Frontline Club bloggers
Exploring the role of Twitter and social media in revolutions
I’m afraid I haven’t been able to follow events in Tunisia and Egypt as closely as I would have liked as I was determined to enjoy an overdue holiday and a break from computer screens. And my mission was largely accomplished. As part of an attempt to catch up, I’ve just been reading Jeff Jarvis, […]
How the People Lost their Fear of the Pharaoh, but is the Regime Getting Away With Murder?
Hosni Mubarak is gone, ousted by a revolution. As someone who lived in Egypt and can testify to the brutality of the Mubarak regime, I celebrated with the millions of people who were glad to see the back of him. These picture galleries from the New York Times and photojournalist Matthew Cassell show powerful images of protesters in their pain during […]
Like father like son
I ended up at COP Spera for longer than I had anticipated. On arrival, Lieutenant Corcorain, explained that they had only been told to expect me hours ahead of time and when I replied “don’t worry, I’m only here over night” he shot straight back “I wouldn’t bet on it, that’s what the last reporter […]
International Crisis Group: Fears of a new Armenia-Azerbaijan war
16.7 kilometers south of Lachin, Armenian-controlled Azerbaijan. Photo © Onnik Krikorian While it didn’t come as much of a surprise, the latest report from the International Crisis Group (ICG) makes depressing reading. Locked in a bitter stalemate since the war over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh during which around 25,000 were killed and […]
The End of COP Spera?
Combat Outpost (COP) Spera is located 800 metres from the Pakistan border in Afghanistan’s Khost province. The platoon section that occupies the COP can only come and go by helicopter as they have no vehicles based here. As the Lieutenant in charge explains “all we’ve got here is our legs and as you can see […]
Deaths in the Military, Mutiny, Mail and the Minister
To put it mildly, Germany’s Minister of Defence, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, will be facing a hostile parliamentary and media environment this week. Three military episodes are dominating headlines following reports from the German parliamentary ombudsman to the military. – The treatment of officer-cadets onboard the German Navy tall ship Gorch Fock, including events surrounding the […]
Kabul street Photography
Some pictures that I took in Kabul. I tried posting this a week ago or so, hopefully it works this time . . . . . This is a rather big lady, I half suspect John Simpson is under that Burka! The […]
Guido’s Pakistan Road Trip and Afghan ‘Outdoor Look’
Journalists accompanying Germany’s Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, on his trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan this week had a few surprises. Thick fog prevented Mr Westerwelle’s plane from landing in Islamabad, forcing Germany’s top diplomat and journalists in tow to land 400 km away in Lahore. To keep to schedule, Plan B was to pile everyone […]
Happy New Year
Dear friends! My warmest regards and best wishes to you on the coming New Year! It has been a busy year for the Frontline Club, and I wish it to grow bigger and stronger – and to have even more interesting and fruitful events next year! From my "psycho" point, wish you all to be […]
Covering the Marines on Facebook: embedded journalism goes open source
Teru Kuwayama is embedded with the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, but he’s not there with a traditional media organisation. He and a team of photographers are using funds from a Knight Foundation grant as part of an experimental project covering 1/8 battalion’s deployment in Helmand province. The team’s photographs and material relating to the deployment […]
Somalis, Saracens and their Secret Donor
What do six Russians, two South Africans, the Ugandan President’s brother, a private security firm, a former CIA officer, and a senior ex-US diplomat all have in common? Somalia and its semi-autonomous regions of course! The British registered private security firm Saracen International is currently training over 1000 militia men in Somalia’s Puntland region as […]
Kabul, kaboom, kabubble or kabust
So I fell behind on these blog entries. Time permitting, I’ll hopefully fill in some of the gaps but for the moment I want to forge on. I’m in Kabul, where I’m moving around unilaterally. Having previously spent so long in the city under lock and key and after a solid month embedding, it’s refreshing […]
WikiLeaks causing a stir in Yemen
Yemen’s deputy prime minister, Rashad al-Alimi, is in trouble. A recent WikiLeaks cable documents a meeting with him and President Saleh in which he jokes about having just “lied” to the parliament, telling them that Yemeni (not American) forces had carried out air strikes which killed scores of civilians in December. Al-Alimi’s comments prompted 50 […]
A first batch of Pics
These are a few pictures that I took during my first week long embed in Nangarhar Province . . . . I’ll add a short selection like this once in a while. Meanwhile, I’m off to COP Wilderness and then COP Spera both in Khost Province . . . […]
Monkeys, demons and the dude
It wasn’t much of a surprise when the words “we’re taking indirect from the mountain” burst over the radio. The day had been long and so perhaps the threat had slipped to the back of my mind but as the message crackled over the interference I realised I’d spent the whole day anticipating it. Those […]
