Matt Sanchez

Sex, soldiers and consequences at Bagram

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES

Sex, soldiers and consequences at Bagram
 

Discipline challenged by dozens of pregnancies at U.S. base in Afghanistan
 

By Matt Sanchez
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

General Order No. 1 prohibits any inappropriate contact between female and male service members. Contractors and servicemen fall under this order. These are the female quarters at Kandahar Air Field.

BAGRAM AIRBASE, Afghanistan – All American troops stationed in Afghanistan know Bagram, because they've landed there or are familiar with its reputation. BAF, Bagram Air Field, is a mega-base growing in the heart of Afghanistan. Despite technically being in a war zone, the former Russian base, which was commandeered by the Taliban and used to fight off American forces in 2001, is very much like Any Town USA. There is traffic in the morning as commuters try to get to work, there is a "neighborhood" where everyone comes to do their shopping, and there is gossip.

An enlisted woman whose tour was about to come to an end told me her story. She was being sent home because a man was caught in her living quarters. She insisted the man was legitimately in her room and contended there was no violation of General Order No. 1.

The order says: "Personnel are prohibited from entering the living space of the opposite sex, with the exception of personnel married to each other, unless for official military business. If entry is required for official military business, the door must remain open at all times."

The servicewoman was to be sent home the very next day, but she mentioned something surprising, a rumor she had heard.

"This year alone, they've had 55 pregnancies" of American servicewomen in Afghanistan.

Pregnancy is incompatible with combat duty and a one-way ticket home.

On May 23, 2003, a Marine staff sergeant gave birth aboard the USS Boxer, an amphibious vessel deployed in a war zone near Kuwait. Today pregnancy tests are mandatory before deploying to Iraq or Kuwait, but some of these 55 pregnancies took place long after these women had begun their 12-15 month deployments. At least some of these servicewomen became pregnant while deployed.

Sexual assault and harassment are a major concern for the military, and awareness classes are mandatory. Chief Warrant Officer and pilot Demetrio Castro of Texas instructs members of the Task Force Corsair Dustoff Medevac unit before the soldiers return home to Fort Bragg

"Without the General Order, this place, BAF, would be an enforcement nightmare," said Chaplain William Laigaie of the 82nd Airborne and senior chaplain in country.

The General Order says, "Sexual relations in a deployed environment have a degrading effect on unit cohesion, morale, good order and discipline, and jeopardizes unit readiness as well as mission accomplishment. Therefore, sexual relations and intimate behavior between individuals not married to each other are prohibited."

A pregnant women must be evacuated back to the states and usually face some kind of disciplinary action, at the discretion of her command. It's possible and probable that some women became pregnant while on "R and R" – the 12-18 days of leave about halfway through a deployment – meaning some women may have become pregnant on purpose.

"It is unrealistic to expect single, consenting adults (especially the younger ones) to give up their right to have (or continue to have, in the case of a previously existing relationship) an intimate relationship simply because they are here instead of at home," said Maj. Jennifer Caci, the CJTF-82/RC-East Environmental Science Officer, who confirmed the rumor of pregnant servicewomen in Afghanistan.

This is the military version of the Culture War, where the consequences aren't just about individual rights but the readiness and capabilities of the nation's defense.

Lt. Col. David Accetta, senior public affairs officer in Afghanistan, refused to comment specifically on pregnancies, due to privacy issues.

"We do enforce General Order No. 1, and violators are subject to the UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice," said Accetta, emphasizing that a male soldier, in such a case, would also be subject to punishment.

Chaplain Laigaie spoke of a "modicum of discipline and order important for the mission in Afghanistan." The chaplain is part of a unique unit, and a veteran of the Persian Gulf war. Airborne trained, he could actually lead the organization of men jumping out of airplanes, but even he seemed leery of the current threat to troop morale. The chaplain also confirmed the 55 pregnancies, as did two other officers who preferred to remain anonymous.

Co-Ed bathroom. There are fewer females attached to this aviation unit, so some facilities need to be shared. The sign reads "male", on one side, and "female" on the other.

Major Caci has protested the enforcement of General Order No. 1, and is much more concerned with women's health issues in a combat zone.

"My job is to protect the health of the soldier," said Caci, who monitors health threats from non-battle injury and is the senior officer of preventive medicine in Afghanistan.

"The 15-month deployments are already putting female soldiers at some level of increased risk because they go extended periods without well-woman exams, but when you add to it the potential of being exposed to STDs … ."

After seeing the effects of the policy during her two tours in Iraq and her current tour in Afghanistan, Caci believes strongly in her cause and is even willing to voice her opinion despite the official policy.

She recommends that condoms be made available, free of charge, to all servicemen, not just to prevent pregnancies – women in the military cannot be denied birth control pills even when deployed – but to prevent diseases that could have long-term effects, especially for women. In the Post Exchange, or PX, condoms are sold, but it is common to see boxes on the shelves ripped open, and the condoms stolen. Soldiers may be hesitant to wait in line to purchase an item they are not supposed to have any use for.

