A Million Bullets: The Real Story of the British Army in Afghanistan (41 page)

237: 'I was always happy to read-hear-watch interviews . . . which was advantageous': see
www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/p=913822.html#913822

239: There wasn't much the squadron could do . . . the majority of them unmarked: see
http://www.landmines.org.uk/270.php

242: 'Inside I could see one body . . . they are going to kill us" ' / 'I could see it was one of the lads . . . he screamed':
Guardian
, 18 November 2006, Audrey Gillan.

254: The press later reported . . . in some way during their tour:
Daily
Telegraph
, 22 August 2006.

259: 'They were running out of food . . . a bunch of colonials!!':
Independent
, 1 October 2006, Raymond Whitaker, 'Blood & Guts: At the front with the poor bloody infantry'.

Chapter 8: The Royal Irish and the Musa Qala Deal

267: In Brigadier Butler's view . . . every time a man had to be casevac'd: Patrick Bishop,
3 Para
, p. 254.

270: When one of the .50 cal machine-guns . . . held together with Superglue:
Independent
, 3 September 2006, Cole Moreton and Tom Coghlan, 'The war the world forgot'.

288: Talking to the Taliban . . . eventual negotiation was inevitable:
Guardian
, 6 September 2006, Simon Jenkins, 'Talk to Mullah Omar, if it saves British soldiers' lives . . . Hamid Karzai admits what our leaders can't: to achieve security in Afghanistan, he must do a deal with the Taliban'.

289: I was sure that the standard Western view of the Taliban . . .: some of the material that follows this first appeared in the
Independent on
Sunday
, 16 December 2007, 'Muscle alone won't solve Afghanistan's problems'.

291: In December 1997 . . . Omaha's Super Target discount store:
Sunday
Telegraph
, 14 December 1997, Caroline Lees, 'Oil barons court Taliban in Texas'.

Chapter 9: Amongst the Taliban

314: More than 1,100 girls' schools . . . in the entire province: according to the American NGO Afghans4Tomorrow (private correspondence).

317: I recalled reading an interview . . . the Para told the reporter:
Guardian Weekend
, 14 October 2006, James Meek, 'In their minds, all they want to do is kill English soldiers'.

Postscript

324: This time, however, 16 Air Assault Brigade . . . Eurofighter ground attack aircraft for the first time:
Sunday Times
, 30 September 2007, Michael Smith and Louise Armitstead, 'Biggest blitz by Paras since WW2 to crush Taliban'.

325: 'Securing Musa Qala . . . the operation should be judged': Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press, 15 December 2007.

325: In the course of their house-to-house clearance operation . . . a makeshift heroin factory:
The Times
, 13 December 2007, Nick Meo.

326: As 2007 came to a close . . . expelled the pair from the country:
Guardian
, 27 December 2007, Declan Walsh.

326: As Paddy Ashdown . . . stabilization and reconstruction effort': see
Guardian
, 19 July 2007.

327: In February 2008 in Arghandab . . . a dog-fighting festival: Allauddin Khan, Associated Press, 17 February 2008.

327: An estimated 6,200 people . . . the insurgency in 2007:
Independent
, 12 December 2007, Colin Brown.

327: sixty-five young soldiers . . . 101 of them seriously or very seriously: MoD figures, 30 March 2008.

328: Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles . . . thirty years:
Daily Mail
, 20 June 2007.

328: According to the most recent poll: YouGov/
Sunday Times
, 13–14 December 2007.

328: Between June and November 2007 . . . resignation applications approved:
Guardian
, 23 November 2007, Richard Norton-Taylor, 'Under-strength and under strain as experienced soldiers queue to quit'; see also
The Times
, 18 February 2008, Melanie Reid, 'If the recruiting officer's job is becoming impossible, no wonder'.

328: 'I think [southern Afghanistan] may be the death knell of Nato . . . what on earth is Nato for?': GMTV,
The Sunday Programme
, 10 December 2006.

Appendix: Maps

• Afghanistan
  
• Helmand and Kandahar
  
• Now Zad and Now Zad District Compound
  

Picture Credits

Endpapers [hardback edition]:
An aerial view of Camp Bastion in Helmand, 2006: Johnny Green/PA photos

Picture section

All photos are courtesy of the author, except where otherwise credited.

Poppies in Helmand: Patrick Allen/DPL; Taliban pose with an RPG, Zabul province, south of Kabul, 7 October 2006: AP Photo/Allauddin Khan

Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal during an operation to secure the village of Musa Qala, 6 August 2006: Reuters/Corporal Rob Knight/Crown Copyright/Handout (Afghanistan); Governor Mohammed Daoud, November 2006: Mirrorpix; Defence Secretary John Reid at Camp Bastion with Brigadier Ed Butler: Johnny Green/PA Archive/PA Photos; Leo Docherty on patrol: courtesy Leo Docherty

Mobile phone shot taken during Operation Mutay: Paul Wood/DPL; Gurkhas in a Land Rover; Major Dan Rex under camouflage nets: both courtesy Major Dan Rex; Now Zad from ANP Hill: courtesy Major Jon Swift, Royal Regiment Fusiliers; mortar team on the Camp Bastion helipad: courtesy Major Jon Swift, Royal Regiment Fusiliers; Dean Fisher:
Sun
/NI Syndication

