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From The Times

March 7, 2007

Video: ten days in the Taleban’s sights

A marine from J Company, 42 Royal Marine Commando fires at Taleban positions in Helmand

Anthony Loyd

Video: Search, disrupt and destroy: Anthony Loyd with J Company in Helmand

Clip 1 - Hearts and Minds

Clip 2 - Enemy attack

Clip 3 - Enemy contact

As Nato begins its biggest offensive in the country since 2001, two Times journalists report from a risky mission into the insurgents’ heartland in lawless Helmand province. The Royal Marines of J Company, 42 Commando, sometimes sat down with local Pashtuns and sometimes skirmished. Then they fought them in pitched battle.

Day 1

Hidden eyes count out the patrol as it leaves J Company base in Geresk.

There are few places in which the marines can escape the gaze of the Taleban in Helmand. The watchers will have noted the armoured Vikings, the .50 calibre machineguns on the Land Rover weapon platforms, the recovery vehicles, the two 105mm field guns. They will have seen the J Company emblem on the turret cupolas — a grinning death’s head in a jester’s cap. There are nearly 200 Marines in more than 30 vehicles.

They carry with them thousands of litres of fuel and water, artillery shells, mortar bombs, boxloads of grenades and hundreds of thousands of rifle and machinegun rounds. Carried too are “consent-winning packs”: kites, footballs, pencil cases and coloured pens. The aim is to split the insurgent from the local population. The Marines are prepared to talk of peace, to express goodwill, to bid for hearts and minds. They are also ready for war.

The mission sounds simple. J Company has the task of searching out, disrupting and destroying the Taleban. But the enemy is expert at blending in with the local population only to emerge and fight later: morning’s friend can be afternoon’s foe. Furthermore, in a province in which the Taleban have fielded fighting columns several hundred strong, the patrol could find itself ambushed and cut off, even outnumbered, far from the nearest Nato base. British forces are already in an invidious position in northern Helmand. In Sangin they are encircled by the Taleban. In Naw Zad, another Taleban stronghold, they have only a limited ability to move.

In Musa Qala, last autumn’s cease-fire deal resulting in the withdrawal of British troops is in a precarious balance. While efforts to reconstruct parts of central Helmand have had modest success, in the north the condition remains one of war.

I travel in the back of “Beowulf”, the Viking belonging to Corporal “Tug” Wilson’s section. The 12-tonne, all-terrain vehicle with two tracked cabs is eulogised.It has survived strikes by mines, rockets and machinegun fire. Its weight displacement is supposed to be the equivalent of a Marine on skis carrying a laden rucksack, allowing it to cross ice as well as desert.

Yet it is tiny. There are seven of us in the back cab. In near darkness, to the dull roar of the engine, we rattle, lurch and sway towards Naw Zad, a human sardine-pack of weapons, ammunition, body armour and helmets, in a fug of dust in which the occasional fart drifts. I see nothing of Helmand’s deserts, mountains and fields until we stop and open the rear door. Standing on a barren plain are two tiny children, staring at us as though we are creatures from a distant planet.

Day 2

The Marines’ first contact with the Taleban is like a gentlemanly duel.

Major Ewen Murchison, the company’s commander, deploys his Vikings just beyond the outskirts of Naw Zad. An engaging, wilful man, nicknamed “the General” by his brother officers because of his company’s freewheeling enterprise, he hopes to lure the Taleban into combat, alleviating pressure on the British garrison inside.

“Basically it’s a waiting game,” Sergeant-Major Marty Pelling says as the Marines disentangle themselves from their Vikings. “We just wait here and see if we can annoy them enough to shoot at us, then we give them a good spanking.”

At first, the two sides regard one another in silence. Women and children flee. After about 40 minutes, once most civilians are clear, the Marines’ 105mm field guns fire smoke shells into a meadow to the west, as if signalling the commencement of hostilities. Minutes later, from a clearly visible position, the Taleban fire a mortar bomb, which drops short. The Marines fire back with their own mortars and a .50 machinegun. The Taleban retaliate with a rocket.

It streaks over our heads in a bolt of red and skids across the top of Major Murchison’s Viking, to explode just beyond, leaving the vehicle’s turret gunner staring in astonishment at the crater of his near-nemesis.

