A non informed press officer is the best guarantee for true, the true about a constructive mission in a safe place. ‘Do not mention the war’ has become ‘War, what the hell is war?’ in a little fawlty tower somewhere. Or maybe it is only a question of perception.

PS. There is a similarity between this war and modern management systems. No more need for irony, reality blows everything.

Forgiveness

Thanks, Arnon.

In return, I'll forgive you for using the personal protection of Dutch NATO troops to go deep into the 'Heart of Darkness'. Their salary comes from the Dutch taxpayers and at times, they risk their own lives to make trips like yours possible.

Reading your articles, some of which are close to, or even over, the top (in my modest view, that is), one wonders whether those tax euros are wisely spend.

But here's a deal: I'll publish the link to your publisher for free (once), so readers of the Uruzgan Weblog can browse through your bibliography, and place a few orders ;-)

webmaster, Uruzgan Weblog

PS: there was one botched suicide attack in Tarin Kowt on Wednesday. The other one, according to Afghan media reports, occured in the Chora DIstrict of Uruzgan province last weekend.

FYI: Jan Wolkers died today at the age of 81. Take care in Tarin Kowt.

disinformation

"The Dutch army is that much in love with the idea of disinformation that it is willing to infect its own press officers with disinformation. I fully understand this, if I were them I would do the same."

Tell me, Arnon, how much disinformation is this posting?

KJ

Webmaster Uruzgan Weblog

It’s a fair question if journalists (or whoever acts as a journalist – I don’t consider myself in the first place a journalist) should go on embedded trips.
A colleague from the Independent said: “Where ever there are soldiers there should be journalists.”
I think this idea has some merits.
The Dutch troops never left the camp just for my sake -- all I did was escorting them. Of course I’m thankful for their protection, but I’d like to point out that the heart of darkness created in Afghanistan is also a heart of darkness because of the presence of Western troops.
Can I ask you a small question, or rather two questions: are you a member of the Dutch armed forces? If not what’s your interest in Oruzgan?

Dear Arnon,

Alas, the identity of the webmaster shall remain a secret. One of the reasons is the copyright issue. Although I should add that you are the first person to raise that . Otherwise, folks (media, military and otherwise) seem to appreciate this open source news digest.
I've adapted my original comment on your trip outside the wire, now that you pointed out you just hitched a ride.
As to the Heart of Darkness: you may be interested to know that Tarin Kowt was the first town in Southern Afghanistan to spontaneously rebel against the Taliban, back in 2001. Apparently, they didn't like them. What ensued was a huge battle, part of which took place near were Kamp Holland is now located. The main players: the later president Hamid Karzai; the local population, and 11 men of a US Special Forces Unit - pitched against an estimated 800 Taliban fighters. Do search in Google for the keywords 'PBS', 'Karzai' and 'ODA-574' and be amazed....
You may be also interested to know that Taliban leader Mullah Omar grew up in Deh Rawod, Uruzgan province (he wasn't born there, btw) One his great schoolday friends was the later Mullah Bradar (Barader) , the present #2 of the Taliban.

Webmaster

Thanks for the info.
What are the other reasons that your identity should remain a secret?
A captain here claims to know your identity -- by mistake you sent him a mail from your private e-mail address. It will be a relief for you to know that this captain is a very discreet person.

Dear Arnon,

Can you give any example , preferably in Uruzgan province, of your asserment "that the heart of darkness created in Afghanistan is also a heart of darkness because of the presence of Western troops." ?
Why, do you think, did the local population of Tarin Kowt (aka T-K, as you'll now it by now) stood up against the Talibs back in 2001 - supported shortly afterwards by Western troops?
And how does one refer to the Chechen, Bosnian. Pakistani and external Talibs fighting in Uruzgan?
In the meantime, I have removed all your copyrighted Dutch articles from my blog. 1.5 years and 3800+ articles after it was launched, you're only the second person or information source to raise that issue. While I appreciate the legal arument, your entries about your present stay with the Dutch troops are well-camouflaged in the Arts section of NRC/Handelsblad, and I sincerely doubt if anyone interested in Afghanistan/Uruzgan will find them there.
As to the identity of webmaster, what does it really matter? If you wish, I'm a 'Copy & Paste Specialist';-) Do join my Hyves (http://uwlm.hyves.nl) for some more information.

