Author: Fred Smith Publisher: ISBN: 9781760292218 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 404
Book Description
A personal story of Australia's war in Afghanistan as told by Fred Smith, star of 'Australian Story', Australian diplomat in Afghanistan and Australian Defence Forces favourite singer and composer of 'Dust of Uruzgan'.
Author: Jeffrey Crowther Publisher: AuthorHouse ISBN: 1504963512 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 253
Book Description
I held the pod that had oozed the dark opium paste, which had since been scraped and packed away. The special tool with the multiple razor-sharp blades had left the unique diagonal parallel line cut marks. As I turned the pod, I saw four more areas where the same diagonal cut had been made. Stewart, our PRT agricultural advisor, took the pod from me and told me it had been a good harvest of opium this year. While we poured millions of dollars into the region, Uruzgan had become a center of the worldwide illicit opium trade. It is the foundation of their economy. Everything and everyone is tied to it. I looked west over the mountain toward the town of Deh Rawud, where Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban, grew up under the harsh hand of his uncle, who was also his stepfather. He would leave there for Kandahar and later bring the Taliban movement back to Uruzgan and all of Afghanistan. Though the Taliban would at first outlaw the opium trade, they would later embrace it as no other export of Afghanistan brings in so much money to this extremely underdeveloped country. Whoever is in power, locally and nationally, must control it or others will exploit the wealth it brings and take their place. In the heat of the day, several dust devils spiraling hundreds of feet into the air were dancing across the sprawling dusty landscape between my perch on Camp Ripley and the green irrigated farmlands just outside the Uruzgan provincial capital of Tarin Kowt. The nesh, the poppy harvest, was over and the fighting season in Afghanistan had begun its deadly yearly cycle. The opium these poppy plants produced was opposed by the international forces because it was a money source for the now insurgent Taliban forces. However, with over ten thousand hectares under cultivation in Uruzgan, I knew everyone of consequence in the region had a hand in the trade.
Author: Stephen M. Saideman Publisher: University of Toronto Press ISBN: 1442666919 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 184
Book Description
Canada’s six-year military mission in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province was one of the most intense and challenging moments in Canadian foreign affairs since the Korean War. A complex war fought in an inhospitable environment, the Afghanistan mission tested the mettle not just of Canada’s soldiers but also of its politicians, public servants, and policy makers. In Adapting in the Dust, Stephen M. Saideman considers how well the Canadian government, media, and public managed the challenge. Building on interviews with military officers, civilian officials, and politicians, Saideman shows how key actors in Canada’s political system, including the prime minister, the political parties, and parliament, responded to the demands of a costly and controversial mission. Some adapted well; others adapted poorly or – worse yet – in ways that protected careers but harmed the mission itself. Adapting in the Dust is a vital evaluation of how well Canada’s institutions, parties, and policy makers responded to the need to oversee and sustain a military intervention overseas, and an important guide to what will have to change in order to do better next time.
Author: Jonathan Addleton Publisher: Naval Institute Press ISBN: 1682470806 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 289
Book Description
The Dust of Kandahar provides a personal account of one diplomat’s year of service in America’s longest war. Ambassador Addleton movingly describes the everyday human drama of the American soldiers, local tribal dignitaries, government officials, and religious leaders he interacted and worked with in southern Afghanistan. Addleton’s writing is at its most vivid in his firsthand account of the April 2013 suicide bombing outside a Zabul school that killed his translator, a fellow Foreign Service officer, and three American soldiers. The memory of this tragedy lingers over Addleton’s journal entries, his prose offering poignant glimpses into the interior life of a U.S. diplomat stationed in harm’s way.
Author: Damien Thomlinson Publisher: HarperCollins Australia ISBN: 1743099800 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 311
Book Description
Private Damien Thomlinson is a former member of the elite 2nd Commando Regiment of the Australian Army who was terribly injured in after a bomb explosion in Afghanistan. His inspiring journey back from the dead stands as proof that no challenge is too great and that the ANZAC spirit is truly alive and well. After losing both his legs in an accident in Afghanistan, Special Forces soldier Damien thomlinson was determined not only to survive, but to meet life head on. this is an uplifting story of guts, drive and exceptional resilience. Without warning, Private Damien thomlinson's life changed forever. On a night patrol in Afghanistan in 2009, his vehicle drove over a taliban explosive device. His right leg turned instantly to red mist and his left leg was severed below the knee. His arms and hands were shattered and his nose smashed. Blood poured into his lungs. He was as close to death as you can get. Damien's story could have been a tragedy, but because of his enormously optimistic spirit it is instead one of triumph and inspiration. Once a commando, always a commando. Damien was determined not to be defined or limited by his injuries. With dogged focus and commitment, he set about reclaiming his life - on his own terms. His extraordinary drive and willpower saw him walking again on prosthetic legs just eight weeks from the time of his accident, ready to stand and welcome his unit home from Afghanistan. He set himself extraordinary challenges including walking the demanding 96km Kokoda track in honour of a fallen comrade and becoming the public face of the Commando Welfare trust. Damien is now an aspiring Paralympian, determined to represent Australia in snowboarding. His life has irrevocably changed, but he believes it has changed for the better.Damien's positive attitude and larrikin, never-say-die spirit are an inspiration to all of us, and the story of his journey is humbling, heartbreaking and truly awe-inspiring.
