What its like in Afghanistan

[Boxcar]

This posting from a Canadian Soldier in Afghanistan is just a sampling of what our guys are facing. This you don't see on CTV or CBC.
They are giving it 110% the link to the video is below.

From one who is there:
"-if you've seen the video, look at about the 16 second point and you'll see my fourth guy jump the wall to join us in the killzone and add his fire
-so i asked him why he jumped the wall if he thought we were dead,
-his stone cold reply was that he wasnt going to stay on the safe side of the wall knowing his best friends had died a few feet away so he figured he'd come join us
-didnt know what to say to that ( you can see it in his face at about the 16 second point)
anyhoodle thats what sangin was like-the video is about 2.5 min long- the real life version is about 65 min."

 

[CDNBear]

This posting from a Canadian Soldier in Afghanistan is just a sampling of what our guys are facing. This you don't see on CTV or CBC.
They are giving it 110% the link to the video is below.

From one who is there:
"-if you've seen the video, look at about the 16 second point and you'll see my fourth guy jump the wall to join us in the killzone and add his fire
-so i asked him why he jumped the wall if he thought we were dead,
-his stone cold reply was that he wasnt going to stay on the safe side of the wall knowing his best friends had died a few feet away so he figured he'd come join us
-didnt know what to say to that ( you can see it in his face at about the 16 second point)
anyhoodle thats what sangin was like-the video is about 2.5 min long- the real life version is about 65 min."

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That's why I love our boys and girls over there. They'll do us proud.

 

[eh1eh]

My heart bleeds for them.

 

[Boxcar]

You can only understand it if you've been there.
The rest of us never will we will just spout off about something we know nothing of.
They do us proud1

 

[tamarin]

I just hope they get to come home. With Iraq threatening a meltdown, pressure on our troops could soar. It is a very dangerous situation and one not completely thought out by our current administration.

 

[Said1]

My heart bleeds for them.

Nice one. NOT.

 

[The Project Man]

Report to....

What is the notation for at the bottom of the original post? Anyone?

 

[Boxcar]

Do you mean the link to actual video on YouTube?
The comment is from one of the soldiers in the video.
The video is of a Taliban ambush of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Reports indicate that Canadian Troops were specifically targetted by the Taiban in an attempt to discourage them in the south. Don't think its working. There are a number of other videos posted of the Canadian's fighting in Afghanistan. The area looks like a scene out of the wild west. The video was shot by a reporter embeded with the troops.

Here is the blog of the journalist who followed the red devils he also was attached to American units.

These 3 links are about them in Panjawi:
http://www.beloblog.com/KGW_Blogs/afghanistan/2006/07/panjawi_part_1.html
http://www.beloblog.com/KGW_Blogs/afghanistan/2006/07/panjawi_part_2.html
http://www.beloblog.com/KGW_Blogs/afghanistan/2006/07/hydarabad_dawn_raid.html

"Sadly, it is through war that the soldier develops some of the greatest insights into our humanity. In those moments of silence that follow as we gaze upon the dead, we share a bond of knowing and of respect. He who lays before our feet has died for something he believed in. We understand him, not as an enemy, not as a soldier, but as man. He becomes human, and we become changed."

Whether you agree or disagree with Canada's involvement there is no denying the courage and dedication of our troops.
They do us proud.

 

[EastSideScotian]

Thanks for the Blogs, I have seen all the videos on Youtube at one point, the blogs are great though.

Going away to Basic myself later this month, personally I think it should be exciteing, and Iam sure terrorfiying when I get the chance to go to Afganistan.

 

[Tonington]

I think that really is a great sight, Canadians fighting next to Afghans. Good luck with the training, I'm joining the Reserves currently, and more and more I'm considering a military career when I finish my degree.

 

[Boxcar]

July 21, 2006

This is from Scott's blogs but his comments bare repeating.

The operations here in Afghanistan, as I have commented on so many times, began with the attacks on September 11, 2001. Yet, the operations of the past days that I was part of were led by Canadians. What has resulted is a bonding of US and Canadian forces never before seen. They are not just our neighbor to the north, they have proven themselves to be fighters and soldiers worthy of the highest honors that the US Army offers its own.
On our first morning of being attacked, I found myself holding back tears as I filmed Canadians fighting a fight that began on American soil. In interviews that followed, I discovered the depth of commitment that these soldiers held in their hearts, as they expressed their belief in purpose and shared their emotions, at times with tears. Two countries, each proud of their roots and history, unified across the border that distinguishes each of us.

