Ben Brody's Photo Blog http://www.photobrody.com/blog Photojournalism from Afghanistan and Iraq Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:09:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en Deadly meadows in Helmand http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=290 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=290#comments Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:09:46 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=290 http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5676055/the-meadows-afghanistan-endless-search-ieds

KAJAKI, Afghanistan — Marines from Echo Battery, 2/12 Field Artillery, are what is known as provisional infantry.

They are trained for something else, in this case firing huge howitzers at distant targets. However, with the military stretched thin, they are required to patrol and fight on foot as infantrymen.

And like most infantrymen, they find themselves operating as a provisional bomb squad.

The area around the Kajaki Dam and hydroelectric power plant is seeded with old Russian mines, and local Taliban fighters make improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that are just as deadly and often more difficult to detect.

The Marines carry sophisticated electronics to try to find or disable the IEDs, but often it comes down to having sharp eyes, and spotting a bit of wire poking through the soil.

The artillerymen, based at Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge, have lost one Marine and had several terribly wounded in the few months they’ve been at Kajaki. Local children have also been killed by IED. A little boy rode his bicycle over one recently.

The meadows are littered with shrapnel from 30 years of war, which makes the metal detectors difficult to use. The knee-high grass also hides bones of IED and mine victims.

Marines make the grim discoveries from time to time, finding a leg bone from one of their fallen comrades picked clean by ants or a shredded piece of body armor.

Songbirds chirp and flutter about Kajaki’s verdant meadows without a care, but a creeping fear hangs over anyone who sets foot in the grass, soft and deadly.

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=290 Life and limb in Afghanistan http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=287 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=287#comments Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:24:28 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=287 Embedding with Medevac units is awful.  A lot more soldiers are being wounded than killed, and the wounds aren’t minor.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/afghanistan/110722/losing-life-and-limb-afghanistan-war

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=287 Afghanistan’s dangerous power vacuum http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=275 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=275#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:41:55 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=275 The most powerful man in Kandahar is gone. But Afghans say their real worry is the departure of US troops.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/war/afghanistan-war/110714/kandahar-power-vacuum-ahmed-wali-karzai-brother-karzai
 ]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=275 Kandahar: A tale of two districts http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=273 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=273#comments Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:38:22 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=273 In which I discuss the murderous Catch-22 that maims and kills more Americans and Afghans every day.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/afghanistan/110710/afghanistan-war-us-troops-taliban-photos

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=273 Hosing the blood out of a helicopter http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=271 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=271#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:37:13 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=271 http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/dispatches-afpak/Afghanistan-war-photos-blackhawk-bugs

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=271 Photo: The fog of war http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=268 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=268#comments Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:34:56 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=268 http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/dispatches-afpak/afghanistan-war-photos

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=268 On the soccer field, Afghan soldiers belie all the stereotypes http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=266 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=266#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:32:29 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=266 I’m no soccer expert, but…

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/dispatches-afpak/afghanistan-afghan-soldiers-soccer

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=266 It’s not just the Taliban stalking US troops in Afghanistan http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=264 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=264#comments Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:31:21 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=264 http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/dispatches-afpak/big-cats-stalk-troops-rural-kandahar-province

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=264 Mail takes a bumpy ride in Afghanistan http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=261 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=261#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:29:03 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=261 Don’t send soldiers in Kandahar anything fragile.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/dispatches-afpak/care-package-delivery

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=261 Bring on the hot pants! http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=259 http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=259#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:25:51 +0000 Ben http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?p=259 I’m all for the military taking itself less seriously.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/dispatches-afpak/spartans

]]> http://www.photobrody.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=259