In Iraq, on Forward Operating Bases, or FOBs, there are plenty of posters and warnings to dissuade sexual harassment and prevent possible sexual assault. Females are advised not to walk in poorly lit areas or are encouraged to be in pairs or groups when out at night. In Bagram, I saw no such signs.

Bagram is deceptively normal, beside the typical fast food and bazaars selling everything from Persian rugs to intricate replicas of ancient swords. The barbershops are called beauty salons, where haircuts cost twice as much as in Iraq.

The rules on a military base are slightly different from civilian life.  No matter how hot it gets (and Kandahar, Afghanistan can be scorching) members of the military are not to take off their shirts in public.

In these beauty shops, manicures and facials are on the menu of services, as are massages by the Russian-speaking Uzbek and Tajik women. It's all legit – a supervisor makes sure no cubicle or table is too private – but the lights are turned low and the clients lay on massage tables, in their shorts or boxer underwear. The base hospital also has a bucket filled with free condoms for anyone to pick up.

"There is a measure of hypocrisy in the policy," said Laigaie. "We ask the troops to obey the rule, but this kind of looks the other way," he lamented.

The co-ed military

In some ways, the American military is a reflection of the society it protects. The chaplain sees a downward slope in the moral fiber of the services. Things have changed over the two decades since he was commissioned as an officer.

"If you allowed soldiers to form these types of sexual relationships, you'd hurt the unit morale," he insists. "Women would have inappropriate pressures placed on them."

But not everyone agrees.

"There are very reasonable clinical and public health concerns associated with punitive policies that prohibit sexual activity," said Capt. Remington Nevin, the former preventive medicine staff physician assigned to CJTF-82 at Bagram.

Women have served during wartime in various capacities, but in World War II, due to the need for males on the frontlines, females were given military occupations, mostly stateside. Women became even more integrated into the armed forces with subsequent conflicts. Today, females are still prohibited from direct combat in infantry, tank, battleship, submarine, artillery and special forces units. But they are present throughout the theater and heavily concentrated "in garrison" on bases like Bagram and Kandahar, where the relatively comfortable living conditions provide for luxuries like privacy and discretion.

General Order #1 applies to civilian males and females as well as military. 

"A lot of women in the military have a radical edge," said the chaplain.

The men who join the military are a small segment of the general population; a self-selected group who have agreed to put their lives on the line and willingly deploy into a war zone for a variety of reasons. If these men are few and unique, the females who joins the military are even more so.

Comprising just 12 percent of the total armed forces – more in some services than others – females in the military must overcome many more obstacles and social stigmas before joining. There are approximately 1,700 American women deployed in the Afghan theater of operations. And where males often bond during deployments, some females have had a different experience.

"I didn't really get along with a lot of the other females here on base," said the servicewoman in the parking lot who initially told me of the rumors of 55 pregnancies since early this year.

In fact, it is probable that another female soldier alerted the authorities to the presence of the male in her quarters. She was already speaking in the past tense of her ruptured deployment to Afghanistan and the probability of discipline once back in the States. Limiting your off-hour friendships to the few women on base does put females in theater at a social disadvantage.

Maj. Caci herself conceded that she wished there was more solidarity among the females deployed.

"It'd be great if the women were nicer to each other here," she said.

But the major insists that General Order No. 1 is a real health threat and unfairly penalizes females in the military.

"There are a lot of people here who would like me to just shut up about this, but there is simply too much evidence out there that this policy endangers our soldiers, especially the females," she said. "It's not realistic to expect men and women of this age to abstain."

Chaplain Laigaie sees a bigger issue – recruiting.

"If your daughter is going to join the military and have sex in a combat zone, the military will not be able to attract the quality of individual we need," he said.

As the chaplain, Laigaie formally and informally counsels all soldiers. He's very aware of how the current "hook-up" culture has an after-effect on soldiers later in life

"They have problems forming more permanent intimate bonds; divorce rates are higher," he said.

Laigaie insists that being in a war zone requires a different set of rules that do not apply to peace-time life back home.

Chief Warrant Officer and aviator Demetrio (Jay) Castro gives a mandatory sexual assault class.  The military is meticulous about mandating specific training.  In the Army, sexual assault courses are to be taught at least once a year

"All of GO 1 deals with moral issues," he said. "Beside banning sexual relations, the first General Order also bans the possession of pornography, the consumption of alcohol, gambling and religious proselytizing.

"A pregnant female will be out of Afghanistan in 48 to 72 hours," said Lt. Col. Accetta, who emphasized that a soldier found in this condition will not be forced out of the military.

In a subsequent e-mail, Caci updated the tally.

"By the way, in case you are interested, there were seven pregnancies in November and already one in December, bringing the total to 63," she said.