Bests,
UWLM

Dear Arnon,
-Well, I seem to have friends in the strangest of places ;-)
-Removed all your entries in the Uruzgan weblog. While they're a little hard to find tucked away as they are in the Arts section of a Dutch newspaper; I wouldn't want te be accused of indirectly stealing money from a dead-poor Dutch author....
- But what about your assertion that foreign troops brought the heart of darkness to Afghanistan. Please give me just one Uruzgan-related verifiable piece of info on that outrageous statement....
- Want to know more? Join my Hyves at http://uwlm.hyves.nl/

Bests.
UWLM

Webmaster

Ah, the web master is into censorship -- maybe that’s why he wants to remain anonymous.
If you want to know more about the darkness here just travel to TK and speak with the Dutch troops.
May I remind you that you introduced the notion of ‘heart of darkness’ with regarding to the Dutch troops in Afghanistan.
I forgive you, you are after all as you yourself remarked a copy and paste-boy.

Webmaster

your silence is somewhat disappointing. I took a quick look on your hyves place and am sure you have an answer. post it!

Dear Ilanit,
Silence? Well, I'm not into 24/7 monitoring of our beloved author's blog, who presently is
in traveling mode and possibly incommunicado. Some remarks on his observations:
- "I’d like to point out that the heart of darkness created in Afghanistan is also a heart
of darkness because of the presence of Western troops."
I'm still waiting for an answer to my question to Arnon to give me even ONE -verifiable-
example of how the presence of foreign troops has actually worsened the situation in
Uruzgan. He didn't answer that one, as you may have noticed. True, there is more fighting
than a year or three ago, but that is caused by a re-emergence of the Taliban supported by
foreign fighters all over Eastern and Southern Afghanistan. If Arnon would prefer the
Taliban to be in power again, why doesn't he say so?
- "Ah, the web master is into censorship"
Censorship of what? I just deleted his blogs which remain fully available on Arnon's own
weblog. I did so after considering his remark about copyright, and he has a point there.
- "If you want to know more about the darkness here just travel to TK and speak with the
Dutch troops."
Been there, done that, albeit in a somewhat different capacity than Arnon. And believe me,
I know a bit more about the situation than he does....
- "I forgive you, you are after all as you yourself remarked a copy and paste-boy".
Absolutely right :-)

Arnon goes Taliban...

@Ilanit,
Please surrender, you cannot win from the Uruzgan webmaster, he is mastering The Art of Controversy, a book by. Arthur Schopenhauer or he is merely a force of nature.

Webmaster Uruzgan

This is continuation of the discissio
Before we continue this discussion I would say that it would be helpful if you give a definition of what you mean with the heart of darkness. After all and once again you were the first to describe Afghanistan or at least Oruzgan as a heart of darkness.
Given your remark that you traveled to Afghanistan but not as a journalist I assume that you are (or were) a member of the Dutch armed forces.
Your remark that you deleted my articles from you blog because of copyright reasons is given your outburst of anger at my fairly innocent remark unconvincing.
You are not a good liar, my friend.
Don’t you know that lying is an important part of psychological warfare?
I assume that you were a failure as a member of the Dutch armed forces and out of sheer frustration started your site.
I pity you, when you come to New York I’ll buy you dinner.
It doesn’t come as a secret to you that I’m almost as good as Jesus. Probably even better.

Arnon

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first--rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

Oscar W

Thanks.
Is sounds like Apocalypse Now but probably it isn't it. It cannot be Conrad or am I wrong?

Arnon

It's John Lennon, commenting on the popularity of the Beatles in 1966. This statement sparked a massive anti-Beatles protest in the United States, which led Lennon to apologize--even though the Archbishop of Boston admitted that he was probably right. Lennon later said: "If I had said television is more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it".

Arnon

Just for clarification: the main controversy was about Lennon's assertion that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus", which is the statement that the Archbishop of Boston commented on.

Jan Thuys

surrendor to whom?

Dear Webmaster

For what it’s worth, I’m sure I am not the only one who didn’t feel your remark was an outburst of anger or that your actions could be described as censorship.
As time folds I discover we have more in common.
Next to the common stuff, Arnon pity me as well (at least during weekdays) and we both wait for the answer regarding the statement: “I’d like to point out that the heart of darkness created in Afghanistan is also a heart of darkness because of the presence of Western troops. “ I think it’s not coming. Do you?

