British soldiers worry that victories are temporary in Afghanistan

British soldiers worry that victories are temporary in Afghanistan
By Dianna Cahn, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, October 15, 2009

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — The soldiers stood in full gear in the staggering midday heat, surveying the deadly puzzle pieces lying amid the garbage and the dust at their feet.

The streets of the bazaar in the community of Lakari were otherwise empty, though the sporadic crack of gunfire engaging their sister platoon a few hundred yards away bore stark reminder that this was not friendly territory.

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At their feet lay the spoils of war pulled from the stalls: five mortars and three other ordnances stuffed with explosive; reels of copper wire; several pressure plates used to trigger an explosion; fertilizer containing high levels of ammonium nitrate; and another acid-based chemical. Nearby they found bags and bags of hashish. In short, the troops were looking at all the materials to build a bomb, and the drugs used to finance the operation.

After a long day of searching, the soldiers of the 7th Platoon were buoyed by the find. But they also knew that just two months ago, U.S. Marines made a similar bust in the very same bazaar, a reminder of just how cyclical and unending this war can seem eight years on.

“(It’s) roughly the same places that they found some stuff last time, only this time we found more, which is disappointing,” said Lt. Col. Stephen Cartwright, commander of the Black Watch, the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, a force of the British Army known as the 3 Scots. “The Taliban don’t seem to be afraid. Despite the fact that ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) has been here before, the Taliban have a sense of security that is either brazen or they feel comfortable packing stuff in places that we know they do it.”

Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65389