Rescuing cows from the sewers and mis-reporting US casualties.

I have been particularly bad about posting this past week or so. Some of it I can honestly say was due to lack of time. I have been trying to work as hard as I can, research stories, meet and socialize with new people. The time I have had to write I found myself staring at the screen waiting for the beginning to appear. Well to its credit I think it finally showed up.

I have a lot I want to cover but some of it no longer seems important. Like the cow story. I will summarize the cow story like this. Yes, trust me this is a summary

I began to ride along with and photograph the ANP (Afghan National Police) Security Police. They kept telling my translator that they were the Anti-Violence and Anti-Protest Dept. what the hell that means is beyond me. I think there was a hang up in the translation but every time I asked what their specific duties included I was given the same answer and confused look. What we really did was not stop violence or smack around protesters, we ended up mostly racing through downtown Kabul in new Ford Ranger trucks with heavy machine gun mounts in a 6 truck convoy and 6 or 7 officers per truck, from round-a-bout to round-a-bout where they would dismount and begin to randomly piss off the population. During one of our piss off missions, I began to photograph a group of small children who were busy fixing a gas powered generator/air compressor combination that they run on the side of the road. Not long after this their cow wandered towards traffic and fell into one of the open sewage/drainage ditches that sit on the side of every road in Kabul. These concrete ditches are in some places almost 5 feet deep; they are all nasty and smell worse than they look. This one was no exception. Immediately the three children began to cry and panic (honestly their father may well have beaten the living hell out of them for possibly losing the cow). My interpreter Matin and I went over to try and figure out what all the screaming was about. Seeing the cow we told the 40 or so police officers standing around pissing off motorists to do something and received no help. So I began to photograph them doing nothing while the kids screamed and panicked and Matin pleaded that they help us out.

Once the camera started clicking and they realized what I was shooting things started to happen. Eventually with some awesomely hare brained attempts I explained that the cow couldn’t weigh more than 600 pounds (a small and sickly cow honestly) and with 6-8 of us we should be able to safely (for all involved) lift the cow out.

They stared at me.

We got some ropes and such under the now terrified cow and sure enough we lift that cow out of the stink that came up past her knees. There was some backslapping and nods of good work. Personally I was a bit put off that Matin and I were the reason the cow seemed to be an issue and not a joke.  Minutes later we were back racing around the city making friends.

I have since spent many hours photographing and hanging out with the CNPA (Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan) as well hoping to catch some shots of them busting some evildoer with hundreds of kilos of opium or hashish. I liked the guys but couldn’t help but feel like the effects they were having were less than significant. They were trained but not particularly well equipped (they have one dog and handler who apparently has Friday off so no dogs are used on Fridays patrols). The general consensus is that the drug lords are connected to those in power and in some cases are those in power. So you can see how interdiction is simply a term not a plan. The guys I dealt with seemed genuine but acknowledged their lack of impact with frustration.

I went out at 2 am with the guys and planned on going back out with their second team at 8:30 am. I got home at 530 am and woke up at 8. While eating breakfast and getting ready to leave I was told about a bombing on the airport road here in Kabul.

This was a big deal since there hasn’t been a bombing in Kabul in some time. So I bolted out the door to head to the scene. Make of it what you will but the bombing was a few hundred yards away from where we had successfully retrieved Bessie the cow from the sewer two days earlier.

As I approached the scene I asked a female US soldier where I could be and she politely pointed out the crime scene tape and I began to shoot. That was the last bit of polite conversation I had with any US military personnel for the rest of the day.

After a camera was taken away from Paula Bronstein of Getty Images for taking a picture that she didn’t actually take of an American security convoy (which by the way she is legally allowed to do) I backed off. Americans, who were not wearing uniforms, did not have IDs or the slightest regard for professional media were running the bomb scene. They did have well-established beards though. I first thought they had to be from a private security company like DynCorp, Triple Canopy or Blackwater. I would not have thought that any professional soldier or Marine would act this way when not actively threatened by anyone. It seems as though I was wrong, well I have been wrong before and probably will be again.

