1 saylorfam  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:25:00am

This guy is the only one I listen to on the war. Boots on the ground

2 Buck  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:27:04am

But drugs are Haraam?

3 saylorfam  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:28:01am

But drug money pays for the explosives to kill the infidel

4 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:28:53am

ROPushers?

5 Kragar  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:33:58am

re: #2 Buck

But drugs are Haraam?

I'm guessing thats only if you use them, not selling them to dirty kafir

6 DaddyG  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:34:48am

Package Round-Up in fertilizer cans and arrange to have the shipment accidently intercepted by the Taliban. After 30 days we can shop in cotton and soybean seed.

(I'm sure it isn't that simple but a boy can dream)

7 haakondahl  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:36:17am

Support Michael Yon.

8 experiencedtraveller  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:38:30am

Linky no worky. Lizardlanche?

9 midwestgak  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:39:00am

Soldiers with limited helicopter support. Like being at Hotel California. That paints a scary picture.

10 experiencedtraveller  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:39:10am

re: #8 experiencedtraveller

Linky no worky. Lizardlanche?

Works now...

11 itellu3times  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:39:25am

Glen Cook, scifi writer, in his Starfishers trilogy circa 1980, modeled a semi-alien race after the Islamic tradition of exploiting the kafir and selling them drugs.

12 DaddyG  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:40:45am

Brave men and women all. The kid with the machine gun looks like my neighbors boy. A US Marine who just deployed to Afganistan. Dad proudly displays the Marine flag and a blue star flag on the front porch. I pray it never turns gold every time I see it.

13 haakondahl  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:41:17am

re: #8 experiencedtraveller

Linky no worky. Lizardlanche?


Well, the support link is working just fine :-)

14 FrogMarch  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:41:49am

Because I pay so little attention to the standard DNC ABC,CBS, NBC, CNN etc... news and so I don't know - Do they pay any attention to Yon?

15 MandyManners  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:43:25am

re: #14 FrogMarch

Because I pay so little attention to the standard DNC ABC,CBS, NBC, CNN etc... news and so I don't know - Do they pay any attention to Yon?

I've never heard him mentioned anywhere but here.

16 Kronocide  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:44:51am

The Taliban have to be freakin right now. I expect it to get pretty nasty in the Helmand. Too bad our leadership is not committed to victory.

17 Randall Gross  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:45:49am

The military has seriously changed tack here: They are going directly after the Taliban warlords who are the big dealers instead of pursuing the failed crop eradication policy that's been in place.
The photos & maps are great but if you aren't reading the captions you are missing a lot of meat.

18 experiencedtraveller  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:46:09am

Outstanding work with the google maps!

19 itellu3times  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:46:13am

Amazing photo essay, ... but as web page design, I dunno. Anyone clicking on Yon's page, the problem is it loads a dozen large photos, bogging his bandwidth, better he should put up much smaller versions, click to see large. Obviously LGF clicks alone are overwhelming his server.

20 debutaunt  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:46:47am

re: #16 BigPapa

The Taliban have to be freakin right now. I expect it to get pretty nasty in the Helmand. Too bad our leadership is not committed to victory.

Errors are always made in wartime, but the usual goal is to win.

21 Silvergirl  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:47:11am

The feeling of isolation has to be taking a toll:

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.

I'm sure they are getting exactly that Hotel California feeling--a dark desert highway where they can never leave.

22 Sharmuta  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:47:34am

Some incredible landscapes there. Stay safe, Mr. Yon.

23 [deleted]  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:47:35am
24 DaddyG  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:48:32am

Serious question here... What does a win look like in Afganistan?

Reduction in Opium trade, stable democratic government, what else? And what needs to happen to get there?

25 Kragar  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:50:53am

Gaza campers stage 'Schalit abduction'

Children in Hamas summer camps reenacted the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit in the presence of top Hamas officials, according to pictures obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

According to Israeli defense officials, more than 120,000 Palestinian children are spending the summer in Hamas-run camps. In addition to religious studies, the children undergo semi-military training with toy guns.

