An Artery of Opium, A Vein of Taliban

27 July 2009
Sangin, Afghanistan

Afghanistan as seen from Washington and London.

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Tags: Afghanistan, Apocalypse Now, Blackhawk Down, Helmand River, IEDs
Posted Jul 27th 2009 at 1:38 pm in Michael Yon Dispatches, Military | 19257013 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/myon/2009/07/27/an-artery-of-opium-a-vein-of-taliban/An+Artery+of+Opium%2C+A+Vein+of+Taliban+2009-07-27+20%3A38%3A37Michael+Yon

Heavy Fighting in the Philippines: Another Forgotten War

06 June 2009
Filed From Chaghcharan, Afghanistan

Overview

Until recently, Afghanistan was called “The Forgotten War.” The dramatic domestic, regional, and international politics of the Iraq war largely eclipsed the fact that our people were fighting just as hard in Afghanistan. Although we’re paying attention to AfPak now, off the radar screen an important and related fight has been unfolding in the Philippines.

At the invitation of the Philippine government, the U.S. maintains about 600 troops, including Army Green Berets, Civil Affairs, and Military Information Support teams, Navy SEALS and Seabees, along with Air Force personnel and Marines.  Our military forces are deployed in six locations: Zamboanga, Mindanao, Jolo, Basilan, Tawi Tawi, and a small number of liaison staff on Luzon. Their mission is to help the Armed Forces of the Philippines eliminate terrorist groups like Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group and to prevent them from establishing safe havens from which to train other terrorists, both internal and external. (more…)

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Tags: Admiral Timothy Keating, Afghanistan, AFP (Armed Forces Philippines), AfPak, Blackhawk Down
Posted Jul 6th 2009 at 8:58 pm in Featured Story, Michael Yon Dispatches | 17822245 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/myon/2009/07/06/philippines-some-notes-thoughts-and-observations/Heavy+Fighting+in+the+Philippines%3A+Another+Forgotten+War2009-07-07+03%3A58%3A24Michael+Yon

Review: ‘The Hurt Locker’

Katherine Bigelow’s direction of “The Hurt Locker” is masterful and might very well place her back where she belongs, at the top of anyone’s list looking for a top-shelf action director. But that’s not enough to save the film from episodic plotting, jarring and unnecessary political statements, a troubling depiction of our troops and an even worse portrayal of the Iraqi people. This is a movie you want to like, but an unsettling after-taste lingers long after the thrill of the set-pieces fades.

Produced and scripted by Mark Boal (who embedded with a U.S. Army bomb squad operating in Baghdad), the year is 2004 and Iraq is a country under siege, thanks mainly to determined insurgents and roadside IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that seem to be everywhere and frequently come with nearby triggermen lying in wait for the opportunity to do the most amount of damage, preferably to American servicemen and women.  Charged with the dangerous and technically complicated job of defusing these bombs is a three-man EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) team led by Staff Sergeant James (an excellent Jeremy Renner) and his squad mates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). (more…)

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Tags: Blackhawk Down, Brothers At War, Hurt Locker, Iraq, Jeremy Renner
Posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 4:20 pm in Featured Story, Reviews | 175562104 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/07/02/review-the-hurt-locker-2/Review%3A+%27The+Hurt+Locker%272009-07-02+23%3A20%3A53John+Nolte