Virgin Territory
Day two in Lal Por and something more substantial was planned. Building on the same idea as the day before, the unit wanted to probe the area that they believed insurgents are regularly passing through. North of Lal Por is a village called Saray that coalition forces haven’t been to yet, which can hardly be unusual in […]
Wikileaks and the embassy cables: media coverage
I’m afraid I might not be able to look at the latest Wikileaks release of U.S. embassy cables in too much detail as I’m scrambling to finish up my PhD thesis. If, for some reason, you want my thoughts on Wikileaks I wrote a couple of blog posts on the organisation last month – ‘Some […]
Hill 911
Lal Por nestles up against the Pakistan border bounded by mountains to the north and the Kabul river to the south. It is the capital of the district of the same name, which is sparsely populated apart from along the banks of the river that forms its southern limits. Although a bridge is under construction […]
Little America
To be clear right from the start, this is the first time that I’ve officially embedded with military forces. I say officially, because I’ve traipsed around in various places with a bunch of militia, guerrillas, terrorists, freedom fighters or paramilitary of one kind or another depending on your opinion and even found myself caught up […]
Islam’s Billy Graham arrives in Yemen
Yemen have enlisted the help of Amr Khaled, a popular Egyptian TV preacher to help in its fight against Al-Qaeda. Khaled, known as the Arab world’s Billy Graham, will be teaming up with well-known clerics and youth leaders to launch a full-scale media blitz aimed at rebuffing religious extremism in Yemen. Today in Sana’a, the […]
Caucasus Conflict Voices
Although actually underway since June 2008, it’s especially been a labour of love for the past year, but now some of the essays solicited for a personal online project are available as a free e-book for reading online or downloading. Accompanied by colour photographs, the book contains opinions on Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the conflict between the […]
And now, since I promised . . .
. . . Here’s that shooting incident. Well yes, I admit I may have used the cheapest of soap opera tactics to entice you to this second entry, and although it was hardly a cliff hanger, if you were expecting bullets ricocheting from walls as I ran for cover with a cacophony of explosions ringing […]
Report don’t dispatch
Rule number one for journalists starting a blog in a foreign land, pick the blog’s name carefully. Meskel Square = clever, good, local. South by South West = geographic, but not specific, nice. Noodlepie = genius. I’ve just picked a new name for a new website I’m planning. The name’s bloody brilliant. How did I […]
Book Review: Little Bunch of Madmen – Elements of Global Reporting
I got a copy of Little Bunch of Madmen to review for the Frontline Club amongst others on the 1st of October but have since found myself reading, and unable to put it down. It is quite compelling and ever so useful. It has since accompanied me everywhere and has become an indispensable part of […]
Twitter reaction to the Korean border clash
Earlier today North and South Korea engaged in a cross-border clash. The North fired on the island of Yeonpyeong, shelling the area for about an hour. According to the South Koreans two Marines were killed and four civilians were injured in the attack. The South returned fire while around 1,600 residents on the island fled […]
Hardly an auspicious start – fired upon on the first day . . . . surely not!
Before I get onto the matter of the title, I should just explain a little about why I’m in Afghanistan and what brought me here. Over the next month(s) I’ll be writing stories and shooting pictures on a freelance basis, starting with commentary and articles for Executive Magazine, based in Beirut. If all goes well […]
Medal of Honor awarded to Korengal valley soldier
The video below describes the story of America’s first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam war. Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta was awarded the United States highest military honour for rescuing a captured colleague in the Korengal valley, Afghanistan. The Sal Giunta Story from Sebastian Junger on Vimeo. Meanwhile according to Militaryblogging.com, […]
Blogging backlash against proposal to escalate confrontation with Iran
Earlier this month bloggers rounded on a column written in the Washington Post which suggested that Barack Obama could revive the United States’ flagging economy by ramping up tensions with Iran. In an article in the Washington Post on 31 October, David Broder wrote that the President could "spend much of 2011 and 2012 orchestrating […]
Wartorn 1861-2010
A new HBO documentary Wartorn 1861-2010 premiered last night. This film explores posttraumatic stress from the Civil War to today. Wartorn 1862-2010 is directed by Jon Alpert and Ellen Goosenberg Kent and produced by Alpert, Goosenberg Kent and Matthew O’Neill. Executive producer is James Gandolfini. The film continues an HBO series about the costs of war: Baghdad ER, Alive […]
Parcel Force
So once again everyone’s talking about Yemen. The discovery, just under two weeks ago, of multiple parcel bombs, originating in Yemen and destined for synagogues in the US sent shock waves across the globe. But aside from a few extra traffic jams, life in Sana’a, a historic city nestled in high mountains, has continued […]