"This policy is putting soldiers at risk."

Caci was referring to the detrimental effects of long-term scars from sexual behavior, but despite the differences of opinion, Laigaie insisted he had exactly the same concern.

"Misunderstanding"

It's great to get an apology, but it's even better to get an official statement. 

Earlier this year, there was a bit controversy.  U-Haul and a the United War Veteran's Council had agreed to sponsor my trip to Iraq and Afghanistan.  Later, allegations of "wrongful fund solicitations" were made and the Marine Corps investigated.  After quickly dismissing the allegations, I began the battle for getting a public statement on the results.  The constant reply was "There was no charges, so there's nothing to make a statement on."  After a lot of hemming and hawing, a J.A.G. officer sent me the following statement from Colonel Charles Jones. 

On September 7th, Marine investigator Colonel Charles Jones concluded that "the questions over deployment and fund solicitations were misunderstanding, not misrepresentations. All parties were acting in good faith. There fore as to the topic, there really isn't anything further to discuss."

Major Amy Thomas (USMC)

"A misunderstanding" that I've given to the press and got little or no coverage on.  It's amazing how the media loves to report bad, scandalous news, but will do little to follow up or even retract original statements. 

Anyone who has dealt with any sort of military bureaucracy, especially the legal one, knows what I'm talking about. 

Musa Qala, the Turning Point

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES

Combating Afghan poppies and IEDs

'The enemy is not stupid,' confirms U.S. Army major

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Posted: December 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

 

Matt Sanchez

Editor's note: Reporter Matt Sanchez, currently embedding with military units throughout both Iraq and Afghanistan, has been providing WND readers with a glimpse into the war on terror most Americans have never seen.

By Matt Sanchez
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com  

 

KANDAHAR AIR BASE, Afghanistan – While the Afghan National Army roots out members of the Taliban from Musa Qala in the southeastern Afghan province of Helmand, a combined force of U.S. and British troops set up a combat perimeter. The job at hand for members of Task Force Corsair 82nd Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade is to re-supply the combat units staged around the perimeter of the "green zone," a strip of Afghan homes and center of Musa Qala.

Only last summer the Taliban boasted of having taken over Musa Qala after an agreement with village elders and British Forces created an opportunity for the Taliban to declare the small village as part of their territory. In 1994, the Taliban itself was birthed in a similar power vacuum formed after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989 and the inability of the floundering federal government to rein in the territorial warlords that have historically plagued Afghanistan.

(Story continues below)    

On Dec. 7, leaving Airbase Kandahar, Task Force Corsair provided air support for Operation Mar Karadad, loosely translated as "Fight to the Death" from the Pashtun language. Soldiers from the 1-508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a regiment that can trace its combat lineage back the largest battle of World War II, took up position in the large wadis (valleys) and rocky cliffs so prevalent in southern Afghanistan. 

The terrain around Musa Qala is vast and barren, but the soft dirt is ideal for placing explosives, and small caves could serve as fighting holes.  Appearances and perception are deceiving.  The ridge pictured above is between 100 to 150 ft. high

Corsair's Chinook helicopter unit, nicknamed the "Flippers," can move troops and provide soldiers with the back-up supplies necessary to remain in the field for a prolonged period. Road conditions in much of Helmand's desert landscape can be fairly poor, particularly for heavily armored vehicles. American Humvees are especially weighed down with so much outer protection. The British vehicles are more open, with a mounted machine-gunner largely exposed.

British Lt. Col. Richard Eaton, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand, spoke of operations continuing until the door to Musa Qala was "kicked in."

British vehicle with soldiers considerably more exposed than their American counterparts

The Afghan National Army has mobilized to enter the town, but there is danger at the perimeter of Musa Qala since Taliban fighters have been known to plant mines and Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, as a guerrilla fighting tactic designed to inflict casualties. Sunday, two days into the assault, the American flag was lowered to half-mass on the Task Force Corsair flagpole.

The danger for helicopters is especially significant. "Every mission is a combat mission, no matter where we fly in this country," said Maj. Craig Alia with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade and executive officer of Task Force Corsair.

The Mujahadeen, predecessors of the Taliban, were successful in bringing down Soviet helicopters two decades ago. Alia is well aware of this legacy.

"I've read on how both sides, the Soviets and the insurgents fought," said Alia in a New Jersey accent that 16 years in the U.S. Army with time served in Bosnia and Afghanistan has not entirely erased. With an interest in all sources of information that can provide clues as to how best to take the pulse of the Afghan people, Alia has an open mind.

American flag at half-mast. Names have not yet been released, but an American soldier has fallen in action

"In all honesty, I get a lot of good insight from Al-Jazeera," he said. 

"The enemy is not stupid," emphasized Alia, who holds extensive briefings on every mission from the routine "ring routes" that have names like The Helmand and Montreal Express, to complex air assaults like the one that took place last Friday on the 66th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. 