At a recent summer camp graduation ceremony, the children put on a show reenacting the June 2006 abduction of Schalit. Present was Osama Mazini, a senior Hamas political leader, who is in charge of the Schalit negotiations with Israel on behalf of the terrorist group.

In one picture, obtained by the Post, Mazini is seen standing next to Ahmad Bahar, the acting speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, distributing Korans to camp counselors.

"This sends a message," one Israeli defense official said, regarding Mazini's participation at the ceremony. "This is Hamas's way of showing Palestinian children that kidnapping soldiers is the correct way of life."

26 Ward Cleaver  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:51:44am

re: #14 FrogMarch

Because I pay so little attention to the standard DNC ABC,CBS, NBC, CNN etc... news and so I don't know - Do they pay any attention to Yon?

They probably yawn when they hear his name. His work doesn't square with their memes.

/sorry for the pun

27 Ward Cleaver  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:52:38am

re: #25 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

Gaza campers stage 'Schalit abduction'

Maybe Alan Rickman can produce a stage version, like he did with the St. Pancake incident.

28 Randall Gross  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:53:26am

re: #24 DaddyG

I would be happy to get out with a somewhat stable gov't in place, the Warlords of the south severed from the terror axis.

I have low expectations knowing the history of the region - the only person I know of who ever achieved serious, sustained victory over the warlords in this region was Alexander the Great, and in the end he accomplished it by marrying into the clan.

29 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:53:45am

Great pictures, great report.

My brother was there and he was fascinated with the Afghan people who were allowed into the air base to sell their wares. And he bought them! He was fascinated by how weathered they looked, and he admired them for surviving in that place which, he said, was really quite beautiful.

30 redstateredneck  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:54:11am

It is my understanding that Yon's desire to remain completely objective and independent means that he doesn't sell his work to any news source. He supports himself by the sale of his photos to individuals and, of course, donations.

31 Sharmuta  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:54:45am

That the UK soldiers are lacking equipment makes me nervous. I hope the West doesn't abandon the Afghanis again.

32 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:54:48am

re: #24 DaddyG

Getting rid of the Taleban would be the biggest single improvement, I would guess.

33 Ward Cleaver  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:54:54am

re: #24 DaddyG

Serious question here... What does a win look like in Afganistan?

Reduction in Opium trade, stable democratic government, what else? And what needs to happen to get there?

Given the strength of the whole tribal system over there, that's a very good question.

34 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:56:29am

re: #2 Buck

But drugs are Haraam?

Until you need a suicide bomber. Then they're OK.

35 [deleted]  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:57:00am
36 MajorPribluda  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:57:31am

re: #24 DaddyG

Serious question here... What does a win look like in Afganistan?

A win in Afghanistan looks like a win in Pakistan.

37 debutaunt  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:57:55am

re: #34 J.D.

Until you need a suicide bomber. Then they're OK.

Good - not cast in stoned.

38 Kosh's Shadow  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:59:32am

re: #34 J.D.

Until you need a suicide bomber. Then they're OK.

The word "assassin" comes from "hashish", as the assassins would be kept on drugs.

39 yma o hyd  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 9:59:41am

I pray Yon stays safe - he is, after all with our lads. And we just had news that two more of them have been killed there:
UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan

40 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:00:53am

re: #38 Kosh's Shadow

No kidding?
I've never heard that before.

41 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:02:05am

re: #39 yma o hyd

Bless them and their families.

42 yma o hyd  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:02:27am

re: #31 Sharmuta

That the UK soldiers are lacking equipment makes me nervous. I hope the West doesn't abandon the Afghanis again.

The UK soldiers lack equipment because our neostalinist NuLab government, in the form of Gordon brown, have been cutting their resources, first when he was chancellor, now as PM.
This has been going on for twelve years, never mind they had to fight two wars in the emantime.

