Winnipeg Free Press

They are true warriors.

Never could I have imagined that a story from Manitoba would make major news headlines here in Afghanistan.

But the Greyhound slaying near Portage La Prairie did just that.

A Middle East edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper, which is handed out free to troops in Afghanistan at Kandahar Airfield, has carried the story for the last few days.

In Saturday’s edition, the headline read, “Suspect identified in Canadian bus stabbing”.

In today’s edition, the headline read “Cops: Bus murder suspect ate flesh”. The Associated Press story described a leaked radio transmission between RCMP officers responding to the killing which included gruesome details of the beheading and cannibalism. YouTube pulled the tape Saturday. RCMP issued a news release stressing they had not given permission to use the transmission as it is part of operational police communications and wasn’t meant for public consumption.

Stars and Stripes is a daily newspaper published for the U.S. military, civilian workers and their families. Published since 1942 with a circulation at times more than 100,000, it describes itself as a newspaper free of censorship.

Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan — As if Friday’s winds didn’t blow in enough dust, Saturday brought two crazy sand storms to Kandahar Airfield.

The first arrived at about 4 p.m. and made the base look like the set for the movie The Mummy. A huge — and I mean HUGE — dust cloud approached us like a Prairie thunderstorm, and it blew in fast.

It caught the eye of everyone on base as it rolled in. When it hit, the bright Saturday afternoon went almost completely dark in mid afternoon. In 20 minutes or so, the storm blew away and the sun came back out.

As a few media colleagues were having dinner tonight, one asked, “Is there smoke in the cafeteria?” It turned out to be sand blowing through the air conditioners. It was a second storm. What’s next for the weather here?

The topic of the day for a newly embedded journalist is combat first aid.

In order to see military operations first hand, every journalist must complete a combat first aid course which includes how to apply a tourniquet to yourself or a nearby soldier.

My first aid instructor explained there’s been a lot of blast trauma in Afghanistan which causes very serious injury. Blasts in Afghanistan are normally caused by IEDs or improvised explosive devices. Many, many Canadian soldiers have been killed or seriously injured by these nasty packages the enemy buries under roads.

I received Tourniquet 101 training. I learned how to apply a tourniquet to my own arm or leg. It’s five quick steps to tighten, as tight as possible, a large Velcro strap, and then twist with a rod to stop the blood flow.

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Winds picked up tonight at Kandahar Air Field (KAF) and caused a bit of a sandstorm. The winds cooled things off in a hurry around here but brought with it an unbelievable dusty mess. Fine particles of dust travels in sheets almost like snow. The light at sunset was strange from the blowing dust; a weird glow was in the air from all the sand flying.

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There’s a massive store on the KAF base called PX that’s run by the Americans. If you need military gear, this is where to go on base. Commando stuff, they have it, everything from knives to helmet covers to military style T-shirts. But just about everything else is also for sale here including bikes, DVDs, even the popular Guitar Hero game. The place is abuzz with military types stalking personal supplies.

One of the most sought after refreshments at the store is “near beer”, its 0.5 alcohol level in keeping with the alcohol free rule on KAF base. With temperatures reaching 47 C the last few days, even alcohol-free beer hits the spot for many troops and civilian workers and maybe a few thirsty media types.

Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan — Imagine being in a hot, hot, 47-degree-C hot sauna, full of choking dust.

Welcome to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.

Also imagine being Canadian soldier Private Jonathan Guevin of 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry putting on his battle gear — including a vest with metal plates and a helmet — and climbing inside a dark green LAV-3 Canadian armoured troop carrier with no air conditioning.

Inside these armoured carriers, the temperatures can turn quickly into a hot oven causing the soldiers’ body core temperature to hit 60C. Obviously, in that intense heat, drinking water — and lots of it — is how they survive.

Summer temperatures regularly hit highs well over 50C and drop only marginally in the evenings. The thick dust that’s always floating through the air make it feel much more humid.

Because of the heat, the folks at Kandahar Airfield (KAF) have made bottled water available almost everywhere. This base is well-organized considering how many troops and civilian workers call it home. Something is always going on, with military and supply trucks buzzing down the roads.

Sleeping is another struggle. Although the tents have air conditioning — an unbelievable luxury in a war zone — the sounds from the air at KAF are tough to get used to. Passenger jets, helicopters, propeller-driven cargo planes and fighter planes are constantly taking off and landing at the military base and sound like they are landing next to your bed.

There’s also a firing range nearby where troops sight in their weapons and start blasting early in the morning.

No complaints from me. I am actually quite surprised at how civilized base conditions are. The food is OK, bathrooms are clean. Generally, our soldiers are living on an A+ base.

Soldiers have made it clear to me that the real challenges come when you leave KAF base. Conditions “outside the wire” are where the real challenges are for our soldiers. Dirty and dusty is what any soldier can expect in the Afghan desert.

The KAF base is home to a large group of coalition forces in the south, including Canadian, Danish, Romanian, Norwegian, Australian, British, French and U.S. personnel and a handful of other countries participating in the Afghan mission.

The trip from Dubai to Kandahar Airfield was an adventure, to say the least.

A small airline called DFS Middle East flies into the war zone. Their company statement is, “Operating in remote areas under difficult circumstances, DFS Middle East has acquired extensive experience in providing innovative solutions to clients facing a wide variety of transportation challenges.”

Yes, flying into a war zone could be considered a challenge. The first security check was thorough, but I was left wondering how efficient these checks were after walking through the second. Glancing at a box near the checkpoint, I saw a bunch of seized items including a large axe. How did the axe get through the first check?

The DFS Middle East aircraft that flew me in is DC-9 vintage, gently worn aircraft. Its age showed when the flight attendant slipped a life vest around her neck for a safety demonstration. A Canadian Airlines (RIP in 2001) logo could be seen beneath a sloppy attempt to scribble it out with a felt tip marker.