Word: mortars
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...gathering darkness, we stand staring out toward Talib lines. Save for the occasional crump of a mortar or burst of tracer fire the front is quiet. Then toward 7 p.m. the evening exodus begins. Since the start of U.S. air strikes against targets in Kabul, there has been a nightly parade of vehicles from the city. On what they call the New Road, in front of the base, convoys of trucks, pickups and armored vehicles cross a low pass, their headlights visible as they head toward villages behind the Bagram front...
...course teaches me to identify mines hidden in fields, explosives rigged in packages and booby traps disguised as everyday objects. I have learned to drag an injured colleague to safety before starting first aid, and I discovered that by counting the seconds between the thud of a mortar being fired and the whistle that follows, I can determine its distance and whether I need to seek cover. I know the difference now between an AK-47 and an M-16, and that hiding behind a wall offers little protection from their bullets...
...more than piles of rocks. In the peaceful-seeming villages of the plains, military bases blend in with the surrounding houses. Look through the narrow entrances of the high-walled compounds, many built to resemble fortresses, and you never know what you will find--a flower garden or a mortar emplacement. This is a land built for defense--against bandits, lawlessness and foreign invaders. We outsiders are always welcome, but on their terms. It would be best for the U.S. to remember this in the weeks ahead...
Besides the incredible guacamole hand-made in a stone mortar right on the table, the appetizers (entreplatos) range from the crowd-pleasing nachos to cheese, potato and chicken-filled taquitos. The Texan ordered some cheese relleno, which showed up in a narrow casserole dish and was consumed in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, the exquisite sangria was poured around and downed with grunts and slurps by the boorish and thirsty crowd. This was actually a sign of the sangria’s quality, rather than general disregard of manners. A lone editor tasted an extra sour margarita with lots...
...compelling reasons to listen to Internet radio, is any Web radio site a sturdy financial model? For now, the demise of iCAST.com and so many of its Web-only brothers appears to indicate that the durable stations are the ones connected to a terrestrial channel or some bricks-and-mortar business. Knittingfactory.com for example, broadcasts live music from shows at Knitting Factory clubs, and Rolling Stone Radio is part of the venerable rock mag's Web presence...