Thats what LLL do, all the time, everywhere: disrespect the military. And thats why we're so criminally short of equipment there - not because The West is abaondoning the Afghanis.

43 Kragar  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:03:37am

UK Parliament committee 'regrets' providing IDF with equipment

The British Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee published a report Sunday on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, expressing regret that the United Kingdom provided the Israel Defense Forces with equipment used during its Gaza offensive earlier this year.

The committee also called on the British government to launch talks with Hamas, and urged the European Union to condition its ties with Israel on the State's peace efforts.

Committee Chairman Michael Gapes said Sunday that while his country's policy of refusing all contact with Hamas may eventually bear fruit, the British government should consider talking to moderate Hamas officials, as it had previously done with Hezbollah.

Moderates? I wonder if these people would have been looking to talk to moderate Nazis during WWII?

44 wahabicorridor  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:05:19am

I posted this on the overnite, but it's worth another look-see

The Brits are running away. Or trying to.

Britain calls for Northern Ireland style peace deal in Afghanistan as two more soldiers are killed in explosions

The suggestion of 'talks with the Taliban' came as Gordon Brown revealed the biggest offensive by UK troops in Helmand Province since the conflict began is now over.
Ministers said that talking to the insurgents who have killed British soldiers might be the only way to curtail the bloody war.
The Prime Minister insisted Operation Panther's Claw, aimed at clearing southern Helmand of insurgents ahead of Afghan elections in August, had been worthwhile.
[ ]
Meanwhile, Britain wants moderate Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons in a reconciliation process similar to the one struck to end the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland.

I dunno. Somehow I don't think the Taliban work quite the same way as the IRA. Even if the IRA did invent the car bomb.

45 yma o hyd  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:05:24am

re: #41 J.D.

Bless them and their families.

Indeed.

But it needs repeating: not one of our ministers, nor Blair nor Gord as PMs, have ever been at RAF Lymington when the planes with their bodies were flown back home.
Not once.

And they've closed the military hospitals - to save money ...
We won't forget that - and NuLab will not be forgiven.

46 Kragar  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:05:28am

re: #40 J.D.

No kidding?
I've never heard that before.

Before an traditional assassin was sent on a mission, they would get him stoned and give him a night in a harem so he would get an idea of what paradise was supposed to be like so he would have no fear of death. Drug use is a long standing tradition.

47 J.S.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:06:56am

re: #2 Buck

But drugs are Haraam?

In "The Ayatollah begs to differ", the author (Hooman Majd) goes to an opium house/den, in a religious city in Iran...The author writes: "...I could infer from the conversations all around me that another guest was due any minute. I sat down on the carpet again and lit a cigarette to keep myself awake. When the curtain was swept aside just a short while later, a tall young mullah walked into the room...My astonishment at his presence, for all the Ayatollahs agree that opium and other drugs are haram, 'forbidden' by Islam, grew to amazement as I watched him finish his tea and go over to the pipe and burner. He calmly spent the next hour puffing away, drinking tea, fingering his beads, and occasionally answering questions of religious philosophy, none of which I fully understood." pp. 73-74 ... (there's a huge drug addiction problem in Iran and elsewhere)...

48 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:07:17am

re: #45 yma o hyd

We took a turn to the left and Europe is veering toward the right, from what I read.
Is that accurate?

49 subsailor68  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:07:35am

re: #24 DaddyG

Serious question here... What does a win look like in Afganistan?

Reduction in Opium trade, stable democratic government, what else? And what needs to happen to get there?

What good questions, DaddyG. I'm not really clear on where we stand on each of these with respect to Afghanistan:

What's the Mission? (That is, what are we trying to accomplish?)
What's the Outcome? (How will we know when the Mission is completed?)
What are the Rules of Engagement? (How will we execute the Mission?)
Are the ROE's sufficient to allow us to achieve the Outcome? (Are the ROE's as written helping or hindering our troops' ability to perform the Mission successfully?)

