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| Terry Fox |
One of the benefits of working on a multi-national mission such as the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is the exposure to other cultures. Of course, this is all the more sweet when you are showing off the traditions of your own great country. So it was with great national pride that I brought three of my American colleagues to ISAF Headquarters today for the 9
th Annual ISAF HQ Terry Fox Run. My colleagues had no idea about Terry or the Marathon of Hope. Once I told them Terry’s story of courage and his tragic death they immediately agreed to come run 10 kilometers and make a donation for cancer research. The run was organized by members of the Canadian Armed Forces. There was a great Canadian BBQ that followed. The run raised between $8,000 and $9,000 for cancer research. Want to know more about Terry Fox? Check out the official Terry Fox site: http://www.terryfox.org/
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| Last year was the 30th Anniversary of the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope. |
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| Bad knees and all the four of us finished our 10k run for the 9th Annual ISAF Terry Fox Marathon of Hope on 2011 September 16. |
A few weeks ago one of my colleagues from the U.S. Army re-enlisted. Apparently it’s a tradition that the soldier who re-enlists gets to select the location for the ceremony. In this case the young soldier chose to re-enlist at the summit of the mountain behind our camp. It was a little smoggy that day but somewhere down there is the city of Kabul with its 7 million citizens.
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| On the mountain overlooking Kabul. |
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| Getting sworn in. |
If you’ve been following the news you know that Haqqani insurgents launched a suicide attack earlier this week in Kabul. Several locations in the city were attacked simultaneously, the most severe and sustained occurring near the U.S. Embassy and ISAF HQ. Once that attack started the Afghan police immediately responded even while taking casualties. The Afghan army assisted with heavy air support. They were supplemented with Afghan and NATO special forces and air support later on. Bear in mind that the initial responders to the attacks were regular uniformed Afghan police officers working security checkpoints in the area. They were lightly armed and had no heavy body armour. The attackers eventually barricaded themselves in a high-rise building that was under construction and were all subsequently killed in fighting that lasted for 20 hours. Afghan and NATO special forces had to enter that building to finish this fight. All six insurgents were killed. However, as is always the case, the police and residents paid a heavy toll. Five police officers were killed, eleven residents were killed, six of them children. Six coalition personnel were also injured.
International media have persistently criticized the capacity of the Afghans to provide security which after all is the whole reason all of us are over here. Let me offer a couple of thoughts on this if I might. Kabul is a huge city with heavy vehicle traffic at all times of day and night. The weapons used by insurgents are rifles, grenades, shoulder fired rockets, explosive vests, and occasionally larger weapons like a mortar. All of these are very easy to conceal in commercial trucking; some under the back seat of a car, or even under a jacket. This time, as on many previous occasions, the attackers disguised themselves in burquas to decrease their chances of detection. It is extremely difficult to deal with heavily armed individuals in the close quarters of an urban setting. Do you recall the footage from the Hollywood Bank of America robbery several years ago? That rolling gunfight lasted a long time and spread across a wide area. Those bad guys didn’t have rockets, mortars, or suicide vests either. Containing and controlling situations like these is not an easy proposition, especially when there are multiple simultaneous attacks taking place. It is chaotic, bloody, and frightening. The Afghan police did not run away, rather, they advanced on the attackers, permanently contained them to a building, and kept up the fight until relieved by the Afghan and NATO special forces. I can tell you that this response is not unlike what we'd see in North America: front line patrol officers containing the barricaded shooter until relieved by the tactical team. Check out these images taken during the attack and imagine yourself as one of the Afghan uniform police officers responding to this scenario: http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/09/photos-taliban-attacks-us-embassy-in-kabul-afghanistan-on-tuesday-september-13-2011/#2
It would be nice to see international media recognize the front line Afghan policeman’s view more often. They are paid poorly, are killed en masse when attacks like this happen, and are not considered very valuable by the population they try to protect. Did you know that in 2010 over 7,000 Afghan National Police officers were killed while doing their duties? The police are definite underdogs in this fight yet most decide to keep at it. They face huge challenges and without question they are moving forward. I think that being an Afghan police officer may be one of the most dangerous jobs I can think of.
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| Recently I had a chance to present a small memento of appreciation to some our Afghan support staff. |
Thanks for checking in.
Ken.
