Taliban Prevents Medical Care From Reaching Civilians

posted @ 14:09...

Here's my full account of yesterday's mission, in case anyone wants to read it.

We started out early, with doctors and medics and their trailer full of medical supplies. Convoying to a small, remote Afghan village, my job was to do a broadcast story on the great things we would be doing for the Afghan people. That meant giving them much-needed medical treatment. Whether it was a routine check-up or dispensing pain medication, the U.S. Army medical personnel were there to help.

But the Taliban had other plans.

We had received intel that the road to the village may contain multiple IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). So we traveled cautiously, eyes open, scanning from the roadside to the countryside for anything out of the ordinary. And then we got the call. The platoon ahead of us had run over an IED. There were no casualties, but a HMMWV (Humvee) had been disabled. This meant we couldn't proceed to the village until the route had been cleared.

We dismounted and stood there pulling security for several hours. It started to rain a little, so to protect my video camera I put it in the vehicle. It was just as well, since nothing was happening, good or bad. And when nothing happens, there's no story.

My shoulders ached from the weight of the body armor. I don't do this every day, and the conditioning isn't there. So I found myself backing up against the truck to relieve the weight, all the while staying alert to my surroundings. Finally, the NCO in charge of our vehicle said we could rotate to eat. "Ten minutes and you're done," he said. I got in, happy to literally take a load off, and frantically opened my MRE. Chicken Cavatelli. One rule about MREs: Don't let the fancy name fool you. I gulped down the mass, spilling the red sauce on my weapon and my pants.

We later walked back up the road to try to clear it of all the curious onlookers. My mom always told me not to stare at other people. It was rude. People in foreign countries don't know this. But then we were the ones with big trucks and big guns. They crowded into the road, and we knew that the big route clearance trucks would be rolling through soon. Using interpreters, we tried in vain to keep them off the road, but they kept milling around.

We eventually made our way back to the truck and continued to pull security for a few more hours. Once we got the call to head back, we turned the vehicles around and went on our way.

The mission to bring medical care to desperate civilians was ruined because of the Taliban and their IEDs, proving that they do not care for the welfare of the Afghan people. Even to the point of putting them in danger.