“Jesus, just like a commando comic,” Sergeant-Major Pelling remarks, as he lights a cigarette. He stopped smoking 16 years ago but started again soon after arriving in Afghanistan. “Only under fire though.”

He has smoked a lot recently. Major Murchison expresses his frustration at the inconclusive contact. A small, mobile force, the patrol relies on drawing the Taleban out so that they can be killed by its superior weaponry.

But that evening, from their ridge-line observation post high above Naw Zad, Tug’s men watch nine armed Talebs gather in a compound below them, alerted to the Marines’ presence by local shepherds. The marines call in mortars and artillery, with negligible effect. Next a jet drops a 500lb bomb. It fails to explode. As the jet comes in for a second run a South African Marine, a sniper, shoots one of the Talebs at a range of 1,200 metres with his .338 rifle. Two more 500lb bombs finish off the others and destroy the compound. Death can be as cheap as a bullet or dear as a smart bomb.

Day 5

“Blimey, they don’t even know about Rocky IIhere, let alone Rocky VI,” Tug says with a bulldog smile as he surveys a group of nomads who have set up camp in distant foothills to our flank. Far to the north of Musa Qala, the patrol is operating in a remote wilderness of plain and mountain, allegedly used by the Taleban as a principal supply route to the Sangin valley. The Marines move warily. It is the first time British forces have reached the area.

As they move slowly northwards, a young Marine does much of the talking with the villagers. Marine Dominic Williman, 19, is one of four men in the company trained to have a working knowledge of Pashtu. He also carries his section’s medium machinegun. He has spoken with locals, as well as firing a few thousand rounds their way.

“I’m not saying that I’ve made a difference,” he says, “but it may help for them to see their enemy — a young boy in their eyes — speak their language and offset the perception of the Brits given to them by the elders who haven’t seen a foreign soldier since the Russians.”

The villagers appear wary but not hostile. Their message is always the same: they have not seen the Taleban, they do not know any Taleban, their Government has done nothing for them, they want nothing from the British but to be left alone.But then the patrol reaches Tizni, which local intelligence sources have suggested is a rest and administration centre for Taleban fighters. It is apparently empty. As Tug leads his six Marines into the village, men start pouring out of the mosque. Within a minute more than 70 have gathered. They are turbaned, bearded, and of combat age — “Panini-sticker Talebs”, Tug calls them.

Mohammed Ali, his Hazara interpreter, agrees. “Taleban, all of them.” As the Afghans stare at Tug, he calls the rest of the patrol and seems set on searching every Afghan and the entire village. But then Major Murchison arrives. He takes off his helmet and sits down. All the Afghans sit down too. They talk for a while. The major tells them that they have nothing to be afraid of. British forces are not here to eradicate their opium poppies. They are not an occupying force like the Russians. They are here to provide security so development can take place.

That can only happen if they tell him where the Taleban are.

The men tell the major that they are frightened of the Government, whose police have robbed them. There are, of course, no Taleban in the area. They are upset because two women and two children were killed in crossfire between Nato and the Taleban last year. They want to be left alone.

The atmosphere is more wary curiosity than tension, though on a different day the same men may well see one another down a gun barrel. The meeting ends amicably enough, neither side having given anything away.

Tug still wants to search the whole place, starting with the mosque, but is ordered not to. As the major turns to leave the Afghans push a mentally handicapped man toward him.

While he grins inanely the laughing crowd turn his coloured cap upside down and ask for some money to be given to him. The major’s interpreter hands over a few dollars. The patrol leaves Tizni, benefactor to the single fool.

Day 6

“We are as afraid of you as we are of the Taleban,” the elder tells the Marines. He has just walked out from his village to parley with the patrol. After insisting that there are no Taleban in the area he walks back towards his home, a small settlement of compounds north of the Naw Zad valley. He is lying. Less than an hour later, in the empty compound of a neighbouring village, Tug discovers nearly 12,000 rounds of Kalashnikov ammunition stored in sealed green packages. Further searching reveals some 107mm rockets. Near by, farmers are weeding their fields. All deny any knowledge.

“The thing that gets me,” Tug muses, “is that we find a huge cache in a hut and some bloke doing the lawn ten metres away says he knows nothing about it. Yeah, right.”

The next proof of Taleban presence comes quickly. As the company approaches a village barely a kilometre from the cache, rockets and machinegun fire erupt. In an instant, the Marines inside Beowulf are galvanised. They all want to get out and into the gunfight.

