US military chief: Afghanistan is not Vietnam
Updated on 24 August 2009
Life in US military base Keating 'isn't Khe Sanh, anymore than Kabul is Saigon', writes a US Lieutenant Colonel in reply to our world news blog.
US Lieutenant Colonel Robert B. Brown, commenting on our Asia Corrsepondent Nick Paton Walsh's newsblog Watching the war from Nuristan's idyllic valleys, said: "Mr [Paton] Walsh makes an often unspoken point about the difficulty of journalism in a combat zone: the violence is the spark that ignites public attention, and TV is, in the end, a business."
Nick Paton Walsh has been reporting on the conflict in Afghanistan as he travels with US troops from their Nuristan base Keating, to the mountainous border with Pakistan.
Keating is one of America's most besieged bases, stuck in a ruthless valley near the Pakistani border. It is hit every two to three days. Channel 4 News gained rare access to the front line of America's war in Afghanistan, spending several days at the remote outpost in Nuristan.
Lt Col Brown continued: "We try to show visiting journalists the 'whole elephant'; and while the village shuras, uneventful patrols, and peaceful bases are interesting, they are not news.
"There is a backstory to Afghanistan and our mission that can't fit into a blog or a three minute film clip. Those are my Soldiers on Keating - and they do their best under trying conditions, every day. It isn't Khe Sanh, anymore than Kabul is Saigon - though conclusions are often easy leaps.
"I appreciate the time we spent with Mr [Paton] Walsh and Mr Webb, and that they are telling our Soldiers' stories. They are welcome back anytime."
