Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Picking up the pieces from Afghanistan's war
Tue May 26, 2009 12:47am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Emma Graham-Harrison
ALAH SAY VALLEY, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. gunners scanned a lush Afghan valley from their helicopter, as a small white van containing a badly burned baby inched toward another Black Hawk waiting at the army outpost far below.
Eight soldiers had flown into the heart of hostile eastern Afghanistan, in a convoy of one air ambulance and one "chase" helicopter for protection, to collect 18-month-old Amanullah who knocked a pot of scalding water over his legs, penis and scrotum.
The screaming baby is part of a mission to show Afghans that the presence of foreign troops and aircraft can bring more than Taliban attacks, at a time of mounting public anger about civilian deaths from air strikes by coalition forces.
"It's definitely part of 'hearts and minds', giving people something they don't have, letting them know by example that we care about them," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Brandon Lynch, pilot on the helicopter that landed in the Alah Say Valley.
"If that means us flying and putting ourselves in a dangerous situation, we'll do it. To me, that's worth it."
Lynch is part of a "Dustoff" flying medical evacuation, or medevac, team of national guard troops who speed around the country in helicopters equipped with cutting-edge medical technology to pick up wounded soldiers.
They have revolutionized battlefield care, collecting the injured from the heart of hostile territory, winching them off steep mountainsides into hovering helicopters, and ensuring that all but the most severely wounded make it to hospital alive.
But the sporadic nature of fighting a guerrilla insurgency means they are not always needed by U.S. or Afghan troops. So when the fighting is quiet, they try to help ordinary civilians.
"I think that's exactly what we should be doing here, caring for local nationals," said medic Sergeant Steve Park, who treated Amanullah on his flight to hospital, just hours after airlifting a pregnant woman.
Three decades of war and unrest has left Afghanistan's infrastructure in pieces, with few and badly equipped hospitals, often at the end of bone-jarring trips down dirt roads.
After serious accidents, Afghans often turn to the only arm of the state with a presence almost everywhere -- the army. Most civilian cases are referred to hospitals from outlying bases.
CULTURAL GULF
The "Dustoff" medics do the same job back home, when they are out of their national guard uniforms and working for civilian organizations, and some have years of experience.
But the injuries in Afghanistan are different -- more violent trauma wounds from guns, shrapnel, bombs or long-forgotten landmines -- and so are the patients.
"International and Afghan forces with the same wound present totally differently. They are unbelievably tough. You'll have an Afghan soldier with a gunshot wound and you ask 'Are you in pain?' and he'll say 'No'," said medic Sergeant Reuben Higgins. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Air strike on Sudan convoy killed 119: state media
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Fighting the Taliban
A growing insurgency in Afghanistan is also spreading deep into Pakistan, making both countries crucial to U.S. war efforts in the region. Full Coverage
More International News
North Korea fires more rockets, says U.S. hostile
| Video
Pakistani soldiers battle Taliban in Swat town
| Video
Iran's Ahmadinejad rejects Western nuclear proposal
Abbas to press Obama on Israeli settlement issue
Suu Kyi to testify as Myanmar opens court again
More International News...
Related News
FACTBOX: Security developments in Afghanistan, May 26
12:47am EDT
Featured Broker sponsored link
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Mike Tyson's daughter critical after mishap: reports
Obama says North Korea nuclear test a "grave concern" | Video
Canadian TV rapped for Obama assassination joke
Q+A: Why did North Korea rush to a nuclear test?
North Korea fires more rockets, says U.S. hostile | Video
Actor Mel Gibson says girlfriend is pregnant
World economy stabilizing: Krugman
Deficit woes likely to dog dollar for some time
Dollar slide could be investment "game changer"
Q+A-Why did North Korea rush to a nuclear test?
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Israel: anger over proposed laws
Phoney flying saucer over Brazil
Obama condemns North Korea
Battle for Swat
Baby anteater stars in Japan
U.S. and NATO commemorate dead
Final beckons for Susan Boyle
Maddie investigator visits Germany
Stampede tragedy at Morocco concert
Shuttle Atlantis lands after delay
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
The Great Debate
The wrong side of history
Bernd Debusmann
President Obama and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, lean towards pragmatism over ideology and principle, closer in foreign policy outlook to Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger than to George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice. Commentary
Follow Bernd Debusmann on Twitter
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.