bumping up for the many awesome pics of him with the Brits, including life ambush shots

An absolutely amazing article, thank you Subby.

The people are backwards and many want it that way

Welcome to conservatism.

7of7: He's a great photographer with unparalleled access but I don't get the sense he is correct about the Afghan people. The problem may be exactly that imperial powers have tried to consolidate scattered groups of people into a "nation."



They're just like Englishmen, Peachy!

so its like the south?

Agrees with subby.

SherKhan: The people are backwards and many want it that way

Welcome to conservatism.

I was thinking rednecks, but this works too. ;-)

They're clinging to their guns and religion.

7of7: He's a great photographer with unparalleled access but I don't get the sense he is correct about the Afghan people. The problem may be exactly that imperial powers have tried to consolidate scattered groups of people into a "nation."

He's saying that Afghanistan has always been a disordered, tribal entity.

The_Terminator: WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT COLONIALISM WOULD HAVE FAR-REACHING, LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES?!?!

The long-term problems of Afghanistan has nothing to do with colonialism.

Not everything in the world is the fault of white people.

FTA: On this day, an Afghan man showed one of these medics a rash on his arms, but the medic carried no such medicines out into the fighting. When medic Evans said she had no medicine, a young man picked up a big stone and was preparing to hit her. Rhian instantly pointed the rifle at the man who put down the rock.

That is so sad.

I guess this guy finally got around to watching the end of "Lawrence of Arabia".

http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/images/afj_peters.jpg

Swampthing in Korea: 7of7: He's a great photographer with unparalleled access but I don't get the sense he is correct about the Afghan people. The problem may be exactly that imperial powers have tried to consolidate scattered groups of people into a "nation."

He's saying that Afghanistan has always been a disordered, tribal entity.

The_Terminator: WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT COLONIALISM WOULD HAVE FAR-REACHING, LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES?!?!

The long-term problems of Afghanistan has nothing to do with colonialism.

Not everything in the world is the fault of white people.

My many years of public school and subsequent University education has taught me that white people are responsible for all negative things in society, nay the world, at large, and that non-white people are inherently pure and devoid of the ability to do any wrong.

7of7: He's a great photographer with unparalleled access but I don't get the sense he is correct about the Afghan people.

How exactly do you know this? Have you been to Afghanistan to provide counter examples to what Michael Yon has based his opinion on?

Swampthing in Korea:

Not everything in the world is the fault of white people.

Take. That. BACK!

The_Terminator: Swampthing in Korea: 7of7: He's a great photographer with unparalleled access but I don't get the sense he is correct about the Afghan people. The problem may be exactly that imperial powers have tried to consolidate scattered groups of people into a "nation."

He's saying that Afghanistan has always been a disordered, tribal entity.

The_Terminator: WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT COLONIALISM WOULD HAVE FAR-REACHING, LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES?!?!

The long-term problems of Afghanistan has nothing to do with colonialism.

Not everything in the world is the fault of white people.

My many years of public school and subsequent University education has taught me that white people are responsible for all negative things in society, nay the world, at large, and that non-white people are inherently pure and devoid of the ability to do any wrong.

I know that I skipped every class in anthro101. I got a 100% on the tests and final by guessing "whatever makes whitey look bad."

(sadness...)

Lot of stuff here. Just a quick reaction:



This image also has Orion the Hunter. His position is with his back to the memorial still fighting Tarus the Bull.

I wonder if this was intentional by the photographer.

Does the British military have really different haircut rules than the American military? If so, what are they? Because having grown up around the Marines and the Navy all my life, I kept on thinking that some of those men in those pictures would have been chewed out for having such long hair.

MentalMoment: Lot of stuff here. Just a quick reaction:



This image also has Orion the Hunter. His position is with his back to the memorial still fighting Tarus the Bull.

I wonder if this was intentional by the photographer.

probably. mike is a damn good photographer. people like to steal his photos for a reason.

mekki: Does the British military have really different haircut rules than the American military?

yes. also, they're in a small two-platoon outpost in the middle of nowhere. shave and a haircut is not high on their priorities.

Afghanistan is not so much a country as a collection of 3D textured terrain maps that would port nicely into any Mechwarrior4 mod.

Yon never fails to impress and inform and I have Dancin to thank for first bringing him to my attention.

Fano: The_Terminator: Swampthing in Korea: 7of7: He's a great photographer with unparalleled access but I don't get the sense he is correct about the Afghan people. The problem may be exactly that imperial powers have tried to consolidate scattered groups of people into a "nation."

He's saying that Afghanistan has always been a disordered, tribal entity.

The_Terminator: WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT COLONIALISM WOULD HAVE FAR-REACHING, LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES?!?!

The long-term problems of Afghanistan has nothing to do with colonialism.

Not everything in the world is the fault of white people.

My many years of public school and subsequent University education has taught me that white people are responsible for all negative things in society, nay the world, at large, and that non-white people are inherently pure and devoid of the ability to do any wrong.

I know that I skipped every class in anthro101. I got a 100% on the tests and final by guessing "whatever makes whitey look bad."

I had an instructor who insisted on using her Child Physchology class as a soapbox for how horrible white people are. She was also white, mind you, but that didn't stop her from claiming that all white people owe black people in the United States.

When I informed her I'm only a second-generation yank, she said it doesn't matter. I'm white and I have it better than blacks, therefore I owe them.

.....the dean got a very strongly-worded letter from me at the end of that wasted semester.

Vanetia: Fano: The_Terminator: Swampthing in Korea: 7of7: He's a great photographer with unparalleled access but I don't get the sense he is correct about the Afghan people. The problem may be exactly that imperial powers have tried to consolidate scattered groups of people into a "nation."

He's saying that Afghanistan has always been a disordered, tribal entity.

