Frank Gardner: Not solely Americans put their lives on the line to serve in Afghanistan

Blast barriers, missile strikes, Forward Operating Bases (FOBs), Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)… and long lines at the mess hall. Anyone who served in Afghanistan, in any capacity, from 2001 to 2021 will carry their own striking recollections of that era.

It all began with the journey in – to Kandahar, Kabul or Camp Bastion. It might be a drawn-out, slow descent with the lights switched off on an RAF aircraft or a swift, spiraling drop in a C-130 transport. In both scenarios, the goal was to steer clear of getting shot down by a Taliban surface-to-air missile.

Throughout two decades, thousands of military personnel and civilians from numerous nations were sent to Afghanistan, responding to America’s call for support.

This call was made by invoking NATO’s Article 5 of its charter – a historic moment as it was the first time this had occurred in NATO’s 77-year existence – which declares that an assault on one member is considered an assault on all.

America was in shock from the catastrophic 9/11 attacks when al-Qaeda, being sheltered by the Taliban in Afghanistan, killed nearly 3,000 individuals by crashing packed jets into New York’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon in D.C.

The Taliban were quickly ousted from power due to a collaborative effort led by the US military, the CIA, and Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance.

After that, the mission shifted to locating the remaining al-Qaeda members as British Royal Marines, alongside UK Special Forces, tracked them through the mountains, although many fled to safety to regroup in Pakistan.

It wasn’t until a decade later that US Navy SEAL Team Six found the al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, in a home in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The initial two years of the US-led “Operation Enduring Freedom,” as it was named, were relatively calm. By late 2003, as the focus of the US shifted to Iraq, the servicemen we encountered even began to refer to Afghanistan as “Op Forgotten.” However, danger was still present.

From a rain-drenched Kandahar airbase, we observed Romanian troops cautiously going on patrol in their Soviet-era armored vehicles, apprehensive of the next ambush.

Arriving at a remote US-operated firebase in the hilly Paktika province via a Blackhawk helicopter, my BBC team and I were greeted with cheerfulness: “You’ve entered the worst place in the world.”

Indeed, the Taliban began firing Chinese-made rockets at the base after nightfall, reportedly positioned there by farmers who had been either paid off or coerced.

Everything shifted post-2006 when the UK deployed heavily into Helmand province, a region of Afghanistan that had been largely tranquil until then.

The Taliban made their intentions unmistakable. If you arrive, they stated, we will confront you.

Yet, the UK government seemed taken aback by the intensity of the conflict that 3 Para now found themselves engaged in, with British paratroopers calling in mortar and artillery fire dangerously close to their positions, termed “danger close,” to prevent their bases from being overrun.

In the following eight years, until combat operations concluded in 2014, it wasn’t just Americans who were putting their lives at risk in Afghanistan.

Britons, Canadians, Danes, and Estonians were among those who experienced the harshest battles in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. It would also be remiss to disregard the bravery and sacrifice of numerous Afghans who fought and perished over two decades.

I mention “fighting,” but the greatest fears of most soldiers stemmed from the covert IEDs, expertly hidden Improvised Explosive Devices. The Taliban, familiar with every inch of their landscape, often accurately predicted exactly where troops would traverse an irrigation ditch or canal and thus planted the bomb accordingly.

In an instant, accompanied by a blinding flash and a puff of black smoke, a fit, healthy individual in their twenties could have their life either extinguished or drastically altered, facing amputation and a slew of additional complications.

Due to the prevalence of these IEDs, soldiers would exit the gates of their FOBs – Forward Operating Bases – on patrol hoping that if they were hit, it would result in an amputation below the knee, rather than above it.

The bravery and resilience of the individuals I have encountered since, who have managed to reshape their shattered lives despite immense loss and hardship, is both humbling and inspiring.

These are merely some of the individuals who responded to America’s plea for assistance following the 9/11 attacks.

It comes as no surprise that there has been such widespread outrage at that country’s president’s assertion that they somehow evaded the fighting.