“Get us in there, get us f***ing in there,” they murmur, as the interpreter reads a prayer from the Koran.

Another troop gets the assault task. As they pile out of their vehicles to the crash of gunfire, we hear over the radio the desperate call denoting a British casualty, “man down, man down”. In the confusion a Viking has rolled over a Marine. Both cabs — 12 tonnes — right over his torso.

Immediately, the emphasis switches to saving the man. The South African leaps out of the back with Marine “Geri” Halliwell and starts pumping 51mm mortar rounds into the Taleb positions to cover the casualty’s removal. The helicopter-borne response team of medics and doctor, on permanent standby in Camp Bastion, arrives within their target of 45 minutes, the “golden hour” in which most injured men can be saved. The fighting intensifies as the marines cover the Chinook’s arrival.

And then it’s over. Everyone is back in their Vikings. And in Beowulf, Tug’s men fall asleep. They can go from full-on fight to fast asleep in five minutes.

That night Major Murchison walks over with news of the casualty. Not only is the Marine alive, but his bones are unbroken and his insides uncrushed. The weight displacement of the Viking is more than just myth.

He explains his decisions to halt the fight. “It’s my responsibility to take you into places and bring you out alive,” he tells them. “I wasn’t prepared to push that bit further, go in, take casualties, only to have to leave it at the end of the day.” Artillery could not be used as its shells would have risked the death of innocent civilians.

“These Pashtun people here all lie to you,” Mohammed Ali tells the Major. “You should shoot two men from each village, and their cattle, and then they will tell you the truth.”

“I know they all lie to me,” he replies. “But we’re not the Russians and we don’t execute people.”

Day 7

The Talebs get a result of their own. The Marines are on the way back towards Naw Zad to raid a Taleban concentration. The Talebs hit them early.

Before the move, Tug gave a set of orders for the operation so rousing that they would have mobilised a conscientious objector to ardent militancy. Then he took Marine Gregg Packham aside. Packham has only just arrived and has not yet been in a hard fight. “OK mate, this is what it’s all about now,” Tug told him. “This is what you are here for. And we’re glad to have you with us. Stay close. You’ll be all right. Let’s get stuck in there.”

As we move off Packham is sitting opposite me. His legs shake and I don’t envy him. Only a fool laughs in the face of their first battle.

Then it all goes wrong. As the lead vehicles cross through a pass east of Naw Zad they come across an explosive device. The company halts short of it. It partially explodes. A bigger device detonates just beyond it. Next, between five and ten Taleb gunmen, concealed in rocks high above them on each side of the pass, open up.

The men cannot identify the Taleb positions. Their heavy machineguns cannot be raised to strafe the peaks. The 105mm field guns and mortars fire without effect. Two Apache helicopters arrive but would have to fly over an area suspected of containing an antiaircraft gun. So they bottle out. “Great,” remarks one of the troop commanders on hearing this. “Imagine us not getting out of the vehicle because we were worried someone would shoot us.”

All the time the Taleban are firing on the Marines, who now cannot move forward because of the likelihood of further mines. Eventually the company manages to return without casualty. For all their armour, their technology, their airpower, they have been thwarted by no more than ten men in high ground with just two bombs and some Kalashnikovs.

I never encounter a sense of personal animosity towards the Talebs from the Marines. If anything they respect them, even identify with them. “I’ve listened in on their sentries at night in the cold saying ‘it’s crap’, just like we do,” Marine Williman tells me. “Or complain that some idiot has brought them up the wrong bit of kit.”

The South African sniper adds: “They have their score and we have ours. Taleban aren’t just fighters: it’s a way of life for a lot of people here. Calling them Taleban is probably wrong too. It implies everyone who wants that way of life is a terrorist or going to shoot at you, when they’re not.”

Day 9

In many ways fighting the Taleban is the easiest part of the Marines’ war.

There is a darker side. Civilians have been wounded and killed during some operations. One Marine told me of rushing into a house from which he just been fired upon. A door slammed in his face. He put a long burst of gunfire through it and kicked it down.

Inside were were two dead, a man and a teenage boy. Neither was armed. Guns were later found in the house.

On another occasion, during a heavy engagement, he kicked in the door of a house the Marines had fired on to find seven women, children and old people inside, all badly wounded.