It sometimes seems to me that we haven't really even clearly defined the Mission or the desired Outcome, but because of politics we are stuck with ROE's that may be putting our troops at risk for diplomatic or political reasons. If so, that's just not fair.

50 calcajun  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:07:51am

All I can say is, "Damn."

There has to be a way of waging "oblique" warfare against the Taliban and by extension the Drug Cartels south of our border. I know the ravages of unrestricted drug use--look at China and this country in the late 1800's and the number of cases of addiction reported. But I have to be believe that legalizing drugs -- or at least decriminalizing them so that the street value drops to virtually nil--can be done so as to cut the enemy off from a cash supply.

51 yma o hyd  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:08:04am

re: #44 wahabicorridor

I posted this on the overnite, but it's worth another look-see

The Brits are running away. Or trying to.

Britain calls for Northern Ireland style peace deal in Afghanistan as two more soldiers are killed in explosions

I dunno. Somehow I don't think the Taliban work quite the same way as the IRA. Even if the IRA did invent the car bomb.

Yeah - but don't forget that 'victory in Northern Ireland' was Tony B's 'finest hour' - or so he thinks!
If Gord and his NuLab cronies think this is an example - why don't they send Tony B to talk with the Talbs?
That prospect should make them run away very fast ...

52 JHW  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:08:24am

The Afghan Analyst
An on-line resource, hundreds of links, Afghan blogs, milblogs, dissertations...A huge treasure trove of information.

53 Kosh's Shadow  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:08:47am

re: #40 J.D.

No kidding?
I've never heard that before.

I just looked it up, and it turns out this looks like it is probably a myth that has been repeated quite a bit, but newer research casts doubt on it.
Links
[Link: en.wikipedia.org...]
[Link: www.straightdope.com...]

54 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:10:30am

re: #46 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

Before an traditional assassin was sent on a mission, they would get him stoned and give him a night in a harem so he would get an idea of what paradise was supposed to be like so he would have no fear of death. Drug use is a long standing tradition.

Teenage bombers are rescued from Taleban suicide training camps
I had read about it during the Iraq war but I didn't realize it was quite so routine.

55 yma o hyd  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:10:54am

re: #48 J.D.

We took a turn to the left and Europe is veering toward the right, from what I read.
Is that accurate?

Its certainly accurate as far as the UK is concerned.
The hatred of NuLab, even amongst the certified LLL, is palpable - and the Tories will definitely form the next government - the only question now is how big their majority will be.

56 Kosh's Shadow  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:11:21am

re: #43 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

UK Parliament committee 'regrets' providing IDF with equipment

Moderates? I wonder if these people would have been looking to talk to moderate Nazis during WWII?

Since the British have blocked sales of spare parts for naval guns to Israel, the US should consider all British defense companies part of an Israeli boycott, which is illegal in the US. No US business should be given to them, and any existing contracts canceled. Force them to sell their US subsidiaries. And there are some big companies involved here.

57 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:12:21am

re: #53 Kosh's Shadow

Thanks for the links.
They're interesting anyway!

58 FrogMarch  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:13:13am

re: #26 Ward Cleaver

They probably yawn when they hear his name. His work doesn't square with their memes.

/sorry for the pun

Yes. And the left considers some brave journalist holed up in a guarded hotel somewhere to be "on the ground reporting".

59 J.S.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:15:07am

re: #50 calcajun

I'm opposed to the legalization of narcotics/opium/heroin, etc. Absolutely opposed. On the other hand, I really do not believe that destroying the opium crops of impoverished Afghan farmers is going to work either...Maybe the solution lies in allowing Afghanistan to grow a legal crop for Pharmaceutical reasons? as is done in Turkey?

60 J.D.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:15:07am

re: #55 yma o hyd

Its certainly accurate as far as the UK is concerned.
The hatred of NuLab, even amongst the certified LLL, is palpable - and the Tories will definitely form the next government - the only question now is how big their majority will be.