The_Terminator: WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT COLONIALISM WOULD HAVE FAR-REACHING, LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES?!?!

The long-term problems of Afghanistan has nothing to do with colonialism.

Not everything in the world is the fault of white people.

My many years of public school and subsequent University education has taught me that white people are responsible for all negative things in society, nay the world, at large, and that non-white people are inherently pure and devoid of the ability to do any wrong.

I know that I skipped every class in anthro101. I got a 100% on the tests and final by guessing "whatever makes whitey look bad."

I had an instructor who insisted on using her Child Physchology class as a soapbox for how horrible white people are. She was also white, mind you, but that didn't stop her from claiming that all white people owe black people in the United States.

When I informed her I'm only a second-generation yank, she said it doesn't matter. I'm white and I have it better than blacks, therefore I owe them.

.....the dean got a very strongly-worded letter from me at the end of that wasted semester.

And much like the UN Security Council, it accomplished nothing.

Great farking article.

/word filters be damned.
//stay safe, Sapper Baldry.

give me doughnuts: AR55: FTA: On this day, an Afghan man showed one of these medics a rash on his arms, but the medic carried no such medicines out into the fighting. When medic Evans said she had no medicine, a young man picked up a big stone and was preparing to hit her. Rhian instantly pointed the rifle at the man who put down the rock.

That is so sad.

Yeah. She should have shot the guy.

I would of prefer an injection of air.

Because I'm not to blame for everything, I'm not to blame for anything, amirite?

Morans.

AR55: FTA: On this day, an Afghan man showed one of these medics a rash on his arms, but the medic carried no such medicines out into the fighting. When medic Evans said she had no medicine, a young man picked up a big stone and was preparing to hit her. Rhian instantly pointed the rifle at the man who put down the rock.

That is so sad.

That right there, is the essence of the problem in places like Afghanistan.

Life is just not worth a dime.

Male, female, father, son, daughter. It doesn't matter what you happen to be, your life is just not worth a second thought to the bastige on the other side of the fence.

It seems like folly to try to secure that whole country. I think if we are to be there (and I'm not so sure we should be) that we should find the parts of Afghanistan that really want us and make those parts safe and abandon the rest to the Taliban. Compacting our efforts to a much smaller area will make it far more effective and maybe after some time the idiots in the lawless parts will see the better life in the controlled areas and want to have that better life as well.

Thanks for that link Subby.

Vanetia: Fano: The_Terminator: Swampthing in Korea: 7of7: He's a great photographer with unparalleled access but I don't get the sense he is correct about the Afghan people. The problem may be exactly that imperial powers have tried to consolidate scattered groups of people into a "nation."

He's saying that Afghanistan has always been a disordered, tribal entity.

The_Terminator: WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT COLONIALISM WOULD HAVE FAR-REACHING, LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES?!?!

The long-term problems of Afghanistan has nothing to do with colonialism.

Not everything in the world is the fault of white people.

My many years of public school and subsequent University education has taught me that white people are responsible for all negative things in society, nay the world, at large, and that non-white people are inherently pure and devoid of the ability to do any wrong.

I know that I skipped every class in anthro101. I got a 100% on the tests and final by guessing "whatever makes whitey look bad."

I had an instructor who insisted on using her Child Physchology class as a soapbox for how horrible white people are. She was also white, mind you, but that didn't stop her from claiming that all white people owe black people in the United States.

When I informed her I'm only a second-generation yank, she said it doesn't matter. I'm white and I have it better than blacks, therefore I owe them.

.....the dean got a very strongly-worded letter from me at the end of that wasted semester.

Also, the IRS would like to discuss your back taxes.

/to 1776

The US needs a bomb the size of Afghanistan. That would fix it.

Sounds like a disaster for everyone involved.

Michael Yon writes great stuff (with great pictures), and he operates on tips.

consider giving.

The British also took him out of the field, but I think he got a new spot with one of the American branches.

My son recently returned from that desert hell hole.

While he was in country, we spoke occasionally via sat phone, and he said that he hadn't seen any action.

I didn't hear the real story until he came home and we had shared a few drinks.

Best thing to do would be to isolate that country from the rest of humanity. Let them slit each other's throats like they've been doing for thousands of years. That seems to be the way they like it.

The_Terminator:

And much like the UN Security Council, it accomplished nothing.

Made me feel better at least. Other than that, yeah, but I knew that going in to it. She had to have tenure that's the only way the biatch could have been keeping her job. I think half the class went to the dean in some way or another. And that's just one class she undoubtedly pisses them all off year after year.

One thing I don't get in seeing some of those pictures is that many of them showed the soldiers out in open flat country yet there wasn't one heavy vehicle anywhere to be seen. The Brits have a very good APC, the Warrior; having a few of those around to offer cover and fire support would probably really help.

The people are backwards and many want it that way

Sadly, the same is true of many parts of America.

It also seems like to fight that war it would really be helpful to produce much cheaper military equipment, stuff that would have not looked out of place in WW2, especially with regard to aircraft.

Bagelox-99: mekki: Does the British military have really different haircut rules than the American military? If so, what are they? Because having grown up around the Marines and the Navy all my life, I kept on thinking that some of those men in those pictures would have been chewed out for having such long hair.

Funny, they have this crazy-ass idea that they're a national defense force instead of a warrior cult. But that's the luxury of not running the world anymore, or having to spend half a century with every nerve poised for the inevitable Commie onslaught.

huh?

And furthermore...

Turn it into a planetary Thunderdome.

Give those convicted of capital crimes a choice between execution (or life in prison for non-death penalty countries) and permanent exile to Afghanistan.

Contract out the Afghan border patrol to the Russians and the Chinese, for extra brutality towards those who try to escape.