He dragged them into a yard and with another Marine bandaged every casualty. Two died. But the wounded six-year-old girl sticks in his mind. One of her legs was torn open by gunfire.

“People said to me afterwards, ‘Don’t worry about it’,” he tells me. “But that girl, she hadn’t been shooting at us. She was just in a house where someone else was shooting. And now she’s going to be scarred for life.”

Day 10

Rip, roar and havoc. Not a fight. A battle. Fire from the front. Fire from the flanks. Rockets and bullets scything through the air. Up to 30 Taleban in 12 different positions have opened up from close range before we are out of the vehicles. The rear door swings open and we pitch out from the warm womb of the Viking into sudden light, chattering machineguns, explosions and whipping lead: nought-to-ninety in a second on an adrenalin high. Hit the ground. Run. See an empty trench.

Dive into it. To our left one of the open-deck Land Rovers, a mobile machinegun platform is firing withering bursts at Talebs shooting from dunes beyond. Tug is to assault the position with his six Marines. They peel out of cover and take a long run leftwards.

The air zips and zings. I can see “Tommo”, the Rover commander, coolly sitting astride the lip of the ridge, in clear view of the Talebs, fire off a Javelin rocket, then jump back into his vehicle and blast away again with the machinegun. From all along the ridgeline around us Marines are firing and being fired upon.

“Let’s go, let’s f***ing go,” Tug yells and the section is up and moving into the shingle dunes as the Taleban run down a slope the other side. The Marines take cover at the edge, and fire upon targets in the village below. The nearest house is less than 100 yards away. They take fire from it and Tugs pumps a grenade through a window. A wounded chicken flaps out.

“Oh Tug, you wounded the poor little bird, finish it off mate!” Marines are laughing and shooting.

But there are more than little birds out there. I see a running black figure stop and turn, rifle up and glittering as he shoots at us. And above the automatic fire I hear the smacking retort of South African’s sniper rifle.

As artillery and mortar bombs thump into the low ground, Tug and the last three Marines become pinned down by a Taleban sniper. I see a round smack into the shingle barely 2ft from Tug’s head, the latest very close call of a heavy 3½hour fight.

Though the Taleban are pushed off their forward positions quickly enough, they regroup below and target the company with rockets and mortar bombs. I see a rocket explode right beside the section accompanied by Richard Mills, perhaps 15 feet beyond them. I do not wonder if they are hit. I am sure of it. Yet none is.

The Taleban are still shooting as the Marines return to their Vikings. As many as 20 insurgents are believed dead, but their rocket fire continues as J Company leaves the ridge. Inside Beowulf, the men assess the fight to have been in the “top five” of those they have had since arriving in Afghanistan last autumn. Then they stop talking, and begin to doze off.

Most are still asleep as the patrol returns to base. They have only two days before another long patrol in northern Helmand.

“Yeah, that was hoofing in the end,” Tug says cheerily, as his men wander away to their tents. “Another good trip courtesy of Tug Wilson Travel.”

And I wonder whether J Company’s luck will hold, whether they will all come back from the next mission.

By the camp’s gate, mounted on a blast-proof wall, the company’s death’s head jester grins and winks fixedly, as if guardian of the answer.

“The General”: Major Ewen Murchison, 38 J Company commander. A former Scotland under21 rugby international. Major Murchison commands a mobile operations group of commando assault troops, artillery and mortars, which has been involved in a number of skirmishes and up to 15 large-scale engagements with the Taleban since arriving in Afghanistan last autumn

“Tug”: Corporal Anthony Wilson, 29 section commander. Veteran of tours in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Reads political biographies and studies of defence policy incompetence in between missions. Well versed in the intricacies of winning hearts and minds, he nevertheless relishes a good fight. “The big op we did in December was so boring I nearly had to take the bootlaces off the lads to stop them hanging themselves,” he once said. “It was like leading the vampires to blood and not letting them drink”

“Mole”: Marine Dominic Williman, 19 section machinegunner and Pashtu speaker. Converses with the locals, teaches the rest of his section Pashtu commands, fights when required. “Our objectives and aims are right, but there’s room for improvement in the way we’re going about it here,” he says. “We have stabilised Gereshk but we’ll never wipe out the Taleban and win the population over by fighting alone. As we get hardened and more experienced, so do they”

