Abu Muqawama: Post
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Embedded with the Taliban
Some Norwegian idiot journalist has embedded with the Taliban and shot this incredible footage of an attack on a U.S. or allied convoy. These guys sound and act a lot like a U.S. small unit, but replace all the quotes from "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights" with "Allahu Akbar." Oh, and they have much better hair (12:18). In fact, the David Allan Coe-looking dude with the argyle socks is my new favorite Talib. (h/t Intern Steve) Update: Gah, you guys have lost it. (See comments.) I obviously admire the journalism, I just strongly believe there is a thin line between "hardass" and "dumbass" and that this wildman might have crossed the line. I'm not making a political point. Goodness gracious, you guys are touchy. And quick to defend the intelligence of some dude who later got kidnapped by the Taliban. The only other person I know to have done something like this is Nir Rosen, who I like personally and whose work I admire ... and who I regularly accuse of being an idiot for stunts like this.
Hmm, reminiscent of a few
Hmm, reminiscent of a few episodes of the FX series "Justified" as well, with a few more "back in the hollers scenes"?
Doesn't this attitude, to
Doesn't this attitude, to the extent that it is representative of a cross-section of European society, argue for removing our remaining military presence in Europe? What are the benefits of maintaining bases there, in view of the fact that the Soviet threat no longer exists?
The fact that the
The fact that the strikethrough on "idiot" doesn't show up on my RSS feed certainly gives this post quite a different tenor, enough so that I clicked through to see what was up. Thanks for posting.
Why is he an idiot?
Why is he an idiot?
yes, how is this man an
yes, how is this man an idiot? what courage and determination it must take for someone to obtain this kind of footage!
it is to the credit of cnas that they would embed (sic) this kind of a video on their own site though!
I am sorry but at 12:18 I
I am sorry but at 12:18 I can't help but think of George Clooney in "O Brother Where Art Thou?" He must be a Dapper Dan Man!!
This is reporting, it is
This is reporting, it is what reporters do. He isn't an american reporter going out of his way to try and kill soldiers. If anything we should thank this guy because I'm sure you can derive some Intel from this video. We know that they are near Tantil which is in the Kunar, and we now know what turn they and which way they are attacking from. Thank you Mr European Reporter, thank you.
I deployed to Kunar in 08-09 and I want to say that they are attacking on Route Rhode Island but it all kind of looks the same. Any ideas anyone?
And please he is fucking ballsy not an idiot, even if you don't agree that reporters should cover both sides.
Why is he an idiot? Because
Why is he an idiot?
Because he made a report that wasn't yet another tedious embed with ISAF? Because he didn't try and stop the ambushes when he is armed only with a video camera?!
There are two sides to every fight and reporters are supposed to report conflict, not take part in it.
Should coverage of the Afghan insurgents consist of their own propaganda videos only?
I am astounded that you, Mr Exum -- a supposedly intelligent analyst -- would even joke about this exceptional piece of reporting... or if it was not your joke, that you would allow someone to put something as foolish as this on your website.
Especially as "Abu Moqawama's" avatar is a rather childish little Lego "terrorist."
Isn't it a little funny that
Isn't it a little funny that someone hailing from a country that is a putative ally is covering an attack on a Western military convoy? Couldn't he have just interviewed the men in their base camp?
Wouldn't the really ballsy thing been to have surreptitiously notified the U.S. of the impending attack?
How is this different from 'embedding' with a criminal gang and covering a bank heist?
this guy is not an idiot, he
this guy is not an idiot, he is a reporter doing a much better job then any US reporter i know. but then again, lindsay lohan's late night antics do captivate me.
How is it different than
How is it different than embedding with a criminal gang?
Because it's a war.
Gang, I obviously admire the
Gang, I obviously admire the hell out of this idi-- I mean, journalist. Seriously. It's just a thin line between "hardass" and "dumbass", and embedding with the Taliban may cross that line. But seriously, it is great reporting. I am just glad this dude was not killed."How is this different from
"How is this different from 'embedding' with a criminal gang and covering a bank heist?"
Because calling the police wouldn't have fixed the situation. Because this is valuable information for people in the West to see. Because it humanizes the Taliban and makes them less opaque and cartoonish. Whether you want to beat them or to leave Afghanistan, you can't do either without understanding. I remember a day when people interested in winning wars reveled in learning about the ways of their enemy. Patton would think very poorly of you.
J. Hersh has a solid piece
J. Hersh has a solid piece in the Review (National). Check it.
Objective when it comes to
Objective when it comes to the most sadistic Murderous thugs On earth? Neutral?
This just means he sees a moral equivalence between fascist killers and those that resist them.
Not an idiot. A dangerous moron.
Difference between us and
Difference between us and them....
Would U.S. enlisted troops or their officer's communicate verbal threats to kill an Afghan Journalist, if they asked to be embedded with our troops for a week?
Are our troops covering up their faces like a bunch of outlaw bandits?
Are our troops hiding in mud huts in the middle of no where, rationing water, food and medical supplies?
The back of the Taliban is almost broken, 3 more years and I'd say the big mess will be cleaned up. Lots of work to do till then... Get busy Rangers! Climb those mountains and eliminate the Talib-Tubbies!
