Above deadly Afghan valley,
shadow is bomb-wary Army
THE MORNING CALL
By David Zucchino
TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS
KUHAT, Afghanistan --- From a rocky knoll 600 feet above the lush
Arghandab Valley, the war in Afghanistan looks deceptively
peaceful.
On a recent Friday at dawn, Afghan girls stooped to
milk cows in mud compounds. Farmers trudged across fields,
carrying scythes for wheat. Boys flew kites of tattered plastic.
Peering through the morning haze from his perch atop Observation
Post Kuhat, Army Spc. Victor Smyrnow paid scant attention to the
scene below. He was scanning the valley for signs of roadside
bombs, known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
Four
soldiers in his battalion were wounded by three blasts the day
before, and more patrols were heading into the valley.
The U.S.
military says that elsewhere in Kandahar province it is
combining security sweeps with development projects and attempts
to bolster local Afghan governance. This counterinsurgency
strategy is designed to wrest control of Kandahar from the
Taliban before U.S. troops begin withdrawing next summer
. But in Kuhat, a few miles west of Kandahar city in the fertile
Arghandab Valley, soldiers are focused on survival. This is
roadside bomb country, with the highest concentration in
Afghanistan, local commanders say.
' "Development? Oh, no, we're
not at the development stage yet," Smyrnow said. Roadside bombs
"are the main thing we're working on around here."
If anything,
the 2nd Platoon barely has the manpower to protect itself, much
less practice the finer points of the counterinsurgency strategy
promoted by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander of
U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.
"We don't even tell the
ANA (Afghan national army) in advance where we're going, just
for our own safety," said 1st Lt. Jordan Ritenour, 24, who
commands the platoon.
The 2nd Platoon at Combat Outpost Kuhat
has found more than 45 roadside bombs since arriving in late
December. Just last month, a young specialist lost his leg in an
explosion.
Six members of the U.S. battalion
that left here in the fall were killed in the village, the
highest casualty rate in Afghanistan, largely because of
roadside bombs.
A
particularly vicious explosive greeted the incoming battalion.
Three bombs of seven strung together in a so-called daisy chain
exploded as a patrol hiked to clear the village school of a
suspected Taliban weapons cache.
A company commander and an
explosives expert were killed. A platoon leader lost a leg.
Three other soldiers also were wounded. The bombs were packed
with ball bearings that ripped into the men at supersonic
speeds.
Smyrnow, 24, was blown off his feet. His observation
post partner, Spc. Jacob Lind, was knocked unconscious.
. "The
guys who make these IEDs have it down pat. They're good," Lind,
20, said as the two young soldiers described the attack, still
fresh in their minds more than five months later. "Even their
tripwires have tripwires."
The deadly experiences have
intensified the efforts atop the hill. Day and night, troops
scan the valley with high-powered binoculars and night-vision
equipment, looking for anyone who might be carrying, burying or
wiring a bomb.
When patrols, venture out, the men on the hill
warn them of any suspicious people or movements on the paths
ahead. If they need to provide cover fire, they have a
.50-caliber machine gun, a medium-range machine gun 'and other
weapons.
Kuhat's most powerful village elder professes to
support the platoon, Ritenour said, "but mostly out of
self-interest."
The 2nd Platoon has provided coveted
construction jobs to villagers, who built and maintain the
combat outpost. It has repaired wells and handed out school
supplies, food and water. The platoon medic has treated
villagers.
After nearly nine years of war, that is the extent of
development aid in Kuhat. The Taliban hold sway here at the
moment, but the platoon will consider its tour successful if it
gets the bomb situation under control.before
another U.S. unit takes over in August.
"We've set up the new
guys for success," Smyrnow said. If the platoon can
significantly reduce roadside bombs, he said, development
projects might finally begin in earnest under the new unit.
dzucchinotribune.com
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