Paula and I were arguing with a few of them about what is and is not allowed to be photographed, how to check the camera to see what photos she took and so on. A few minutes later the RSO (regional security officer) from the US Embassy walked over to find out what we were constantly yelling about. He listened to us, explained his position and promised to get answers for us. You know, he was professional. A minute or two later he returned to tell us that they were Military and he had no authority over them but he would continue to try and talk to them. Paula gets on the phone to the Embassy and I soon realize that they are Special Forces and not private contractors, which confused me even more. These guys are supposed to be the best and most professional of the military. They were acting like half drunk jocks and high school party.

Finally they came back over took photos of us, took her name and press pass numbers, I don’t have a press pass so I shut up and stood back. I was now simply a member of the audience. They threatened to arrest…excuse me “detain” us for security reason.  They also had no patience for people who interfered with the US military during a recovery operation. His words. He explained with expletives that we ignored warnings about no photos and that they reacted for the security of the troops, they have families back home who could face retribution if their identities were known. Paula to her credit laughed.  Who the hell would see a photo and be able to identify Spec. Jones of the 82^nd Airborne and make a call to kidnap his/her family member living back in Topeka.

I did however pick up the vibe that the words “recovery operation” meant US casualties. We all could see that two of the vehicles were an armored truck and SUV that were like the ones used in town by all of the ISAF/NATO troops and security firms. I began to push around Matin to talk to as many Afghan soldiers and cops providing security and cleaning up the mess to find out if any Americans were injured or killed. At this point the official numbers are 6 dead and 14 injured (not including the assbag who blew himself up) he came back with several reports that there were 2-3 US Special Forces guys killed, and he told me that he was told this by several people including a member of the Afghan version of the FBI.

This seemed to jive with the aggressiveness of the soldiers and fact that the two trucks were taken away on flatbed trucks while he civilian vehicles were left behind to be pushed or pulled off the road by the ANPI sent Matin around again to try and get more information about the unconfirmed US casualties. He came back again repeating the same numbers and stories. We drove back to my guesthouse to upload, caption and send the photos off. I called Virginia to ask how to describe the possibility of US casualties; she agreed that I could say “unconfirmed reports” but that I needed to find out ASAP. 
Unfortunately, I had set up a photo shoot with the Afghan Women’s Boxing team (at least they will be in 2012 in London, right now they are simply Afghan women who box). I set up this shoot with 8 boxers, the trainer and the gym everyone was eager to leave because of the security concerns after the bombing etc. my two hour time slot was cut to under an hour. I shot fast, and I shot some good stuff in that time frame too. I finished up and we were on the way back to the guesthouse again when I thought about how strange of a day I just had. I spoke to a few people who have been doing this longer than I have (this was my second bombing so I feel pretty new at this) and the general agreement was that if the US didn’t admit that there were US casualties they didn’t happen. I wanted to argue that BBC reported 2 US injuries and the CNN was only reporting the Afghans killed. I felt that if it was any member of SF that was killed they would not report it if they didn’t have to. Virg, stepped in and said that she has not experienced the US hiding their own dead before. Not that it cant or doesn’t happen but that NO one else is reporting US dead in bombing so I probably shouldn’t either. The problem was I already had. The good (so to speak) news was also bad news for me, I sent the photos to Getty since they were the only contact I have in NY and Paula shoots for them anyway so they had it covered. I didn’t think about sending the pics to the papers like NYtimes or Washington Post etc. I for the life of me couldn’t tell you why I didn’t think to do that too but I didn’t. So luckily the average person wont know that I effed up and was reporting something I couldn’t prove and that it seemed was not true to begin with.

It sounds as though the Afghan Police and the people that Matin spoke to were either lying, didn’t understand the facts or that there was a translation error. I was told by and AP reporter last night that her sources and article said that the men in the trucks crawled out of their vehicles, weapons drawn dragging their wounded from the wrecks and moved towards the trees and cover nearby to secure the area and wait for ISAF/NATO to show up.  Naturally I felt like an ass for not getting my information straight and hoped that Getty didn’t think of me as a sensationalist creating stories to get his photos out instead of established shooters. Although not highly likely it is a reasonable fear for me to have after figuring out I was wrong.

