One Night in Zhari

There has been no recent evidence of recent Pujabi Cell activity here.  Maybe they were killed or went home.

Specialist William Phillips is using his PVS-14.  He might be looking at a Kiowa Warrior (KW) helicopter that is churning up the air flying low and scouting around us.  In Iraq, the insurgents sometimes called Kiowa Warrior helicopters “mosquitoes.”  In this area, the enemy calls them “flies,” and they call us “infidels,” though in some places they call us other names like “goats.”  In the distance we occasionally saw figures walking in the night, a dim flashlight swinging by someone’s side is very bright when seen through PVS-14s.  Even a cigarette can be bright, and if the enemy fires a weapon, it’s like a flashcube.

The night is dark but the cannon keeps firing IR illum which is descending by a small parachute behind me, casting a shadow that is visible with special gear.

Again, in the distance, we see a group of people and they carry dim lights swinging by their sides.

Short halt.

Taking a break under IR illum in a marijuana field.

An Afghan interpreter drinks water in the darkness while Afghan Soldiers tempt fate in the form of waiting bombs as they traipse into a nearby melon patch and start eating melons.

Someone breaks out a red light for a map check.