Author: Fayz Muhammad Kātib Hazārah Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 9004234918 Category : Reference Languages : en Pages : 3181
Book Description
The Sir?j al-taw?r?kh is the most important history of Afghanistan ever written. This pinnacle of the rich Afghan historiographic tradition is available in English translation, annotated, fully indexed, including an introduction, eight appendices, Persian-English and English-Persian glossaries, and bibliography.
Author: Dr Dan Pronk Publisher: Macmillan Publishers Aus. ISBN: 1760987603 Category : Self-Help Languages : en Pages : 393
Book Description
'a powerful text that will benefit any reader' - Dr Richard Harris SC, OAM, hero of the Thai cave rescue Life is hard. Rocketing rates of physical and mental health issues are testimony to the immense pressures of our complex world. So how do we become tough and adaptable to face life's challenges? The Resilience Shield provides that defence. In their groundbreaking guide to overcoming adversity, Australian SAS veterans Dr Dan Pronk, Ben Pronk DSC and Tim Curtis take you behind the scenes of special operations missions, into the boardrooms of leading companies and through the depths of contemporary research in order to demystify and define resilience. Through lessons learned in and out of uniform, they've come to understand the critical components of resilience and how it can be developed in anyone - including you. The Resilience Shield explores the hard-won resilience secrets of elite soldiers and the latest thinking on mental and physical wellbeing. This book will equip you with an arsenal of practical tools for you to start making immediate improvements in your life that are attainable and sustainable. Let's build your shield! Praise for The Resilience Shield 'informative and enlightening . . . compelling lessons and advice' - The Hon Julie Bishop 'Clear, approachable insights into resilience' - Merrick Watts 'A blend of raw experience and impeccable science...a brilliant guidebook for our times' - Hugh Mackay AO
Author: James Brown Publisher: Black Inc. ISBN: 1922231355 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 126
Book Description
‘A century ago we got it wrong. We sent thousands of young Australians on a military operation that was barely more than a disaster. It’s right that a hundred years later we should feel strongly about that. But have we got our remembrance right? What lessons haven’t we learned about war, and what might be the cost of our Anzac obsession?’ Defence analyst and former army officer James Brown believes that Australia is expending too much time, money and emotion on the Anzac legend, and that today’s soldiers are suffering for it. Vividly evoking the war in Afghanistan, Brown reveals the experience of the modern soldier. He looks closely at the companies and clubs that trade on the Anzac story. He shows that Australians spend a lot more time looking after dead warriors than those who are alive. We focus on a cult of remembrance, instead of understanding a new world of soldiering and strategy. And we make it impossible to criticise the Australian Defence Force, even when it makes the same mistakes over and over. None of this is good for our soldiers or our ability to deal with a changing world. With respect and passion, Brown shines a new light on Anzac’s long shadow and calls for change. "Bold, original, challenging - James Brown tackles the burgenoning Anzac industry and asks Australians to re-examine how we think about the military and modern-day service." - Leigh Sales "The best book yet written, not just on Australia's Afghan war, but on war itself and the creator/destroyer myth of Anzac." - John Birmingham James Brown is a former Australian Army officer, who commanded a cavalry troop in Southern Iraq, served on the Australian taskforce headquarters in Baghdad, and was attached to Special Forces in Afghanistan. Today he is the Military Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy where he works on strategic military issues and defence policy. He also chairs the NSW Government’s Contemporary Veterans Forum. He lives in Sydney.
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Author: Fred Smith
Author: Jeffrey Crowther
Author: Stephen M. Saideman
Author: Craig Stockings
Author: Jonathan Addleton
Author: Damien Thomlinson
Author: Fayz Muhammad Kātib Hazārah
Author: Sharon Bown
Author: Dr Dan Pronk
Author: James Brown