But once the men are on the ground, intel accumulated by S-2 (intelligence) officers needs to serve a more basic purpose – the supplying of bare necessities.

Water, meals ready-to-eat and bullets

As the CH-47 Delta model Chinook helicopter approached the area of the improvised landing zone, pilot Jimmy Valencia of Durango, Colo., searched for the green-colored smoke used to signal where the aircraft was to land.

 

But getting to the designated spot was a trip unto itself. Officials are sensitive about sharing the tactics, techniques and procedures – TTPs – used for flight in and around a combat zone, but Valencia described his flying as "a lot of yanking and banking."

The chopper moved along at speeds that left farmers below dazed and children covering their squinting eyes to see the racing aircraft.

The Chinook barely hit the ground as the Flipper crew slid out tons of cargo tightly packed on wooden pallets skidding along the adjustable steel wheels off the deck of the craft. Like passengers trying to catch a bus just leaving a stop, British soldiers grabbed on to the supplies as the chopper taxied forward. No sooner was the cargo unloaded than the bird took to the air again.

Formation of American Humvees along the perimeters of Musa Qala district. Only the Afghan National Army will enter the town, but the threat of IEDs and mines are a concern throughout the area

"This isn't the place to get comfortable," said Alia, a Blackhawk pilot himself who flew in the initial assault and helped coordinate the entire attack. The Musa Qala district and Helmand province are notorious for the cultivation of the poppy plants necessary for making opium. As the leading cultivator of poppy, drug trafficking underwrites the Taliban terror movement. Before the arrival of coalition forces, Taliban leaders had issued a fatwa or religious order banning poppy cultivation. Today, poppy production is on the rise, according to a report issued this fall by the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime.

Marijuana and poppy fields are easily discernible from the air, and soldiers commonly see the drugs grown by farmers as cash crops.

Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) and bottles of water are part of the re-supply for troops who will stay in the area until the mission is over

"We are not in the drug eradication business," said Alia. Although the U.N., Afghan federal government and U.S. State Department all have voiced concerns about the growing drug trade, it's difficult to pin down who is responsible for the eradication of illegal narcotics.

Streaking along to the target, the terrain in southern Afghanistan is flat and desert like.

"We've been told very specifically that poppy eradication is not our mission," reiterated Alia. President Hamid Karzai opposes aerial spraying out of concerns for the environment and health. Despite billions of dollars in international aid, the Afghan has an average life-span of 44 years.

With a Cheshire smile, Alia qualified the Musa Qala district as "not a friendly place to fly." Much of the Helmand province is considered a "hot zone" where enemy fire is almost a sure thing. The Chinooks are equipped with mounted guns and never fly without escorts. British and Dutch aircraft also have taken part in the operation.

Pushing it out.  As soon as we got to the designated drop off point, the supplies we brought went right out the back door, as the chopper pushed forward and we took off.

Still planning the days ahead, Alia scrutinized a jumbo map of the region that looked like the surface of an alien planet. The 82nd Airborne Task Force Corsair has been in Afghanistan for nearly a year, but Alia reviewed the colorful maps as if there could have been something different on them, a new edge or detail to ensure the safety of his pilots.

"I don't mean to sound arrogant, but we'll win this," he determined.

Download genericupdate.swf

Foer the Fibber

The lying dogs of war

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Posted: December 10, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

 

By Matt Sanchez

 

After running a series of dispatches from the Baghdad Diarist series, the 90-year reputation of the once prestigious New Republic depended on finding and positively identifying a woman with a melted face, a heavily up-armored vehicle nimble enough to hunt down stray dogs and remnants of a baby's skull that could be worn comfortably under a helmet.

This was the silly and precarious wild-goose chase Editor-in-Chief Franklin Foer led his staff, readers and reputation through to get a "soldier's introspection."

Before Foer could move on from the sneers and jeers of his detractors, not to mention the protestors from PETA, he had to throw up a smokescreen, or what is what is commonly known as an internal investigation. What came out, several months later, was a long, pedantic soul-search on how tough it is to prove what you know is right when the facts are just unwilling to comply. Franklin Foer is like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, constantly advocating for what the "American people want," but refusing to recognize that what they don't want are people like Pelosi or Reid.

Months after readers called the Baghdad Diarist series a sham, the publication decided it "could not stand by" the stories the New Republic solicited, vetted, edited, printed and distributed. This, of course, was code for Foer's followers to lament the passing of the old days when the "fake-but-accurate rule" used to govern ideological reporting.

You see, for people like Franklin Foer and many New Republic readers, the fact that no one would stand behind the stories, including the author, was hardly as important as what the stories tried to convey. It reminds me of those Duke professors who signed a petition condemning the white Lacrosse team players, because in the end the team players' provable innocence was just a distracting fact from the real issue. 