“The South African”: Sniper, 26 A professional tennis coach before joining the Marines, now a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. He delayed going home on his December rest and recreation break and missed his daughter’s birth so as not to miss out on a mission. “If the Taleban were able to break our supply chains we’d be f****d. We underestimate them a lot. Given half the chance, if we disturbed them enough, they’d cripple us. If they start bringing foreign fighters in we would end up bombing more, killing locals, and everything we’d have done in the begining would be lost”

hi lads my son is out there with you you are all doing a great job even though i personally think you should all come home take care of yourselves and each other and all of you come home safely to your loved ones i will have my son home on 4th of october so take care boys xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

su hickman, boston lincolnshire, great britain

My brother is in 42 Commando at Camp Bastion. Keep up the good work lads. There are many people back home who know that you are doing a proffessional job out there.
The Beers are waiting back home.

A Williams, Bargoed, Wales

A great article. Proof of the continuing professionalism of the Royal Marines and the UK Armed forces. Its certainly true that there are young people in the UK prepared to make a difference.
However, as many have said, the military are soaking up casualties but are they making a difference? Surely what the local population want is stability and peace. My understanding is that there is morphine shortage in the NHS. Would we be not better off buying the poppy crop, giving the locals an income, reducing the support for the Taleban, help reduce the influx of heroin on our streets, provide the NHS with what it needs, and more importantly reduce the number of casualties on both sides. Maybe oversimplistic, but it upsets me every time I see a British service person die, and a new recruit for the cause of terrorism. I am not convinced that small scale UK military operations ala OP HERRICK are the answer. Fighting for ground only to give it up, so that the Taleban can return is not the answer.

tooldtodieyoung, Bristol, Great Britain

To all the boot necks serving in Afghanistan especially the lads of J coy 42 commando, you all have our greatest respect & appreciation for carrying out a job many will never understand or know. Your level of professionalism & fortitude are unparalleled and in keeping with the highest traditions of the British Forces where you are second to none despite the lack of equipment and bureaucracy. After all is said and done many soldiers will come & go from Afghanistan over the neck few years. Many will not know their names but they will not forget the men that came to Helmand who wore green berets, and if the truth be known the talebs will be glad to see the back of them & hope they do not come back. Take care all of you & wishing you all a safe return home especially to my brother, glad your back mate see you soon.

Larry, london, UK

The more Pashtuns NATO kills, the more they will hate the infidel occupation armies from far away that do not understand them, and see things in terms of gross simplicity: terrorists and taleban. It is a slam dunk certainty that this effort will exhaust itself in time, and the locals will order their society as they see fit. So be proud of your fine boys serving far away if that makes you feel good. But no good will come of it. This is all like a Fellini movie, a "Grand Illusion" indeed.

John, Seattle, USA

well done boys! Ugs forever your usual self keeping up morale,hope ur looking after Kibbs!!! can't wait to have you home, will definitely enjoy a good drink on the barbican listening to all ur dits!keep it up and stay safe. xx

Loz, Plymouth,

Tug Wilson you're my hero!

Barry Budden, Oxofrd,

Thanks for a very good view of the conflict from a soldiers perspective. Such a viewpoint is so under-reported that I get angry with the media and the armchair generals they wheel in. Also a big thanks to the boys out there - you may not realise it but a whole lot of us back in the UK are proud and supportive of your efforts.

Baz, Wirral, UK

My son is a 20yr old serving in J Co, And i thank Anthony Loyd for bring there war to light, as we sit in our comfy chairs looking at flickering images on the television how can we possibly imaging what our sons are going through.....We have to support them all no matter what we think about the war.Lets hope and pray whatever your God that they all return safely.
Dom Stokes

Dom Stokes, Cardiff,

Reading write up's like this lets us see just what our boys / girls are doing for britain and we should be proud of them all. As a sister of a 29 commando RA i am very proud of the work that he and the others do. Not knowing the full on what is happening at the moment ,having write up's like these help us to see just what is really happening. Hope we get more story's like this to make Britian appreciate and support what these outstanding forces do for us and also to remember those that have lost their lives to make a safer country.

