42 43E Y E S P Y I S S U E 4 9 , 2 0 0 7 E Y E S P Y I S S U E 4 9 , 2 0 0 7
Back in cover, the CIA agent set up his spyingequipment. He strung a dull, metal latticeworkfrom the branches of a stunted tree. With a setof headphones clamped over his ears, heproceeded to twist and turn the device.
Finally, a broad smile broke out on his beardedface, as he started picking up enemy cellphone calls. He spoke Arabic, Pashtun andFarsi, and he was monitoring the traffic for‘pro-words’ - phrases of strategic importance.
He pulled out an Iridium satphone with whichhe’d be able to speak directly with JointSpecial Operations Command (JSOC), back inthe USA. Using a tiny Psion laptop, he couldupload written information, photos and evenvideo footage back to JSOC.
Night came quickly in the Afghan wildlands,and with it the temperature dropped to wellbelow freezing. Soon, the trees above themwere full of icicles. Each man spread out aponcho to shield himself from the damp, androlled out a down-filled sleeping bag and agoretex sleeping sack.
Joe was the first to wake with the dawn, hisskull pounding with an altitude headache.Twelve hours sleep on 50% oxygen wasn’thealthy for anyone.
He shuffled over to start his sentry duty. Asthe dawn mist cleared he felt an early morningrumbling in his intestines: he needed todefecate, and quickly. Joe squatted behind aboulder, pulled out a plastic freezer bag andproceeded to try to perform the difficult task.
All faeces and urine would be collected by thesoldiers and carried out with them, so as toleave no signs to betray their presence to theenemy. When he was done Joe used theabrasive effect of the gritty soil in an effort to‘wash’ his hands.
By mid-morning several hundred young menand boys had gathered in the valley below.They were dressed in long, flowing robes withthe ubiquitous white turbans, and were doingpress-ups, sit-ups and jumping exercises. Joefigured that this had to be what US intelligencehad identified as the unarmed combat schoolfor terrorist recruits.
He shot off a hundred photos with his massivetelephoto lens, then transferred the digital
images onto CIA Bob’s Psion. The air assaulton the valley was scheduled for five dayshence, so they had time to prepare theirtargets.
The following morning there was a repeattraining session, by which time Joe and theCIA man were ready to send in their firstreport. It contained transcripts from cell phoneintercepts, details of enemy movements, plusdescriptions and photos of the early morningtraining sessions.
At dawn on day four Joe and Sam headedback down the mountain in a desperate searchfor water. Using their Katadyn water filter in afaint trickle at the base of the mountain, theyfiltered 21 litres, which might just be enoughto last them through to the end of the mission.
On arrival back at the OP, the CIA man calledthem over to the sentry point. Down below inthe Valley a huge crowd was milling about, acouple-of-thousand strong. At the far end agroup of elders were addressing the crowd,
and there was a large black banner withArabic writing. Every now and then there wasa wild chorus of chanting.
The CIA agent explained that the bannerdisplayed a verse from the Koran about thepath from death to the afterlife, followed bythe exhortation, ‘Allahu Akhbar’ - God is Great.
A discussion followed as to what was goingon in the valley. Joe reckoned it was a bigmobilisation drive, a terrorist recruitment rally.The CIA man agreed that that would fit withthe intelligence they’d been given, but heremained doubtful. Something just didn’tseem right to him.
Then the CIA man pointed out that theAfghans gathered in the valley werelargely unarmed. “We’ve gotmore hardware amongst theseven of us than those couplethousand Afghans,” heconcluded.
�
...Joe and the CIA man
were ready to send in
their first report. It
contained transcripts
from cell phone
intercepts, details of
enemy movements,
plus descriptions and
photos of the early
morning training
sessions...
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY DAMIEN LEWIS
Main photograph:SBS operator having scaled12,000 foot peak in Shan-i-
Khot, with bergen stuffed fullof survival gear, weapons and
surveillance kitA US special operations forces forward mounting base in Afghanistan, pictured from an
arriving British helicopter delivering a combined SBS-SEAL team
SBS and SEALs on operations in theal-Qaida cave complexes of Southern
Afghanistan - note cave entrance at topleft of picture (circled)
Heavily-armed SBS operatorsusing video surveillance gear torecord details of enemy forces,for uploading to headquarters
