We are honoured that Robert Galbraith has permitted us to reproduce his eloquent and moving conclusions on his tour in Afghanistan.
EIGHT WEEKS IN NOVEMBER
Let Us Not Forget What It Means To Be Canadian
Special to The Suburban by Robert J. Galbraith
Sometimes I feel that there will always be war. As long as there are two people remaining on this earth, there will be war. To believe that someday there will not be war on this planet, is wishful thinking. We are a civilization of war, past and present. War has built who we are and shapes our destiny. We celebrate it, it is who we are, it has molded us, and it always will.
Even though we call ourselves civilized and progressive, we are in reality regressive. We used to fight with clubs and spears and had some sort of chivalry, now we kill with smart bombs, unmanned aircraft and we drop bombs from the sky to intentionally kill and maim children.
War brings out the best and worst in us. I have seen the greatest acts of kindness and courage in the face of death. I have also seen the cowardice and the shamelessness that turned my stomach and almost left me without hope. But we must have hope.
The child victims of land mines and cluster bombs whom I visited in hospitals in Kabul and Baghdad have hope. They smiled at me while doctors bandaged their pathetic stumps that were once running and grasping limbs. They are who give me hope.
It is always the children and the elderly who suffer the most during war. After two decades of covering this scourge of grown men, to see a grown adult die almost becomes acceptable. But to see a child writhing in pain from stepping on a land mine or from playing with a cluster bomb which he or she thought was a toy, then it explodes in their face, makes me wish I was dead.
I have seen young children, very young children raped during war, and I have seen children form gangs, like packs of rabid wild dogs, just to survive the assaults of war and the perverts who use war to prey upon them.
After returning from the darkness of another conflict, it is difficult for me to walk the streets of this city I love. It is difficult because the ghosts of the dead haunt me. They are just over my shoulder, and between my ears, like clouds that never go away. I am so alone because of this, and I often ask for God’s help to keep me walking straight. But this is the price I pay to help you to understand war, and why we should help the innocent victims I have mentioned above. I am not scared to die, but I am very scared when I see children suffer. Because the death of innocence is the worst death to witness.
When my fellow Canadians ask me why we are over there in that struggling country, and why we are risking the lives of our soldiers for people we don’t even know, or a fight that they say isn’t ours, it absolutely breaks my heart. I love Afghanistan and its people. The same way I love Iraq and the souls who live there in destitution.
When, when did we lose our compassion for those who suffer injustice? When did we become solitary islands on this earth we all call home and our mother? How can we turn our backs on our brothers and sisters, wherever they may live, or whatever the colour of their skin?
Have we forgotten what a Canadian is, what it means to be a part of the greatest and most gracious nation on earth? What has happened to us? Why have we become so selfish, so unconcerned, so trivial, so complacent [in the face of] other peoples’ suffering? What is happening to us?
Many of us - our fathers, our grandfathers and grandmothers - came to this country to escape hatred, prejudice and injustice. We came here from countless nations to pray to the God of our choice and to vote for those we believe should lead us. Have we forgotten why we and they came here, why we live here, why we indeed prosper? Have we forgotten what it is to be human, to be a Canadian, to care?
I would not take one day back in my life as a journalist, not one day from the suffering and darkness I have walked through and breathed-in. I have never felt more alive than I do now, just days after my return from one of the most violent regions of the world. I have left the island of myself to seek and record the misery of others. I will always walk through that door into the dark, because if I do not, someday, you or your children may have to. Let us not forget what being a Canadian means.
