ABV!!!

So this thing is badass. Let’s talk stats. First off, it weighs probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 tons, and utilizes the same 1500 horsepower Honeywell AGT gas turbine engine. This baby eats diesel, regular, and jet fuel. It is equipped with a mine plow, with what looks like pincers that extend out from it. Sweet. The square tiles on the front and sides are Abrams Reactive Armor Tiles. Essentially, the explode outward with impact, negating the effects of any explosive charges, tank rounds, or RPGs. Of course it is equipped with the same depth of depleted uranium and classified armor systems as the M1 Abrams.

On the back of the crew cab we notice quite the improvements. I figure this is where they keep the line charge. Now, this is no APOBS (Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System), Bangalore Torpedo, or line charge you might think of. This is a powerhouse 1,750 pounds of C4 explosive. Watch out.

So on December 3rd it shot its first line charge in the city of Now Zad, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Operated by combat engineers, not tank companies, it cleared a path through the city in no time. Marines of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion dubbed it: “The Shredder”. Reports on the ground said Taliban radios were heard relaying the message, “Get out! The big boom is coming!”

The moral and psychological impact on the Taliban was significant. They all but left Now Zad and are now believed to be held up in Marjah. Marjah, as relayed in a previous post, is an epicenter for drug smuggling activity as well. The problem now is that the souther end of Helmand province has few citizens, and even fewer Marines. They are spread far and thin, too thin to actively prevent Taliban reinforcements from infiltrating the country through Pakistan’s far western border. The surge will have to deploy troops to this region, even though it will leave less troops for the population centers farther north. The border region is going to become a strategic position, for sure.

If the Taliban were able to reinforce Marjah, we might see some tough battles lasting for some time. I have faith in our Marine Corps, though. They’ll get the job done.

Semper Fi, Marines. I want an ABV for Christmas.

A Taliban militant with Afghan poppy farmers in Nawa district, Helmand province, April 2008.

In one year, Afghanistan produces enough poppies to satisfy 92% of the world’s demand for opium and heroin, according to the UNODC. The U.S. and United Nations reports that the Taliban pays up to $500 million a year for farmers to produce and smuggle opium out of the country. The illicit production of this crop provides the money that the Taliban uses to fight the United States, the legitimate Afghan government, and its allies.

Insurgent fighters are paid more than twice what Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and Afghan National Police (ANP) are paid. Plus, the Taliban outsources IED detonation and rocket attacks. Indigent villagers are paid up to $200 US to set off an IED against American troops, plus extra for any troops that are killed. For a family that earns an average of $300 per year, it’s hard to resist. Poppy cultivation is just another form of earning money for these civilians, and while a labor intensive crop, the average farmer earns $6500 producing opium, and is able to provide jobs for other villagers and students throughout the summer months.

What do you do? If I were in the same situation, I would think about my family, supporting and providing for them, perhaps making enough to send my kids to school, or even to another country. For sure, many of us would be producing opium in the same circumstances. However, it causes massive problems. Up to %30 of new recruits for the ANA and ANP are turned down because of opium addiction. The money from exporting opium and producing heroin goes directly to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, and it’s significant.

The world market for heroin alone is about $65 billion a year.

The center of Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation? Helmand province, where 9,000 more Marines are scheduled to deploy before Christmas as part of President Obama’s new war plan. The Obama administration feels that previous narcotics counter-measures, which focused on eradication, burning of crops, drove many farmers and influential tribal leaders into supporting the insurgency. Now, the U.S and Britain have taken a more indirect approach aimed at interdicting smugglers on routes into Pakistan and Iran.

The Afghan government is sponsoring a program aimed at farmers to produce other crops, especially wheat. The U.S. and British governments are underwriting and subsidizing the program. In the Nawa district of Helmand province, an estimated 4,800 farmers are estimated to take part in the program where they will receive seed and fertilizer at a highly discounted price.

The U.S. military believes that a town called Nawa, in Helmand as well, has become an epicenter of narco-trafficking and insurgency. The surge is aimed at dismantling the entire narco-terrorist system in helmand province, as well as disrupting and destroying Taliban influence in the area. With Nawa out of the picture, opium cultivation will become extremely less profitable.

These are not bad people, they are just like us. In hard times, they strive to support their family, and unfortunately, they are supporting the Taliban, the extremists, and the insurgency, not because they support the ideology, but because it’s their only option.