By the 6,000th word of Foer's "Fog of War" essay, it was plain to see Foer cared too; he cared about making sure everyone knew what a thorough, responsible, bright and blameless editor he was. He also cared about discrediting any criticism of the stories and chalking it all up to the amateur "right-wing conspiracy."

(Column continues below)

   

The Baghdad Diarist tales were several drama-packed "short, first-person meditations" from the front lines of a war zone. The prosaic author who was to remain anonymous – which is exactly what you want when you don't expect to be held accountable – was later revealed to be Thomas Scott Beauchamp, who just so happened to be married to one of the New Republic's "reporter-researchers." To Foer's credit, he recognized that putting a wife in charge of fact-checking her battle-hubby's war stories was a bit like putting Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., in charge of troop morale. In a moment of adulthood Foer writes, "there was a clear conflict of interest." Of course, the clarity of that interest only became crystal once he got busted.

Foer, never the shrinking violet, asserts his detractors weren't professionals, just conservatives, bloggers and pornstars. Franklin may have learned this haughtiness from his time at Columbia University where the righteousness of one's leftist cause is always beyond reproach.

In frustration, Foer writes that Gen. David Petraeus' spokesman, Col. Steven Boylan, took forever to get back to him, because he apparently didn't realize that a call from the New Republic in Washington was far more important than all that silly surge stuff going on in Baghdad.

No one had a problem contacting Maj. Luke Luedeke, public affairs officer at Forward Operating Base Falcon, the home of the Baghdad Diarist. In fact, when I returned to FOB Falcon, Luedeke told me he was swamped by major media requests. I specifically asked if Franklin Foer or someone from the New Republic had been in contact. Luedeke replied, "They called once, a couple of days ago and haven't called back since." This is what Foer called "pleading with the Army" for information.   

Once at Falcon, I just spoke to the public affairs officer and proceeded to execute what is commonly referred to as reporting.

The higher-ups at FOB Falcon said Beauchamp quickly recanted his Baghdad Diarist stories. I asked the Army if I could talk to the private and was told Beauchamp did not want to speak to any more media. As anyone who has been around the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan knows, there are plenty of jokes and rumors told just to pass the time, or as the editor-in-chief of the New Republic likes to call them, an opportunity to give his liberal readers the kind of imagery they need to justify those long therapy sessions and costly anti-depressants.

During his monologue, Foer repeatedly reminded Beauchamp, "You're not a professional journalist. If you got anything wrong or exaggerated things, people will understand; it's better to admit error than get caught in a lie." Ironically, this was the closest Franklin Foer ever got to being in the same situation as a soldier in Iraq.

Franklin Foer could have ended all this by just erring on the side of caution. At the very least, he could have apologized to members of the military after discovering the holes in credibility. Instead, he came to the conclusion that everyone else came to months before: The Baghdad Diarist was actually a Baghdad Dramatist trying to write the script for the next Hollywood anti-war film flop.

Evicting the Taliban

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES

Kicking out the Taliban

Huge Pearl Harbor Day air assault on Afghanistan

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Posted: December 10, 2007
11:29 a.m. Eastern

 

Matt Sanchez

Editor's note: Reporter Matt Sanchez, currently embedding with military units throughout both Iraq and Afghanistan, has been providing WND readers with a glimpse into the war on terror most Americans have never seen.

By Matt Sanchez
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com  

 

Lt. Col. Brian Mennes speaks to his soldiers before the air assault.

KANDAHAR AIRBASE, Afghanistan –American soldiers from Task Force 1-508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, using Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters, just participated in one of the largest air assaults in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001.

It was Dec. 7, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, and these U.S. infantrymen were taking part in Operation Mar Karadad, their particular contribution to the fight being an air assault on the Taliban-dominated district of Musa Qala in the southern Afghan province of Helmand.

Although the Musa Qala area of operations belongs to British forces stationed nearby in the Bastian Forward Operating Base, Task Force 1-508th – nicknamed the Red Devils, and who fight under the motto "Fury from the Sky" – launched its attack from the Canadian-controlled Kandahar Air Field, or KAF, in the neighboring province of Kandahar.

The district of Musa Qala is a small commercial center peppered with traditional Afghan calats – living quarters of entire Afghan communities surrounded by an outer wall and forming a compound. Helmand Province is known for being the world leader for the cultivation of poppies, an opiate flower seasonally harvested by local farmers to produce heroin. Sales from heroin have bankrolled Taliban violence, as members of this Islamic terrorist movement have sought to usurp the federal government of President Hamid Karzai.

The International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, is a United Nations-mandated coalition force under NATO command. Although more than 39 nations take part in the coalition, only a minority are capable of taking part in such offensive combat operations.

"ISAF's key military tasks include assisting the Afghan government in extending its authority across the country," says the official NATO website. The Afghan National Army, or ANA, is spearheading the operation in Musa Qala proper, as coalition forces fall back to cordon off the traffic coming in and out of the area of concentration.

