heart of the Taliban. As I watched them disappear into the murk of trees and mud compounds, a soldier beside me in the guard tower said, 'They'll be in contact within twenty minutes.' And with that I said goodbye, and headed to a briefing on the enemy situation.
I cannot operate in the war without your support. If support does not substantially increase, I will be forced to abandon war reporting in September. There has seldom been much interest in the Afghanistan war. True interest has been starkly reflected in the support for this mission. Each journey into Afghanistan, since 2006, has bled out resources from my operations. Reporting from Afghanistan is not sustainable at this rate.
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