Tom Burne; 2000 lb bomb; soldier in marshland all © Ewan Goodman Photography; Scimitar firing: Doyle/Pegasus/DPL; soldier from the Royal Irish Regiment mans the GPMG, Musa Qala: Pegasus/DPL
;
Apache firing its cannon: © Crown Copyright/MoD. Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office; Chinooks: Gilroy/Pegasus/DPL

General David Richards announces the withdrawal from Musa Qala, 17 October 2006: Musadeq Sadeq/AP/PA Photos; ANA soldier running: © Ewan Goodman Photography

Index

A

A10 US aircraft

at Now Zad

Operation Augustus

Abdul-Basit, Qari

Abdullah, King of Saudi Arabia, UK state visit

Abdullah, Taliban commander

Abu Ghraib

Afghan Drugs Inter-Departmental Unit (ADIDU)

Afghan history, and present issues

Afghan National Army (ANA)

Daoud on

Docherty and

at Now Zad

at Sangin

shura
at Do Ab

Afghan National Police (ANP)

corruption

Daoud on

at Now Zad

patrol with

Royal Fusiliers and

training

untrustworthy

US funding

Aggrey, Sergeant Charlie

and Apache missions

at Now Zad

Agha, Hajji Shah

Musa Qala withdrawal proposal

reported murdered

Ahmad Shah Durrani

air strike targeting issues

air-conditioning, Scimitar need for

Akhtar (Senlis station chief)

Akhtar Mohammed Khan

Akhunzada, Sher Mohammed

al-Jazeera television

al-Qaida

2001 last stand

graves, Arghandab road

Operation Mountain Thrust (US) and

Taliban on

Alamo, Musa Qala, hit

Alizai, Ismatullah [ANP General]

Alizai tribe, at Now Zad

Allan, Fusilier Jim, at Now Zad

Allen, Captain Jon 'Jackie', at Now Zad

Alokozai tribe

at Now Zad

ambulances, Chinooks as

American PRT, and Bashling

Americans

attacks on Wardak

cultural issues with British

marksmanship

and Musa Qala failure

and Musa Qala withdrawal proposal

Taliban on

ANP Hill

Gurkhas occupy

Royal Fusiliers at

topography

anti-tank mines, old Soviet

Apache crews

and decision to fire

honours

low-level attacks

and Musa Qala rescue mission

Now Zad missions

Operation Augustus

Operation Nakhod

as personal targets

US, aggression

and Zainokhan rescue mission

Apaches

armaments

British better than US

as Chinook escorts

procurement programme

sophistication

training for

Arghandab

1842 battle

suicide bombers at

Armed Forces

Commonwealth nationals in

resignations from

Armed Forces' Permanent Joint

Headquarters (PJHQ), and 'Joint UK

Plan for Helmand'

Army Air Corps, Apaches

Army Legal Service (LEGAD), and

targeting issues

Army Rumour Service website

Ashdown, Paddy

on development expenditure

Karzai objections to

Assadullah Wafa, Helmand governor

Ayub Khan

Afghan victory

B

B1 bombers, Operation Augustus

Baghran

Taliban take village

Zainokhan rescue mission

Barakzai tribe, at Now Zad

Baren Limbu, Rifleman, at Now Zad

Barlow, Fusilier, at Kajaki

Barossa platoon

at Musa Qala

visits comrades' graves

Bartholomew, Captain Dougie

Bartle-Jones, Major Will, on Scimitars

Bashling, American PRT clinic destroyed

Baxter, Captain David

on men 'proving themselves'

on PTSD

Bays, James, of al-Jazeera

Benn, Hilary, and Task Force

Benzie, Navy Lieutenant Nichol

Bhanbhagta Gurung, Rifleman Havildar,

at Now Zad

Bhutto, Benazir, assassination

Birtwistle, Flight Lieutenant James

'Birty', on Chinooks

Black Hawk Down

Black Hawks, Operation Augustus,

Blair, Tony

and counter-narcotics

interventionism

body armour, Osprey, lack of

Bolton, Flight Sergeant Adrian

and Chinook ground crews

on Chinook maintenance

Boucher, Major General Sir Charles

British

as American puppets

motivation, Taliban on

troops, Taliban on

British Muslim servicemen

Brown, Gordon

and defence portfolio

on Taliban reconciliation

on troop levels

Browne, Des [UK defence secretary]

at Camp Tombstone

and Lashkar Gah reconstruction

on 'military covenant'

on Musa Qala reoccupation

and Task Force

Budd, Corporal Bryan

at Now Zad

at Sangin

Buddhas of Bamiyan, destruction

Burnaby, Frederick,
Ride to Khiva

Burne, Lieutenant Tom

at Camp Bastion

on collateral damage

and Loden's rescue platoon

and Operation Nakhod

at Sangin

Burrows, General George

Butler, Brigadier Ed

on Apaches

and 'comprehensive approach'