Tara Vickers, Canvey Island, Essex

After so many negative stories about our troops that have been reported in the media, it is so refreshing to read a story that portrays the conflict from their perspective. We have the most professionally motivated, but always under equipped, fighting force in the world. There will always be a few that spoil it for the many but that is an unfortunate fact of life. I am personally proud to have been a Royal Marine and even more so of the professionalism, and humour, of the lads doing the job now. Good luck to all our forces whether in Iraq or Afghanistan and I wish them all a safe and speedy return home. Whether you agree with what is happening or not, let us ALL give our troops the support they deserve.

Taff, Chester, UK

A great piece of writing! It does justice to the tireless work that our boys do out there.
I don't think enough praise can be heaped on them for the manner in which they operate in such a taxing environment.
The sense of humour shared by the lads has to be admired and as an Ex Royal Marine I understand that this is what gets them through the tough times, that and a superhuman desire not to let down the man stood next to them.
Britain should be immensely proud!

James Greenwood, Essex, UK

Whatever people think of the political situation here and its impact upon the world ie Afghanistan and Iraq, this article is the most interesting I have read for a good while. The photography reflected the situation well. I fully support our men and women out there, after all they have a job to do, despite having concerns about the objectives and reason for being there.

Please follow up with more journalism and photography of this quality.

Michael, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

To Donald from Basra.
I read the article, thank you. It remained me of the Soviet propaganda articles during the Afgan war. And at that time I wasn't sitting in a cafe, if you know what I mean. West helped the same people that its fighting now. It supplied them with Stingers, which was a high-teck at the time. It supplied them with money and intelegence. It created a monster as your press likes to say. Now you are sitting in your base in Basra waiting to be pulled out. Did you ever asked yourself what are you doing in Iraq? Searching for WMD? Or simply guarding your base and waiting the day to get out? I think that British troops in Afganistan are thinking in the same lines. They are under-equipped, they have no support from locals, despite the number of kites and dolls they carry with them. They are fighting guirella war and they are bound to lose it. Your goverment was stupid enough to follow US call, so be a good soldier and stick to your orders. And I will get my cofee, thanks.

Oleg, Toronto, Canada

Fantastic piece, I read it hard copy and it was a insightful and a refreshing article.
After so much negativity and left-wing 'interpretation' about what our lads are doing the human story was a breathe of fresh air in a fog of jaundiced press.

Wish the online article had included J Company's deaths head jester though., puts it all in perspective.

STEPHEN PAGE, guildford, England, UK

First Class article, one of the best reports i have seen on the current operation in Helmand. He brings the characters alive and they are coping very well in a testing environment. Good luck to all from 3 Cdo Bde for your last few months. Stay safe.

As to Oleg from Canada, why don't you try to read the article again. Time to get off your soapbox and become a bit better informed. It's very easy to be so critical when sitting in a coffee shop safe from danger and out of harms way. Leave the politics alone, look at the article on the operational level, you may learn something.

You say we don't act like the Russians did in Afgan? Is that such a bad thing when you look back to their withdrawal in the late 80's?

Donald, Basra, Iraq

STEPHEN PAGE, guildford, England, UK

Our son is currently serving in Afghanistan and many of the comments of your readers have truth in them ie not enough numbers to hold hard won ground but others have not understood the difference between British and Soviet troops.The reason our troops don`t kill the Taleban at every opportunity is as stated in the article , to do so would often endanger civilians and this line the British are not willing to cross.
I think I would be right in saying that the comment the boys would most enjoy reading is that from Bob in Telford as the Marines do still believe in Justice, loyalty,fairness and the Great in Great Britain.It is their cammaraderie that keeps them going in conditions that we can only envisage in nightmares.Come on Britain- just for once allow yourself to be proud of all our troops and in doing so see how much better you feel about yourselves!!!!

Melanie Sharp, Penzance, England

Excellent article. Having served in the forces I feel that you relayed the feeling and excitement that these guys get from their jobs. They probably don't care why or how they are there it's just their job and they love the action after years of training for times like these. I wish all the boys good luck and express my thanks to them for doing what they do so well.

Mark, Brisbane, Queensland

having read this piece I feel as if I was an actual witness to the events. This has got to be the most informative piece of Journalism I have read concerning this war

Ron Mc Cartan, Dagenham, Essex.

