Below is anonymous email from a Marine in Afghanistan: ...This place is definitely different from Iraq in a lot of ways. The only similarities of note are that our specific location here is also in the middle of the desert (an environment similar to 29 Palms), and knuckleheads shoot at us like in Iraq. That’s about where the similarities end, though. Whereas the Iraqi insurgents tended to at least attempt to stand and fight at times, the Afghans are a bit smarter and more nuanced. They use IEDs with a lot more frequency, and they rarely go toe to toe with us, preferring hit and run harassing shots, although there have been some occasions where they’ve massed together to put up some good fires. Generally, though, they seem to prefer the anonymity of the IED. Also, there are a lot of places where you feel like you are entering the 12th century. Mud huts, very few real roads (the whole country only has three paved roads and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX), no electricity, no running water, etc. In fact, there is absolutely no industrial capacity at all in this country. Everything that requires production of any type is imported—everything. No factories exist here, none. It really is like going back in time in some places. This is poverty on a level that I have never really seen in that many of the little towns just have no idea what modernity is. However, there are other areas that are working hard toward modernization, and this is especially heartening to see. One thing that I have learned is that poppy is king out here. In fact, I would venture to say that the notion that the Taliban represent a committed spiritual movement is a huge farce. In my view, their so-called spiritual commitment really has nothing at all to do with Islam, Allah, or any other religious devotion. Instead, their ideology is far more basic; their true ideology is greed—plain and simple. The Taliban make a killing off of the opium trade, similar to how the FARC did it in Colombia with cocaine in the 80s and 90s, and they don’t want anyone standing in their way—not the newly formed elements of the Afghan government, and certainly not us. Poppy is their cash crop, and they don’t take kindly to forces that jeopardize it. Although they like to paint themselves with a brush of fierce devotion to religious principles as their guiding light, primarily because such a portrait makes for a more inspiring, even romantic public front that is far more effective for recruiting, reality is that money is what these guys truly covet in my opinion. Greed drives them, not God. God is simply a smokescreen of symbolism for these guys to hide their true intentions from the ignorance of the local populations, and these guys are ruthlessly protective of their poppy. We go after it, though, because a huge percentage of profits from the poppy trade go directly to Al Qaeda, and cutting off those profits means cutting off Al Qaeda capabilities. It is a tough proposition, though, because we need to present the local farmers with alternative livelihoods, and convincing them that wheat and corn are suitable substitutes for the more lucrative poppy (at least it is more lucrative at this point) is challenging. It will be interesting to see how this whole situation continues to develop. The poppy harvesting season this year finished up about two months ago, and almost on cue many of the migrant farmers put down their farm gear and picked up weapons. We saw an almost instantaneous spike in violence beginning around the second week of May, and it has really been a steady stream since. We’ve also had some periods of really heightened activity. While the substantial increase in numbers of deaths are reported, what our citizenry are really hearing nothing about are the horrific wounds that are incurred on a daily basis out here. The intensity of the IEDs is causing catastrophic injuries that are really mind boggling at times. Our medical professionals out here are simply amazing, they have redefined the term “heroic” by their actions, and they have saved more lives than I can imagine, lives that had these events occurred just 10 or 15 years ago would have certainly been lost. However, saving those lives means also seeing some victims endure some pretty tough life-long injuries. While the deaths are reported in the news, I’m not sure how much the single, double, triple, and even quadruple amputees are being reported as well as the Traumatic Brain Injuries, but they are happening at an increasing rate it seems. Many of these IEDs are specifically designed to cause that—catastrophic injuries—and in many cases, they are succeeding. The idea is that the effects of a catastrophic injury causes vast psychological damage to entire organizations in ways that are far different than the more simple deaths. Many of our losses have been in ways so brutal that they defy description, and some of those who survived their initial wounds will have a lifetime of adjusting to make—as will their loved ones who care for them. Man can sure make some horrific weapons… We learn more about the enemy every day, and some of what we learn really makes me scratch my head in amazement at how warped some minds in this world are. For example, some of the IEDs these guys use out here really are remarkable for their simplicity yet effectiveness. Seriously, you have to wonder what would happen if these bastards channeled the same level of intellect, cunning, and innovation into the development of their own country that they do in developing these IEDs. Obviously, their priorities are way out of whack. I’m hoping the increasing heat of summer may dissuade them from operating too much, but I think I know better than to expect that to be the case... Personally, I don't think we can do much about the poppy issue (we've tried,...
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Posted
Jul 23 2010, 01:08 AM
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BLACKFIVE