The American spy had come to Afghanistan all kitted out for the first war of the 21st century, a rucksack bulging with hi-tech gadgets and gizmos -- and then he jumped on his horse.
Smart bombs and dumb animals have been the two main ingredients of the West's six-week war against the Taliban, which has sent US troops on the ground, to say nothing of the humble footsoldiers of the international press pack, journeying back in time.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld conceded last week that a bizarre interface of satellite technology and equestrian transport has seen US spooks trekking over the Hindu Kush on decrepit donkeys in a mad rush to beat the snows of winter.
Even the frontline in Kandahar, Kunduz or Kabul is a grim history lesson. The forbidding landscape of trenches and walled cities makes one think immediately of the First World War, but in fact the real history of Afghanistan is as much about corruption as it about carnage.
Horse trading, greenbacks and the Afghan art of the deal only add to the sense of time-warp, with mountain folk charging metropolitan journalists up to US$2,000 for beasts of burden to get their Gucci luggage over the hill.
In November the road over the Hindu Kush, which informally separates Central and South Asia, is shut because of the heavy snowfall. It remains closed for six months of the year.
Some of the grander journalists make the journey from Khwaja Bahauddin, the alliance's headquarters near the border with Tajikistan, to the Panjshir valley in helicopters specially chartered by the opposition's egregious foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
Less grand journalists submit to a gruelling four-day journey that meanders in an easterly direction between Taliban positions and territory held by the Northern Alliance.
The journey is long but thrilling, a kind of Iron John endurance test. Conversation however is short and dull, especially for those Western correspondents whose grasp of Dari, the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan, is elementary.
Such discomfort is part and parcel of the Western experience of Afghanistan, dating back to the first Anglo-Afghan War more than a century and a half ago.
If there was one thing the British officers who declared war on Emir Dost Mohammad in 1838 were clear about, it was that they were going to have a comfortable campaign.
One regiment took with it a pack of foxhounds, another employed two camels merely to carry its stock of cigars, junior officers were accompanied by as many as 40 servants and one general needed as many as 60 camels to carry his personal effects.
Thus encumbered, in the 19th as well as the 21st century, many an unsuspecting foreigner has departed for the Afghan war.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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