The peril that these brave men exposed themselves seem far off and one that only Ludlum can pen.Jovial under fire and treat the operationnothing more than like a walk in the park demonstrate the kind of proffessionalism these young men have.It is sad that these boys, with all their training in handling the worst in society deployed to finish the work their governments ill conceived ideology only to die.What a loss! These young men should all become ambassador of peace instead.Peace to the world!

ramone david, kuala lumpur, malaysia

I cant help but feel that the troops need the country's full support. It doesn't matter if you support the war or not. the fact of the matter is that these people have chosen to but themselves in harms way for the peoples choice - and yes it is the peoples choice. such is the joys of democracy.

'we give them a good spanking' - we need more people like this! :D

Philip, Winchester, UK, Hampshire

Despite the best efforts of Marine Dominic Williamson to convince the indigenous population of the good intentions of NATO etc, the population remains sceptical of the international community’s ambiguous nation-building efforts in Afghanistan. If the ‘golden period’ i.e. the two years after the fall of the Taliban was used effectively to bring significant improvements in Afghanistan and for ordinary Afghans it would have been unlikely that villagers would still be tolerating and harbouring the Taliban. Unfortunately, the best efforts of NATO are now in vain and the Taliban seem to have more of a strategic advantage and now are able to prohibit any progress on the reconstruction front. The Taliban will continue to enjoy the sympathy of locals until there is real change in people’s lives. E.g the Kajaki dam should have been repaired much sooner when there was no active Taliban to harass engineers. The boys of J Company are doing a good job but for what ends? How long should they offer sweets and water with one hand and fire power with another? The aims are ambiguous, the ends unclear and uncertain.

Al Bahadur, London, UK

It's funny that British troops are constantly trying to pose themselfes as "not-Russians". They don't have to bother, even a dog in Afganistan understands it. The truth is that Brits are no match to Russians. Whatever the infrastructure is there it was build by Soviet Union. Nato did not bring anything positive to Afgans, it's too weak and doesn't built anything outside of Kabul. Compare to Soviets, Nato is under-manned and under-equipped. It was strange to read how Taleban operates under the nose of British soldiers and they can't do anything about it. It looks like that Brits and Americans finally got what they deserved for their support of "brave mudjahedeen" against Soviet forces. They have created Taliba, armed it and allowed to grow and give birth to al-Qaida. Now they are trying to push ginny back to the bottle and, of course, its a failed effort. All they can do is to defend themselves. You can't buy people with kites and toys and after simply sjoot them. Lesson learned?

Oleg, Toronto, Canada

This war is full of brave men.
I do believe this fight is just on the grounds of protecting our homeland from terrorism and in the future heroin (i know it is worse currently) I worry that our men and innocents lose their lives for a job the west is not willing to tackle properly. The numbers are insufficient to hold ground from one day to the next as we return to base. To win hearts and minds we have to protect villagers from the Taleban and get on with reconstruction - we make friends and then abandon them. The soldiers have the will but at home and in overseas governments this is lacking - so we will fight on and lose lives for years

russell, london, England

Excellent article. World class troops. Good reporting. Years ago we'd have had a tv series with Commando Corporal "Tug" Wilson and his boys extolling the virtues of loyalty, cameraderie, honour, justice and so on. Airfix would have produced plastic models of the Viking patrol vehicles and guns, with HO OO plastic figures of the Marines and the Talebs. Instead, we've descended into a neutured mediocrity of a society that's selfish, timid and unable to be proud of its achievements without worrying about upsetting somebody. It's all tosh, but clearly, the marines and your reporters are evidence that the bulldog spirit isn't completely dead.

Bob Jenkins, Telford, England

Todays youth nothing but trouble.....HOW Wrong we are ,these young men cannot have enough praise for what they are doing in a far off land..I take my hat off to every one of them, Its only a pity the goverment does,nt recognise this as there talk is cheap...
well done boys keep your heads down

Dom Stokes, Cardiff,

As usual the government have placed the most professional troops in the world in an impossible position. What is their task? If it is to defeat the enemy there are just not enough of them. To win hearts and minds will need the whole of our armed forces in position for long enough to convince the population that they have nothing to fear from the insurgents - again not enough.

Why are we sending our troops on patrols which may have a temporary effect whilst they are present in a locality which will return to its previous state as soon as they have departed?

I agree with your previous correspondent - buy up the poppy crop and let our troops concentrate on what, in addition to their undoubted fighting qualities, they do best which is winning the hearts and minds of the population.