Well, that's encouraging!
Here's hoping the majority here are disinclined to give Obama a second term.

61 _RememberTonyC  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:29:47am

i saw this somewhere else, so it's not my own idea, but should the pharaceutical companies buy the whole crop and turn it into legit narcotics like morphine?

62 calcajun  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:40:32am

re: #59 J.S.

Like I said-- decriminalize it so that the value of the crop drops and deprive the enemy of a cash source.

63 Kenneth  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 10:45:06am

re: #59 J.S.

Contrary to popular misconception, opium is not a great cash crop for the farmers. They grow it because the drug-lords/Taliban order them to. Opium is easy to transport over the mountains to Pakistan where labs turn it into heroin. The money raised from selling heroin are used to buy guns and fighters. The farmers gets a very small cut. They would far rather grow food, and earn a better income, but they need security to do that. That's what our troops are trying to provide for them.

64 haakondahl  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 11:27:36am

re: #63 Kenneth
Indeed. If a farmer grew rich farming, he would soon have an army and cease farming at once.
It seems to me that a key difficulty is the Afghan traditional defense mechanism, which is to split to factions and become ungovernable. The tribal "structure", the landscape (the *awesome* landscape!), the distances involved and the hazards of travel all support this strategy, but for two things: modern technology has eroded the advantages formerly conferred by some of these factors, and the ruthlessness of the taliban does not depend upon governance of any sort--only terror. Not since Genghis Khan levelled Bamiyan and everything on the way there and back "for 1,000 years" has this place seen such wholesale horrors visited on the populace as the primary target.

65 JEA62  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 11:30:29am

re: #59 J.S.

How many billions of YOUR tax dollars has been wasted on this ‘war on drugs’? How many corrupt third-world politicians have been enriched at our expense? How many young men and women have been killed in drug turf wars? How many more in overdoses or poisoned by uncontrolled drugs? How many cops have become corrupt taking payoffs? How many killed? How many governments toppled? How many international criminal enterprises enriched? How many terrorists funded?

If we legalize drugs we can control them. Keeping drugs illegal hasn’t done diddly to stop or evn slow down the folw - all it's done is make criminals, dictators, and terrorists rich.

66 Buck  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 11:33:30am

re: #5 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

I'm guessing thats only if you use them, not selling them to dirty kafir

They can't let a dog ride in their cab. They won't handle Pork at the supermarket cashier... But making and selling drugs is OK?

Not!

67 Kenneth  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 12:37:23pm

re: #64 haakondahl

Thank you for your perspective, as I understand you are over there. May God bless, and keep you safe.

68 J.S.  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 1:01:35pm

re: #62 calcajun

There is a difference between controlling poppies (that is, selling the produce to Pharmaceutical corporations for the production of medical goods as is currently done in Turkey) vs legalizing (in the West) drugs...(or having the US/Canadian, etc., governments becoming "legal" drug dealers -- ie, one goes to a "drug store" and purchases heroin.) The latter, btw, is part of Ron Paul's platform (which I oppose for a variety of reasons).

69 Render  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 1:38:34pm

Oddly enough, there doesn't seem to be a single BNP member in any of those pictures of British troops.

Not a single one.

===

"Not enough helicopters," mail not getting through, short on supplies...

Have I mentioned the logistics issues (enough) yet?

OBAMAS
WAR,
R

70 haavamaal  Mon, Jul 27, 2009 2:32:38pm

His dispatches are always welcome. Don't you wish all reporters were so talented?

Support Michael Yon.

71 Sacred Plants  Wed, Jul 29, 2009 11:34:57am

This artery is suffering a particular form of sclerosis: To escape confiscation the drugs will be converted into more dangerous states of matter. Hence this vein is collecting the enormous amount of risk taxes that this situation is imposing on the markets.


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