In the last engagement I had while working with the Canadian soldiers, we were ambushed in a small village in the Helmand province. As a group of three of us were making our way towards the enemy, a Canadian squad leader appeared at our right flank, killing a Taliban soldier that was poised to shoot us. We had not seen the Taliban there; the Canadian saved not only the lives of two of his fellow soldiers, but the life of this American photojournalist. I remember refecting on the incident later that day... "Heros are not made through acts of glory, but by the simple actions of doing their job, and doing it well."

 

[CDNBear]

Thanks for the Blogs, I have seen all the videos on Youtube at one point, the blogs are great though.

Going away to Basic myself later this month, personally I think it should be exciteing, and Iam sure terrorfiying when I get the chance to go to Afganistan.

Where are you going for your basic?

Army? Navy? Air Force?

I wish I could do it all again and go with you. Even if not physicaly, my heart is with going to be with you, my friend, my brother.

 

[CDNBear]

This is from Scott's blogs but his comments bare repeating.

The operations here in Afghanistan, as I have commented on so many times, began with the attacks on September 11, 2001. Yet, the operations of the past days that I was part of were led by Canadians. What has resulted is a bonding of US and Canadian forces never before seen. They are not just our neighbor to the north, they have proven themselves to be fighters and soldiers worthy of the highest honors that the US Army offers its own.
On our first morning of being attacked, I found myself holding back tears as I filmed Canadians fighting a fight that began on American soil. In interviews that followed, I discovered the depth of commitment that these soldiers held in their hearts, as they expressed their belief in purpose and shared their emotions, at times with tears. Two countries, each proud of their roots and history, unified across the border that distinguishes each of us.

In the last engagement I had while working with the Canadian soldiers, we were ambushed in a small village in the Helmand province. As a group of three of us were making our way towards the enemy, a Canadian squad leader appeared at our right flank, killing a Taliban soldier that was poised to shoot us. We had not seen the Taliban there; the Canadian saved not only the lives of two of his fellow soldiers, but the life of this American photojournalist. I remember refecting on the incident later that day... "Heros are not made through acts of glory, but by the simple actions of doing their job, and doing it well."

Thanx for the quote, but everytime us Canucks stand shoulder to shoulder with our American counterparts, we hear the same thing. And it's true.

 

[cortex]

I really dont get it. What we see is chaos and hell and you all expect us to say--wow go Canada go!--Like this is what my tax dollars are doing. Show all the footage you want I will NEVER support this war. Those soldiers seen in the video are victims--they are being used. Thats nothing to be proud of.

 

[CDNBear]

I really dont get it. What we see is chaos and hell and you all expect us to say--wow go Canada go!--Like this is what my tax dollars are doing. Show all the footage you want I will NEVER support this war. Those soldiers seen in the video are victims--they are being used. Thats nothing to be proud of.

I am not a supporter of war, I do back the premiss of this mission, but reserve my opinion on the validity of its on set.

Whether you see THEM as victims or whatever, is not the point. I see them as brothers, that is not the point. Soldiers do and die because that is who they are. They are not political "beings" they are not "pawns", they are not victims, in their eyes. In their eyes they are upholding the beliefs of a better world through armed conflict, because their government believed all elese had failed.

I and many others, will not fail our sons, daughters, sisters and brothers, because of petty political posturing.

In the soldiers eyes, they are doing it for you. How can you fault that?

 

[cortex]

What their opinion is about what is happening to them is irrelevent ---in the sense that they lack perspective--

What do you think the German soldiers thought as they swept through Russia and France and Poland etc---didnt they believe that they were doing the right thing--

Hasnt it been proved --by Hannah Arent-- that evil is banal, that the mechanism of the holocaust was merely the sum of each man doing a specific beaurocratic duty which in its destructiveness far exceded the sum of each of its tiny parts. And each man in the system believing they were doing their duty and in many cases being proud of it.

What soldiers do is even more extreme and requires mind altering --even psychotic levels of rationalization. What they think about what they are doing has, often nothing to do with what they are doing.

You seem to demand that I forfeit my rationality and perspective because of their hardship----I will never do that. Never.