Members of Task Force 1-508th board a Chinook helicopter

"We are here to support the Afghan National Army," said Task Force Corsair Commander Lt. Col. Jason Altieri, a helicopter aviator himself. The current operation is the latest military action in what appears to be a strategy of challenging the Taliban more aggressively.

"The enemy was dictating where the fighting is, when it should be the other way around," stated Task Force Corsair intelligence officer 1st Lt. Andrea Anthony, a West Point graduate on her first tour of Afghanistan. The air assault – which Airborne soldiers call a deliberate, for "deliberate operations" – has been in intense planning for several months. However, given the recent history of Musa Calat, members of the 82nd Airborne staff were confident the Taliban knew they were coming – eventually.

VIDEO: Soldiers load a helicopter with equipment to re-supply military personnel in the field

In September 2006, after an upswing in violence, the death of several soldiers and a Dutch withdrawal of forces, British military authorities came to a unilateral truce with Musa Calat Afghan elders.

"I fully acknowledge that we could be being duped – that the Taliban may be buying time to reconstitute and regenerate. But every day that there is no fighting, the power moves to the hands of the tribal elders who are turning to the government of Afghanistan for security and development," said former commander of British forces in Helmand, Brigadier Gen. Ed Butler in September of last year, during an interview with the Telegraph.

VIDEO: Missions for Task Force Corsair crews run the gamut, but they all have one thing in common, they're dangerous

The American ambassador to Afghanistan, Ronald Neumann, quickly criticized the deal: "There is a lot of nervousness about who the truce was made with, who the arrangement was made with, and whether it will hold."

A year later that question has been answered.

"For some period of time, Musa Qala has become a base for terrorists," Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said last week. "Hundreds of foreign terrorists have gathered there."

Members of the Taliban boasted of holding ground and occupying territory. They even invited the international press to come visit the town under Taliban control. Meanwhile, the Afghan National Army has taken the brunt of the violence as the Taliban targets soldiers for assassination.

Members of the 82nd All American Dustoff Medevac Detachment stand round the clock as a quick reaction force, or QRF, to move injured Afghans off the battlefield and into the Kandahar Air Field Hospital run by the Canadian military. Helicopters are the primary means of transporting the wounded, due to the poor roads and to the fact that the Canadian ambulance unit will not leave the confines of the airbase.

Task Force 1-508th members on Chinook helicopter

Three major explosions were heard the day of the assault, while deaths and casualties remain unconfirmed.

Maj. David Hanselmann, an 18-year Army veteran and professional historian, led the 305th Military History Detachment to witness the operation. The history detachment was formed to preserve the accounts and actions of servicemen and women during a time of war.

"Musa Qala is surrounded by our forces now and NATO air forces are striking some targets in the district," said Gen. Mohammd Zahir Azimi, a spokeman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense.

Images courtesy of Master Sgt. Richard Gribenas

Has U.S. forgotten Afghanistan?

Unlike Iraq, 'it's the good war, the just war,
the authorized war – the forgotten war'

By Matt Sanchez

There was no confusion about the reasons for the invasion of Afghanistan.  In 2001, the international community backed the United States military by sending both armed forces and financial aid.  Even France boasted of "European unity in international security."

In most people's minds, Afghanistan is the opposite of Iraq. It's the "good" war, the "just" war, the authorized war – the forgotten war.

The Japanese have donated funds for hospitals in the remotest regions of the country. The spirit of goodwill for the Afghans crosses all levels. Korean missionaries have sent what they feel is spiritual aid. Here, in Operation Enduring Freedom, there is international aid and a robust alliance. Military bases have a row of flags in front of them boasting of the united effort to stabilize the country. Yet this ragtag republic, once a kingdom and many times a conquest, garners less attention than its sister conflict in Iraq.

A land of extremes, Afghanistan looks deceptively like Denver, Colo., despite the occasional camel or the Mohave Desert, if it weren't for the open fields of marijuana and poppies. The craggy landscape is vast and mountainous up north, smooth and flat down south.

This is the "good war," we're told. But just as in the story of the prodigal son where the obedient son who stayed behind to do everything right felt forgotten, Afghanistan is often overlooked in favor of the wayward wandering of its sibling conflict.

Standing in the areas where al-Qaida operated, and looking at the barren landscape, it is striking how far removed the dusty sheep trails of Gardez, Afghanistan, are from the emerald Sheep Meadow in Central Park in New York City. No plumes of morning steam escaping from manholes, here there is only the dust on rocky improvised roads, and the metal Midtown skyscrapers are replaced by ore-filled mountains. Two places with nothing in common, and yet it is difficult to comprehend how the attacks leading to the shattering of the modern Twin Towers were planned in such a low-tech environment. The world is small indeed.

From the C-17 aircraft, life in the Afghan landscape looks like so many beige dominoes tossed between the countless valleys.