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Nothing is certain in Afghanistan except uncertainty
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Dispatches from the front
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Monday 26 November 2007 Robert is back home Wednesday 21 November 2007 Robert's latest - and probably last before he leaves Afghanistan - message is posted at .dianaswednesday.com/2007/11/robert-galbraith-in-kandahar-update/ Diana Our Commitment in Afghanistan.doc by Robert
* November 17, 2007 dianaswednesday.com Saturday Nov 17, 2007 Nothing is certain in Afghanistan except uncertainty
Thursday 15 November 2007 in Kandahar. No more sand in our food. Wednesday 07 November 2007 We heard about the blast at 3 pm, and since it was a 2-3 hour drive we decided not to pursue it as it would have taken us into 'Boogieman Land' after dark. So, as I told you and the kids, we only take risks when absolutely necessary. Which is everyday as it is. It is a huge story here and the security level is at its peak, there are soldiers and cops everywhere, but no foreign soldiers, the Afghans are starting to take care of their own business, which is great and as planned. We went out on these security patrols with the elite Quick Reaction Force (the Afghan Elite Police Force) and had a very interesting time patrolling the streets backed up by heavy machine guns and other hardware. Great phots. But we missed out on a Quick Reaction opportunity to outside Kabul, but tomorrow we will probably be out chasing and firing guns at the insurgents. This is what we have been waiting for and if not tomorrow, then the day after. We were given 10 minutes notice about todays gig but qe never rendevoused because of hellish traffic and miscommunication between taxi drivers. We just now returned from the monthly cocktail party at the Dutch Embassy which was areal hoot. good finger food and Heineken and met some old journalist friends from the Mustapha in 2005. so back home now eating MRE's. We are going to get some ugly mean` assignments in next ten days so if you dont here from me, dont panic, we are keeping safe and we are the best at what we do. We are peaking as journalists when Afghanistan is at a major crossroads in its existence, and we are ready for it. Wait till you see the photos! Tuesday 06 November 2007 Autor Guido Schmidt und Fotograf Robert J. Galbraith berichten aus Afghanistan. Sie begleiten Patrouillen der ISAF-Truppen, sprechen mit Generälen und Soldaten, mit Menschen auf der Straße, und begleiten die Ausbildung von EUPOL ebenso, wie die Einsätze der Schnellen Eingreiftruppe der afghanischen Grenzpolizei. we will be adding coverage at a fast rate. check it daily. Wednesday 31 October 2007 We will be going out on a German patrol, something we've been desperately seeking for quite a while, to wrap our first main report for the magazine. We have also been given the green light to cover any Afghan National Army activity. so that is great extras for the web site and magazine. Then we have been given an opportunity to travel south with the British to cover the nitty gritty of the clashes in Helmand, but this has yet to be confirmed, but it looks very, very positive. i cant talk much about these topics because of security issues and possible eavesdropping. But I will give you a heads up when that occurrs, if I am allowed to.
www.copyreiter.de. Saturday 20 October 2007 Canada helps rebuild Murad Khane
2007-10-17 09:18:34 Sunday Oct 7, 2007 Dispatches from the front
Montrealer Robert J. Galbraith is one of the leading war photojournalists of this generation. Galbraith’s career in journalism spans 20 years. He has written and/or photographed for numerous publications in North America and Europe including The New York Times. His reputation reached new heights when he published Iraq: Eyewitness to War — A Photojournalist’s Diary. Galbraith refused to be an embedded reporter with the American forces and he did not want to sit through orchestrated press conferences at the press centre. He wanted total freedom to cover the war. At great personal peril, he managed to cover the war in a way that has rarely been seen. Unlike many in the media, despite the human toll and tragedy he documented, his is a compelling and authentic voice on the importance of a heightened Canadian military and diplomatic engagement in democratic development and nation-building worldwide. Iraq was not his first tour in a war zone. That came in Israel during the scud missle attacks. Then Galbraith covered the rest of the first Gulf War. He returned to Iraq to cover the current war and then he went to Afghanistan in 2005. He has been in the process of planning a new mission to Afghanistan for the better part of the year. Robert feels it is vital to record the critical role Canadian troops are playing in the Kandahar operation. There are untold stories of heroism and valour amidst the service and sacrifice that have literally saved the allied mission. Robert means to tell those stories. He left yesterday for his latest rendezvous with destiny. We at The Suburban are honoured that many of the freelance reports and photos that Robert will be filing will be published in our pages. Robert’s decision to include this newspaper among the recipients of his dispatches attests to the success of the broader scope we have taken and the heightened relevance of our impact. During a conference on Iraq organized by my Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal, Robert told me this about his work: “During the compilation of my book, many of my friends said that the cover was too shocking, and might turn off prospective buyers. But to me it was perhaps the most powerful image to come out of my journey, and the symbolism it reflected. Photojournalism is not just documentation. It is also about advancing art. Oscar Wilde said that art should affront, should repulse, otherwise it will never advance. There are many war books out there with neutral or boring covers. I wanted people to have a finger stuck in their eye when they saw my book, and to realize that this is the real thing, this is the real account of the misery of war. “ This is the kind of hard-hitting journalism you can expect from Robert Galbraith’s dispatches from the front. In our talks over the past few weeks I asked what motivated him to pursue this latest adventure. Hadn’t he proven his courage? Hadn’t he done enough to raise conscience and consciousness? His answer was poignant and instructive for us all. “We should always be willing and fearless to challenge the darkness,” he said. “Whatever that darkness is. Be it subjugation of another people or the ghosts in our own closets. You are never more alive as when you challenge your worst fears. This is why I am a war photojournalist, and will ever continue to be.” To learn more about this extraordinary man and his remarkable work, visit his website at www.robertgalbraith.com and look for his stories and pictures in the weeks to come. 2007-10-03 10:14:41 |
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© 2007 David T. Nicholson
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