Monday, October 19, 2009

U.S. IED Hunters In Afghanistan


On Patrol With The Roadside Bomb Hunters In Afghanistan -- Times Online

The sun was dipping behind the mountains and the US convoy was just leaving the beautiful but deadly Tangi Valley when the alert sounded over the radio in Lieutenant Christopher George’s armoured vehicle: “IED! IED!”

The young officer’s face fell. For hours, his team of roadside bomb searchers had successfully guided the convoy through one of the most hostile places in Afghanistan — and now this. Somewhere behind him, a vehicle had been hit because his men had missed an improvised explosive device (IED) buried in the road. “This is one of my biggest fears,” he said.

Read more ....

My Comment: If there was ever an example that reveals the contrast between these IED hunters and the Taliban, this is the example to use. On the one side you have university educated men who are risking their lives to dismantle mines that show no bias when it comes to exploding under a US/NATO vehicle or a passing Afghan family, and on the other side you have the Taliban who have no hesitancy to murder children.

This article from the Times is also revealing on the type of work that these engineers do, and the nature of the terrain that they work in.

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