This country has known many visitors: Alexander the Great, the Mongols, Marco Polo, Genghis Khan, Persians, Turks, British, Soviets. Now, the United States is accompanied by several collaborating nations fighting under different banners – the International Security Assistance Force, Centcom, NATO and the "ghosts" operating in and out of national boundaries. The conflict in Afghanistan is both local and international, with as many rules and missions as there are interpretations of desert camouflage.

Unlike the luckless chaos of Iraqi violence, experts speak of Afghan flair-ups in terms of "seasons," as if this ancient nation were a living organism with a rhythm for malady and mayhem. Clashes in the north follow events in the south, both in a pattern mimicking the age-old trade of the famous Silk Routes through which the rulers of Rome had tacit awareness of the Mandarins of China.

A flight over country shows none of the urban sprawl of Iraq, the Afghan terrain being a natural fortress. Vast deserts could challenge the march of any army in the south, and jutting mountain peaks keep small communities isolated from their neighbors just over an impenetrable hilltop.

A picture of boys wearing sandals, robes and herding sheep at the snap of a long stick would fit right into any era before the birth of Christ.

The men are coiffed in thick turbans dignified of a Technicolored '50s Hollywood adventure film. In their faces are the etchings of centuries past and the borders of race that do not fit so easily into census categories. On farms, little girls run barefoot through open fields, their sparkling traditional dresses visible even from the heights of a Chinook helicopter, as their mothers squat near the walls of the calats, managing the extra fabric of their burqas in their open hands or closed fists.

Ask an Iraqi what needs to change and he'll speak of sewage, electricity and jobs. Ask an Afghan his heart's desires and he'll mention roads, a bridge and to be left alone. These people in their mud-made compounds want less than creature comforts. Their ancestors have always fought, and despite the sense of "old" permeating the society, there is a young bravado, the daredevil carelessness of a teenager who doesn't fear death because it's too far away.

The people of Afghanistan come from different backgrounds: Hazaras in the west, Tajiks in the northeast, Daris scattered in the former centers of power and Pashtuns along the border with Pakistan.

The Taliban, or "the students of religion," were the most successful at maintaining stability after the overthrow of a Soviet-backed regime and the consequent civil war. Fighting continued outside the cities, but in places like Khandahar, public executions were an advertisement of the new sharia rule religious leaders were determined to impose. Men packed into stadiums to witness the execution of a murderer or the whipping of an insolent. They made little noise and took care not to clap, since that too was against the rules.

Al-Qaida, or "the Arabs" as many locals called them, were allowed safe harbor in the Afghanistan of the Taliban, and some of the bases currently housing coalition forces were once training camps for Osama's religious warriors.

The military is much more relaxed here. The Marines themselves sometimes wear the bright, green, happy woodland "cammies" that would be entirely out of place in the Al Anbar province. Afghanistan is a "war by committee" following the polyglot commands of a multicultural military.

To say America forgot Afghanistan is only a half-truth. From Austria to New Zealand, the voting populations that have sent troops have lost the sense of urgency to keep up the fight. Like a popular television series that has seen better ratings, American audiences know the conflict exists, even if they prefer to change the channel to something more entertaining. Yet, although the land of the Afghans is so far from the people of America it might as well be an imaginary place, this war is very real.

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

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Trauma, shrapnel and the fight for life

An unforgettable day at U.S. Air Force hospital in Iraq

By Matt Sanchez

One of the rules for a media embed is that you're not allowed to show the faces of injured people without their consent. I had to keep that in mind while spending time recently at the Air Force hospital in Balad, a level three facility, which makes it the best hospital in the entire Middle East for trauma.

"Any doctor who has spent four months here is probably ready to handle anything," Lt. Col. Christopher Coppola told me. What set the newly completed facility apart from emergency rooms back home was the typical patient and "the severity and multiplicity of wounds," Coppola explained. 

A 17-year veteran and graduate from Brown University, Coppola was a trained pediatrician, which came in handy. The medical facilities saw local Iraqis when their injuries were too severe for the Iraqi medical system. In a bed, there was a young Iraqi boy who suffered from third-degree burns. He apparently fell into a bundle of flaming leaves his parents were using as fuel in the kitchen.

The hospital saw every sort of injury, from blast and gunshot wounds to burns and falls. Most of the patients were Iraqis, but that was about to change.

The alarm sent every available person to the receiving hall. Just outside was a helicopter landing zone, where hospital workers awaited all arrivals with a wheelchair and enough manpower to handle whatever came off the birds.

This time it was Americans. 

Two of the five men were in the operating room when Coppola asked if we wanted to observe the procedure. 

He led me to a locker room where the staff changed. Just a year ago, this facility was operating out of a tent, but now the building looked pretty much like any other hospital, except the staff wore combat boots and occasionally carried firearms.

We changed into scrubs, I washed my hands, put on a surgical mask and entered the operating room. We stood to the side to get out of the way of the dozen or so men and women who were working to keep two severely wounded soldiers alive.