I hate to say it, but I kind
I hate to say it, but I kind of doubt the authenticity of this. The aren't dressed as Talib - and their physical appearance is distinctly northern. With pikuls and men over 6 foot tall. The terrain is definitely northern, as well.
Anyone who has seen the
Anyone who has seen the repercussions of an AC 130 would consider this guy an idiot. Ballsy, but an idiot nevertheless.
Its Kunar province, with out
Its Kunar province, with out a doubt.
Also anyone notice the kid like talib at 5:00 something.
What a great journalist.
What a great journalist. What a sad blog entry..
why is he an idiot? isn't he
why is he an idiot? isn't he a war journalist?
it's all about the story, surely. would it be verboten to embed with an SS unit? that would be a great book.
i hear you if you mean it is an idiotic assumption of risk, in the same way that embedding in the chechen command during the russian assault on Grozny was crazed and idiotic.
but if its a side you're on thing i'm not with you on this one. if you're going all moral absolutist then i say the greater the evil, the more important it' is to cover it up close.
"There are two sides to
"There are two sides to every fight and reporters are supposed to report conflict, not take part in it."
And that's exactly what American reporters did in WW2! They embedded with the Leibstandarte to report objectively on the conditions at the fighting front in Normandy, and gave an "under the bombs" perspective of the attacks on Dresden and Hiroshima!
Embedding with SS, as they
Embedding with SS, as they lined up civilians (partisans, Jews, irregulars, Russians, Serbs....) and shot them and dumped their bodies in ditches would have been okay? Because it would have made for a great book? Really?
If this video is real (and
If this video is real (and it appears to be) and should it be reflective of the general attitude of the majority of Talib and Mujahedeen then it bodes ill for our efforts.
Verily, we will not "lose" in Afghanistan, although that which we shall continue to sacrifice is the precious blood of our people and further treasure from our coffers. But we will not "lose," not in the sense that the Talib and Mujahedeen will one day stand victorious on the steps of our Capitol.
But over these people, who maintain a steadfast belief in the blessings of Allah upon them, have total commitment to the defense of their land and way of life, and will suffer and die in all efforts to see the expulsion of the foreigner, we shall not prevail. No matter our lofty ideals of securing the blessings of liberty and providing for the prosperity of the Afghan people.
They shall fight us to their death, to their son's and daughter's deaths, and to their family's deaths, and they will suffer the war, accept the loss, deny their grief, and withhold their sorrow to the point where it is we who shall grow weary of war, and loss, and grief, and sorrow, and who ultimately depart.
Afghanistan is not the graveyard of empires, it is the graveyard of the sons (and now daughters) of empire and the Pashtun shall forever resist those that come so into his lands and will do so from this day unto the ending of the world.
"We have men and we have rocks in plenty, but we have nothing else." ~ Dost Mohammad Khan
The Norwegians did embed
The Norwegians did embed with the Nazi's - as much or more than Vichy - from Top to bottom. In fact the Norse Waffen SS units were some of the best fighters the German's had.
We need to divest ourselves of these so called allies and fast.
Talibans are people too,
Talibans are people too, this guy is not an idiot, you're just jealous all you do all day is write meaningless papers.
Andrew Exum you are an idiot
Andrew Exum you are an idiot for living in DC and doing masturbatory "work"--feels good but in the end accomplishes little.
This was a great and brave reporter. Now we know more about the Talibs from the grassroots level...
Gah, you guys have lost it.
Gah, you guys have lost it. I obviously admire the journalism, I just strongly believe there is a thin line between "hardass" and "dumbass" and that this wildman might have crossed the line. I'm not making a political point. Goodness gracious, you guys are touchy. And quick to defend the intelligence of some dude who later got kidnapped by the Taliban. The only other person I know to have done something like this is Nir Rosen, who I like personally and whose work I admire ... and who I regularly accuse of being an idiot for stunts like this: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/15/how_we_lost_the_war_weThe guy is an idiot, and so
The guy is an idiot, and so is his producer. When they were trying to negotiate to get the journo released from the Talebs, the producer filmed it all in secret, leading to serious breach of opsec. And so on.
but its great data.
Nir Rosen is not an idiot,
Nir Rosen is not an idiot, sir. Gay maybe, but not an idiot.
gotcha, and like the
gotcha, and like the identified spectrum ranging from badassery to dumbassery.
What about American
What about American Reporters who did important service reporting from the insurgent side in Iraq?
e.g. www.meetingresistance.com
They tell an essential part of the story.
They are all idiots. If they
They are all idiots.
If they are not comfy in DC,
They are idiots.
ex i long ago stopped trying
ex i long ago stopped trying to work out the motivation laying behind comments made here.
but from my personal perspective my twitchiness came from the potential that you were making a 'with us or agin us' statement. there is a lot of it around once again (mosques etc) and so my post was an 'et tu exum?'
but I have much sympathy for the view that all war journalists are, by definition, idiots. i wrote in defence not of their intelligence, but of their right to run giggling, scribbling and snapping through heavy bombardments.
yo, kid, yo' momma, she da
yo, kid, yo' momma, she da idiot, yo.
