Toughing it out in the Afghan army

"What do you say now Mad Marine? Who looks like a coward now?


Dwarfed by the air conditioned sprawl of the nearby US airbase, the barracks of the Afghan National Army's 205th "Atal" (Hero) corps outside Kandahar are, to put it politely, extremely basic.

There is none of the shopping mall consumption that characterises the neighbouring US base. No DVDs, "air con" or golf buggies to transport soldiers to the groaning trolleys of the mess hall.

The ANA soldiers take their water from the non-potable tap that feeds the toilet block; they have not received mineral water or canned drinks for months. They wash their dishes in the showers, outside which a green pool of sewage festers. Their food comes topped with buzzing clouds of flies."
About Afghanistan