Robin Wilkins, Doncaster,

It wouldn't be economical stability as the people trading the poppy crops would be the same war lords and drug sellers that are dealing with the poppy crops now. To protect the farmers and ensure correct and fair trading of the crops for medical use we would need a protection force, so i do see this as a solution that can, and will, be constructed in the future but it would in no way eliminate the need for ISAF and the deployment of troops.

Neil, Sheffield,

I always enjoy Anthony Loyd's journalism, as an ex-Army officer and a veteran of many conflicts he understands the character of contemporary conflict and the personalities of those who fight it. To me, this particular piece captures the dilemma facing our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the contradiction between the absolute imperative to win 'hearts and minds' and the necessity to defeat the military power of the Taliban/anti-Government forces. That this dilemma is nearly impossible to resolve is not the fault of our soldiers, nor is it the fault of our politicians, it is simply a reflection of the dynamism, uncertainty and complexity of modern warfare. I hope all of the Marines of J Company, and all of their comrades and the journalists who report on them, come home safely. While it saddens me that this will not be the case, I am certain that we (the Afghan Government and the NATO forces that support them) are the best hope for the people of Afghanistan.

Praetorian, Oxford, UK

Why are Western troops there again? In all this we seem to have forgotten that the mission was to rid the afghans of the taleban. Now it appears that these marines are just driving around looking for a scrap: and getting them with reasonable frequency.

However, I can only imagine that being there is proving useful as some kind of live fire-training mission. 20 dead taleban here and there is just creating martyrs.

So, if this is some kind of training mission, then the western forces should leave the parts of afghanistan that support taleban to the taleban.

Dara O Donnell, Dublin,

When would it sink in that majority of Afghans are Talibans. Russians were doing the same, trying to win hearts and minds, they did much more development in Afghanistan than NATO can expect to achieve in next ten years. If any of the commanders care to read Churchill's Story of Malakand Field Force or Olf Caero The Pathans they may understand that NATO is in a no win situation. The only way out is a political dialogue, which likely will take place after 15 years of fighting.

Khalid Mian, London, UK

In Day Two there is a laconic, en passant remark about a sniper kill on a Talaban enemy fighter at 1200 metres. Does the average reader really appreciate the level of skill necessary to achieve that?

We should be proud of our soldiers' remarkable training and abilities, which are world-class - whatever we may think of the politicans who deploy them in this and other current conflicts.

Colin McKelvie, Belfast, Co. Down, UK

Good Effort Ugs!

Barry Buddon, Harry Dunders,

Total waste of ammo. As soon as we're gone they'll be back to their chosen way of life and we'll have made them even angrier.

chie, Tokyo, Japan

Our Victorian ancestors didn't do such a bad job. They made Britain one of the richest and greatest countries in the world - a position still held and of obvious benefit to the current population judging by the relatively high standard of living still enjoyed by most Britons. You don't get to be top dog by crawling on your belly and skulking in your kennel! And, incidentally, the Victorians, like the Romans, did a lot for many of the Commonwealth countries too - something many of them are only now beginning to appreciate!

Michael, Penang, Malaysia

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana.
We're just repeating our victorian ancestor's mistakes in Afghanistan. The solution, buy up all the poppy crops for medical morphine. Economic stability for the population will wither the strength of the Taliban and produce a much more favourable attitude to the west. And it would be much cheaper than this ridiculous war.

Peter, Leeds,

Having never responded to any newspaper article before, it was with some surprise to myself that I felt so strong about giving a responce to this item! I must first point out that I served 12 years (1975-1987) in the British Army and with 29 Commando between 84-87.
This story realy made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. Taking me back to situations in which I found myself during my service life. The writing of this article all felt very real and needs to be put over to people who have NEVER been in the same situation. Hopfully helping all of us understand the hardship and problems that our lads are living under. Weather we agree or not with weather the Armed Forces should be in these areas of conflict is not the main issue, when it comes to supporting our lads! They go where they are told and try dam hard to do a good job with often crap equipment and little support from the people who send them ( our elected Government !! ). If the people of the u.k do not stand up and voice support for the service personel then soon we will not have an Armed Force that can be effective at all.
We do have the Best Armed Forces in the World, it is only let down by inconsistant idiots in power!

Lloyd Watson, Plymouth, UK

Intensely moving and an inspiration for us all - also a well-earned kick in the teeth for those who would call these men 'baby killers'.

Jerry Hart, Cambridge, UK