The danger of the so called anti-war rhetoric--is that it will cause the soldier to come back to reality--to realize that he has RATIONALIZED his being there. You do well to try and protect them from that if the government has no intention of regaining its sanity.

 

[Boxcar]

Have political agendas taken over the important work that is being acted out, particularly by the members of Canada’s Armed forces? Politicians and the public know very little of what is really going on, most of them are focused on their own or other special interests, or their need to preserve their political party. Canadian’s opinion is set aside as the arguments continue and our politician seek their fifteen minutes of fame, that leaves Canadians questioning our beliefs and place in today’s world.
We need to see a fair and balanced picture. Education is the most important weapon we have, what is written and reported is part of Canada’s history from which future Canadian’s will learn. The media seems focused on Iraq, while Afghanistan the original war on terror gets little attention. Remember this war is sanctioned by the UN and has the support of the international community. Afghanistan is not the same as the war in Iraq it doesn’t get the same attention. Canada’s soldiers are doing work over there that is important and worth the sacrifice.
Afghanistan wants our help we can’t turn our backs on them, the Canadian’s over there see that every day. This country is a primitive tribal society seeking stability and unity. Our soldiers over there believe this is a war that can be won. Canadians have to accept that this will take time. We need the same commitment as our soldiers to the future and must be willing to stick with it. Canadians can’t turn our back on these people, otherwise we turn our back on our own beliefs and on the Canadian men and women risking their lives for a just cause. We Canadians are isolated from the challenges that our soldiers face on a daily basis.
"The world becomes a different place when you discover that the monsters you dreamed that lived under your bed, are real."

 

[CDNBear]

What their opinion is about what is happening to them is irrelevent ---in the sense that they lack perspective--

What do you think the German soldiers thought as they swept through Russia and France and Poland etc---didnt they believe that they were doing the right thing--

Hasnt it been proved --by Hannah Arent-- that evil is banal, that the mechanism of the holocaust was merely the sum of each man doing a specific beaurocratic duty which in its destructiveness far exceded the sum of each of its tiny parts. And each man in the system believing they were doing their duty and in many cases being proud of it.

What soldiers do is even more extreme and requires mind altering --even psychotic levels of rationalization. What they think about what they are doing has, often nothing to do with what they are doing.

You seem to demand that I forfeit my rationality and perspective because of their hardship----I will never do that. Never.

The danger of the so called anti-war rhetoric--is that it will cause the soldier to come back to reality--to realize that he has RATIONALIZED his being there. You do well to try and protect them from that if the government has no intention of regaining its sanity.

Before we continue this discorse, you may want to pick up a history book. I would hardly describe Germany's attack on Russia as, sweeping across Russia.

And I demand nothing of you, I merely corrected your asertion. You can pick whatever side, platform, position you wish. I have mine, I merely wish to share and express it. Some people see or learn from such dialogue, things like the Soldier is a noble and valiant person, a brotherhood, a helping hand, a care giver. Whatever your position or view is, is irrelivant when orders are made and oaths are honoured.

 

[cortex]

Before we continue this discorse, you may want to pick up a history book. I would hardly describe Germany's attack on Russia as, sweeping across Russia.

And I demand nothing of you, I merely corrected your asertion. You can pick whatever side, platform, position you wish. I have mine, I merely wish to share and express it. Some people see or learn from such dialogue, things like the Soldier is a noble and valiant person, a brotherhood, a helping hand, a care giver. Whatever your position or view is, is irrelivant when orders are made and oaths are honoured.

A soldier is not a noble person--that is total bull!

 

[fuzzylogix]

OK. so let me get this right.

I should be proud of these soldiers because... they ARE soldiers and they are soldiering, and they are apparently soldiering on my behalf.

But I dont agree with the war they are fighting. I dont believe they should be there.


Let us have an analogy.

We pay doctors in hospitals to serve us.
Now suppose you posted a picture of a doctor chopping off someones leg and said, I should be proud of them because I am paying for them and they are taking a risk in doing their job because the patient has AIDS and the doctor could accidentally stab himself and die as a result.

Now, tell me that he just cut off the wrong leg.


HMMMM..... I can be proud and respect the doctor as long as he/she is doing the right job.

Should I be proud if they do the wrong job? NO

And I am not proud that our soldiers are doing the wrong job either.