 I started the morning with guns being pointed at me, stepping over blood and car parts, watching a young man who had the terrible job of picking up the parts of human flesh that were missed during the original clean up, with a plastic shopping bag and put the pieces in a torn up US AID wheat bag. Then in under an hour I was shooting a human-interest type story on young Afghan women who were defying conventional understanding and becoming skilled boxers.  

I found it odd that I slept well that night.

The next day while on patrol again with CNPA, this time without the dog as I already explained, I had a run in with the Brits. Matin and I were talking while we were waiting for another car to be searched two Land Cruisers rolled past us on the road. (We are in a fenced in area just off the road near one of Kabul’s four road entrances) and I can see the driver and passengers heads turn looking at us standing there. I see a hand point over towards the entrance of our paddock area and I think, “shit here we go again”.

Matin gets nervous and asks me what do I think they want and what should he tell the CNPA officers who are watching with confusion as two unmarked, obviously foreign vehicles are pulling into their lot. I told him that they most likely wanted to talk to me and I would find out soon enough. Seconds later 5 men popped out of the trucks in unison, weapons in hand, body armor on, earpieces in, all five in civilian clothes. four of them took up security positions facing out away from the truck while the fifth strode up fast to me with rifle in hand. I said “good afternoon. My name is David.” He shook my hand, didn’t give me a name but just started to ask questions. He was British and very inquisitive. What was I doing here, who was I with, do I have CNPA permission etc. once that was over he asked how I got here and how I was getting back to Kabul itself? Was I driving myself? Did I have a driver etc? I told him I rode with CNPA but had a driver who I would be returning with and that CNPA insisted that we roll in the middle of our little convoy so they could be security for us. He smiled and told me that that was ok but that I should NOT go that way (pointing north) by myself. That would be dangerous and stupid. He was polite, professional and explained himself. He shook my hand said good by and they all came back to the vehicles and left in unison again. In every way it was the opposite of my experience with the Americans the day before.

Virg laughed and said that she has always loved to British soldiers for that very reason; they were always polite and professional.

Douglas will love reading that.

I have found out a few things since coming here that might not be apparent but are still true.

Afghan food is really really good.

I desperately want to buy some of these amazing carpets here but can’t think of one good reason to do so except to have one.

I kind of like wearing body armor. Sure it’s hot and is not comfortable but you do look cool in it. Conversely you realize how soft and vulnerable the parts of you that are not covered by the vest are.

Afghan children who beg on the street are the most persistent, heartbreaking and annoying creatures I have encountered yet. You want to pick them up, clean them and take them to school. You don’t want to buy the candy, map, car wash or whatever else they are hawking. Virg and I had a little guy who wasn’t much past waist high on me and probably 10 (malnourishment stunts growth tremendously) ask us to buy a map, when we said no, he offered to be her body guard and make sure no one hurt her. She said that’s why she has me. He smiled and said that he could be her second bodyguard.

He stuck with us for several minutes; he even waited outside of a store for a bit waiting on us to leave so he could keep working on us. I almost hired him to keep the other kids away from us. I probably should have. It would have been worth a buck or two.

This country is amazingly beautiful. This country is also amazingly destroyed and not getting much better. As a new friend said one night at dinner, “we as a whole have failed this country. We have failed fantastically.” We went on to talk about the tremendous amount of waste, corruption and placation that happens here at every level. The general feeling is that Afghanistan is so amazing but its going down hill and the people are very unhappy about that. 30 years of war left of over 60 percent of Kabul’s buildings destroyed or severely damaged. Its been six years since the fall of the Taliban and Kabul still doesn’t have electricity 24 hours a day, remotely decent roads least of all security. The whole of Afghanistan is plagued by unemployment and basic needs are still an issue for the average Afghani. In 6 years with billions of dollars of aid why the hell isn’t there at least 24 hours of electricity and clean drinking water in Kabul? It’s simple and fair question that is asked daily here.

And finally I am desperate to come back here and stay for a much longer period of time than 11 days. I am thinking more along the lines of 6 months