The room temperature was just below 90 degrees, because that was more comforting to the trauma patients. 

During my travel throughout Iraq I have seen many injuries, bullet wounds, blast wounds, broken bones. Usually, I've witnessed these things on the ground, where there was plenty of dust, noise and the threat of another attack. But this Air Force facility was a level three hospital in Iraq, a newly built modern facility. Patients sat in the waiting room, nurses had clipboards and the surroundings were antiseptic, clean. There was an air of civilization built on a sense of security. Civilization meant wounds like the ones the young man on the table had were not supposed to happen.

"We have to be very careful, some soldiers have been injured in ways that aren't always apparent when they come in. It's more than a typical car accident, there are the added issues of shrapnel and whatever else can be packed into those things," Coppola said. He had a wry way of explaining procedures, injuries and situations. This was not his first tour in country, but he did want it to be his last.

A "completion amputation" was necessary for a limb that had been partially severed and was beyond repair, in contrast with a "traumatic amputation" which happened during the actual event. Between the two soldiers on the operating tables, there were examples of both.

The violence in Iraq has dipped dramatically, but there is still violence. These soldiers were caught in an improvised explosive device or IED attack, as the effectiveness of the enemy has been reduced to planting homemade explosives and crossing their fingers. Explosions often detonate without harming anyone, but sometimes they are extremely lethal.

The soldier's intestines had been removed and neatly placed on his stomach, and the surgeons where checking his thorax for any internal bleeding. The operating room was well-equipped and immaculate, but blood had spilled all over the floor around the table. I saw a surgeon take a mop and clean up the mess. There was no ego in this type of environment.

A nurse placed bandages on the stump that was his right arm. Every few seconds or so she took the bandage off, wrung the blood and fluids into a bowl and put on a new bandage. It was tempting to just see a heap of flesh on the operating table, but the patient had a face. He was a man, a soldier, a son, maybe a husband and father – an American. Watching the men and women labor to keep him alive and seeing his enormous injuries made any observer feel useless.

The patient's heart stopped and, just like on TV, the doctors used the defibrillator to run a jolt of electricity through the body. Muscles contracted and his limbs involuntarily jerked upward. The heart was beating again.

The soldier had gone into a "v-tac" – ventricular tachycardia – a rapidly increased heart rhythm in one of the ventricles.

The medical staff was focused and professional, the assistants responded to the commands as the surgeons tersely discussed how to continue. There was a feeling of dread, this one was "very sick."

In the operating room across the hall, his buddy was quickly losing blood. A voice came over loudspeaker asking for donors. 

Everyone felt it, the dread that time was running out, but the staff kept working. These people were willing not only to tend to the wounded, but to do so with engrossing commitment. They darted in and out of the room, ran big IVs, monitored vital signs.

We all have jobs or ways of making a living. But those men and women in that operating room were doing more than working, more than even saving lives. They were actually guarding hope, fighting to make every possible attempt, sparing no effort, for someone they had never even met.

The heart stopped beating, and the flurry of healers cleared the table as the lead surgeon, once again, resuscitated the patient.

This time, things had changed. 

Hemorrhagic shock, low blood pressure, multiple amputation, blood loss, fluid loss – the heart had lost the ability to contract, asystolic arrest. 

"Does anyone have any other ideas?" asked a surgeon in a calm, meditative tone.

"OK, I'm going to call it." He looked at a clock on the wall, repeated the time, others confirmed it on their wristwatches. It was over.

A female cried and a co-worker comforted her. Some of the staff left the room immediately, while others stayed a bit longer, maybe not sure what to do.

We all have jobs or ways of making a living. But those men and women in that operating room were doing more than working, more than even saving lives. They were actually guarding hope, fighting to make every possible attempt, sparing no effort, for someone they had never even met.

The heart stopped beating, and the flurry of healers cleared the table as the lead surgeon, once again, resuscitated the patient.

This time, things had changed. 

Hemorrhagic shock, low blood pressure, multiple amputation, blood loss, fluid loss – the heart had lost the ability to contract, asystolic arrest. 

"Does anyone have any other ideas?" asked a surgeon in a calm, meditative tone.

"OK, I'm going to call it." He looked at a clock on the wall, repeated the time, others confirmed it on their wristwatches. It was over.

A female cried and a co-worker comforted her. Some of the staff left the room immediately, while others stayed a bit longer, maybe not sure what to do.

There's something about the passing of a human life that is so spiritual, so undeniable, so final. 

Maj. Cliff Boyd, the chaplain, had been associated with the military for over 25 years. He originally left the service as an enlisted man, but came back after completing a degree in religious studies. He felt called to lead others spiritually, and was ordained as a Baptist minister before coming back to the military and deploying to Iraq.

Maj. Boyd read, as the hospital staff gathered around.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul."

The c