Dear Arnon,

Calling someone a liar is not the best starting point for further discussion, but I'll forgive you. Especially if you buy me that dinner, although I must admit I seldom visit New York.

Talking about stretching the truth, you said no additional Dutch DoD personel were used to make your trip possible. But what about that Air Force Captain who was dispatched with you from the Netherlands to keep you happy (only in the vertical sense of the word, I hope) from Day 1 right up to your last day in Uruzgan? That amounts to a BIG amount of Dutch taxpayers money, doesn't it?

Anyway, enough joking.

Let's forget the expression 'Heart of Darkness'. What I meant to say was that huge swaths of Uruzgan province are still (or again) in the hands of what the Dutch military call the OMF - Opposing Militant Forces. Uruzgan 101: these include Talibs (divided in three 'tiers' depending on the measure to which they're willing to do business and make or keep the locals happy); drug gangs; local warlords; militias with outside commanders such as Hekhmatyar's guys; foreign fighters (Bosnians, Pakistani) and so forth. Add to that a bewildering array of people (Pashtun, Hazara ), tribes (Durrani, Ghilzai, Popolzai etc, and numerous armed sub-tribes or clans - and there you have Uruzgan province,

Now, for your average rural dweller, life can be hell, because his support will be demanded by Talibs on one given day, by a warlord on the second, by Isaf on the third, by US or Afghan Special Forces on the fourth etc.etc. etc. But he also has loyalty to his own tribe or clan, and larger villages have their own armed militia. He also has to feed his family and protect his and their honor.

You've been to FOB Poentjak (the name of which harks back to the Dutch colonial days in present-day Indonesia). I'm sure the military manning that post explained to you that the OMF to the East of that lonely wart in the landscape is different from the one to the West. Uruzgan 101 on the square mile. But has ISAF's presence actually WORSENED the situation? Maybe it actually reduced some of the in-fighting between local warlords and the like, who now can rally their men against a new kid on the block. But WORSENED?

Anyway, you wanted a continuation of the discussion. I'm afraid that discussing the combination of Jezus (I am an agnostic), frustrated former soldiers (which I'm not), anger (I'm a friendly person in general), psychological warfare (you mean Psyops or its civilian variant?) , liars and censors is WAY beyond my intellectual capacities and/or would make for a VERY lengthy posting. But it would indeed make for an interesting debatie over that dinner ;-)

Greetings from Porta Westfalica, Germany

Webmaster

You seem to be obsessed with Dutch tax payers money, this obsession is common among readers of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
What if I tell you that that this charming captain who soon will be a major was looking for an excuse to go back to Afghanistan. You know some people like it there. But you know this captain in person I have been told, by the captain, so ask her directly. Maybe she will give you an honest answer.
And before you lose more time worrying about your tax money, that little 2000 euros a year you are forced to pay, I urge you to speak to an economist, you don’t want to fall into the trap of populism, don’t you?
As you can read today in NRC in my last article, in these series at least, the highest ranking Dutch officer in Afghanistan admits that the war cannot be won military. That the security situation is worsening.
Another Dutch officer told me that many Afghans are longing for the Taliban, because they did a better job of providing security than the NATO-troops.
There might be strategic reasons to be in Afghanistan for NATO, the idea that NATO is able to rebuild the country is to say it blunt a scam.
And stop blaming the messenger for the message.
A few days before Hitler invaded the Soviet-Union Stalin was alerted about this invasion by a Soviet-spy. He had the spy killed, because Staling claimed that this man was an untrustworthy liar.
What are you doing in Porta Westfalica? Still waiting for the Russians?

Ilanit

If you have read my articles in NRC about Afghanistan you know enough about the heart of darkness there. No further explanation is needed as far as I’m concerned.

Artificial

While I applaud the proficiency of both of the big contributors to this discussion. I feel it is a little artificial to speak english while in fact all the stakeholders are Dutch natives who, be assured, will be more tempted to read in Dutch than in English. And although it could be your goal to keep far from dutch people who do not speak english(aka readers of the telegraaf), which would not suprise me, I just felt to stress this rather awkward situation .

Wouter

This site has quite a few readers who don't speak Dutch.