Specifically, episodes 5 and 6. I haven’t seen it yet, and had I known anything would have turned up out of it, I would have plugged the book! Dammit! There goes free marketing, huh? Anyways, check it out if you get the chance.

Lock ‘n’ Load on Showtime

Cocoa and I, June 2005

During my tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, I came across many different types of wildlife. Camels, camel spiders, terrorists, a giant porcupine, goats, and sheep. But I also ran across some very friendly dogs and cats. Dogs, as you know, are frowned upon in muslim societies as being dirty and lowly animals. They are often not treated well… until the right Marine comes along.

First, Afghanistan circa June 2005. The brown dog was, aptly and intelligently named, Cocoa. Not my choice. I would have called him Killer or something badass. Anyways, the dog became rather attached to me after I fed him a couple MREs. I would stand a four hour post during the late nights, and find the dog curled up on my cot, pictured here. He was a tenacious little bastard too.

I would have to pick him up and set him on the floor, where he would remain the rest of the night. He taught me a valuable lesson, too. Don’t eat the sausage meat from the chow hall. Seriously. If a wild Afghan dog won’t eat it…. maybe you shouldn’t either.

Nipples' pups

Cocoa wasn’t the only dog we had at FOB Mehtarlam. There was Nipples, named for her, you guessed it, nipples that almost dragged in the dirt she had so many puppies. I don’t have a picture of her, but I do have the following pics of her offspring.

Nipples' other pup

Cute little bastards. We used to have local vendors come to the base every Sunday and hold a Bazaar, or market, full of food, pirated movies, trinkets of Afghan civilization, and even ancient Roman coinage. One day, a local brought a monkey. Where in the hell he found a monkey in Afghanistan, I have no idea. So, we bought him for $10 US and named him George. That’s right. George loved canned fruit and sitting on heads.

Curious...

George also wasn’t vaccinated and was most likely a carrier for some disease unbeknownst to us, or so our corpsmen said. We gave him to the local Afghan National Army troops because of these “medical reasons.”

It was fun while it lasted. Shortly after George, we had to move bases to Asadabad on the Pakistan border, due to increased enemy activity in the region. Winter followed, and late at night we would burn fires in wood burning stoves on the guard posts. That’s when this little fellow would come by. I named him Kitty.

Kitty. That's right.

He would come and sit next to the wood burning stove, which can be seen in the picture. I would feed him MREs and he would come back night after night to keep me company. Nice cat, that one.

Let’s skip forward a year to 2006, where in Barwanah, Iraq, we discovered the cutest little pup around the motor pool. Our Humvee mechanic befriended this little guy with the aid of some chow, and named him Ratchet. He was a fiesty but lovable little pup you could always count on hanging out around the trucks and appreciating some leftovers from the chow hall. He loved to play but was gentle, and never bit a Marine. He did, however, run from the insurgents we would capture and take back to the base for imprisonment. Smart dog, huh?

Then, I found wild dogs scrummaging through our trash late one night. I was patrolling between guard posts at about 3 in the morning, making sure every Marine was vigilant and bringing coffee to whoever wanted it. It took a couple weeks for me to befriend the following dog, nicknamed White Fang, or as I called him, Whitey. You can see how creative Marines are with names. I digress.

After coaxing him nearer and nearer with beef jerky, MREs, and leftover hamburgers from the chow hall, Whitey finally let me pet him. He was scarred from fights with other wild dogs, all skin and bones, too. He instantly rolled over on his back and I rubbed his belly. This dog and I became inseparable. He began to head out on combat patrols with us, scanning ahead and becoming vigilant to help us out. The dog became so loyal that he would perk up and start growling silently when there was danger. Sure enough, a firefight would start and Whitey would be right there with us. The picture below is of Whitey and I in an ambush position on the Euphrates river.

Ambush!

For five hours straight we sat in this ambush. Insurgents had been gun running up and down the river in little skiff boats, and we were planning to catch them in action. Whitey laid down, never making a noise, the entire time. He was so keen on the mission, and so loving of his new master, he would have followed us to the death. I loved that dog. He was a great animal and I wish that I would have been able to take him back home with me.

Even in times of war, in strife, there is beauty. There is love, brotherly and otherwise. And there is compassion for all living things, whether friend or foe, human or animal. Semper Fi.