Omar was definitely a
Omar was definitely a socio-path/murderer, I'd call the reporter an idiot for going with him.
But the family guy (the one who lost 2 children) was a freedom fighter in every sense of the word. He invited the journalist so we may see them and listen to their side.
I love that the fear in their eyes when they saw the C130 gunship.
Too many American military
Too many American military people are in a big hurry to get rid of journalists. They don't come out and say it, but it's clear they don't believe in a free press. They also would like to ram the Bible down the throat of anybody who doesn't see religion exactly the same way they do. And they want to be hailed as heroes even if their job was mopping the men's room floor at the General Patton Hotel in Garmisch for 12 years. I can't see that any good has come from our military adventures of the past 75 years. My dad thought WW2 was a waste of time, but I think that's cause his perspective was a little too close to appreciate the overall picture. We're spending over a million bucks per combatant to kill soldiers who can't even afford to buy shoes. America needs to wake up. We're bleeding ourselves to death for no reason.
I’ve been around for quite
I’ve been around for quite a lot of time, but finally decided to show my appreciation of your work!Thumbs up, and keep it going
http://www.sbs.com.au/datelin
http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/600702/n/Behind-Enemy-Lines
You can still watch this at the Australian SBS network
Is there anywhere you can
Is there anywhere you can still watch this? The SBS is geoblocked.
Thanks dawgs
"Objective when it comes to
"Objective when it comes to the most sadistic Murderous thugs On earth? Neutral?"
Well, they used to be on "our" side when the CIA gave millions to Hekmatyar.
And the US backed the Khmer Rouge after Vietnam invaded (and saved the country).
So maybe it just pisses you of that they aren't our bank robbers any more. Or maybe you're just the dangerous idiot.
For Milgeeks war is like the Super Bowl. Or maybe you're a traitor for drinking Pepsi instead of Coke, Jesus vs Muhammad.
So if you ask me if I'm neutral, I can't say that I am. But between "the troops" and "the Taliban" I'd have to say, as I did in 1979: "none of the above" while (if you were even alive) you would have simply been on the opposite side of where you are today.
Sorry if I'm not as much a fan of moral relativism as you are, but I'm a human being before I'm an American. But sadly whether you admit it or not, modern soldiers are soldiers before they're citizens. "Semper Fi" to the Marines, not the country.
Call it the descent of man.
As I said, it's sad.
Compare this crew to any
Compare this crew to any video of ANP or ANA out there. We appear to have been assigned the junior varsity C team which means that the basis of our entire "strategy"; building ANSF is deeply flawed.
Which bunch would you join? The pious guys with a home life fighting the infidel invaders or the village rejects smoking hash all day between bouts of shaking down motorists?
Boy nobody is going to
Boy nobody is going to defend Exum. Ok, I'll do it. What he meant by calling the Journalist an idiot was that he was putting his life on the line for a story. I think he meant it as a compliment.
As I watched the video, I was thinking about Dave Kilcullen's book the 'accidental guerilla'. I think that the Talib leader here would be an accidental guerilla. At the way he was portrayed in the documentary. The shame is that this man has seen so much suffering, he lost two of his children during the filming. The second shame was that he is wasting his life fighting NATO forces. If he worked with them he would be much better off.
"The second shame was that
"The second shame was that he is wasting his life fighting NATO forces. If he worked with them he would be much better off."
I'm sure the Soviets said the same thing.
At least the Talib is in his
At least the Talib is in his own country. What's the excuse for Americans? College tuition? The mill shut? Get Obama re-elected? Increase KBR's dividend?
My first thought was how
My first thought was how would we have viewed it to have one of our stalwart objective reporters like Eric Severied, embedded with the SS Totenkopf or SS Viking Division in World War II filming them shooting down our soldiers or some of our allies. In those days they were known as traitors or a Tokyo Rose by some other name or for the intrepid Brits...Lord HeeHaw.
This world has become nuanced indeed and the intelligence we can get is very very limited from this type of collection. If one watched the CBS documentary on the Soviet soldier and his training during the late sixties, you would have thought by the end of it we were up against the most cleancut specimen of the master race. Then you watch 9th Company, the Russian equivalent of Platoon, and you just sit back and scratch your nuanced head both at the contrast with the image, the liberties taken with the facts on the ground on hill 3234, and the incessant need to portray men in uniform as pure unadulterated nut cases.
The only thing I would change is add "useful" to idiot (thank you Lenin), and starting with those who want a mosque on the 9-11 site, the WikiLeaker, and others...there is a long line of people who in the name of moderation, academic indoctrination, or self loathing seem to want to go out of their way to go belly up to the other side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_ON_LG5EGY
WILL
The two books that prepared
The two books that prepared me for 9/11 were: Under a Sickle Moon, written by a Cambridge grad with the ineffably British name of Peregrine Hodson. He embedded with the mujaheddin during the Russian occupation and walked in and out of Afghanistan; and Travels Among the Believers by V.S. Naipaul. I think both of those have stood well the test of time. I don't think this bit of schlock TV will
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Embedded taliban.. Nice :)
Embedded taliban.. Nice :)
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