An entry in Lisa English's blog makes me howl with laughter, perhaps not intentionally.

She describes this blog as "warm, no bullshit and funny, in that lovely sort of post-landmine macabre way." Oh yes THAT lovely sort of post-landmine macabre way, how could I have forgotten. You think it's funny -- I haven't stopped pissing myself since the amputation (he said with a large dollop of irony.)

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

My top ten choice of optional attachments for my new leg:
10. Water Pistol
9. Periscope
8. Shovel
7. Golf club
6. Fishing Rod
5. Circular Saw
4. Lawn Strimmer
3. Dust Buster
2. Vibrator
1. Kebab

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

The Daily Mirror has an excellent double page spread today about the landmine situation in Northern Iraq, along with a couple of quotes from me.

In the past week, 52 people have been killed and 63 injured by mines and unexploded munitions around Kirkuk.

Read the article -- then get off your arse and do something!

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

The reason I haven't written much this past weekend:



Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Thanks to Whiterook for putting the following link on the message board.

Pieces of Eight Skydiving Team.

What he doesn't make clear is whether these guys were missing limbs BEFORE they started skydiving!

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Spent the afternoon at the National Gallery in Cardiff.

I was particularly impressed by Rodin's sculpture "Female Trans-Tibial Amputee Checks Out Her Stump" -- at least I THINK that's what it was called.



Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

I'm learning a whole new vocabulary, a secret lexicon known only to amputees and prosthetists. A few weeks ago I didn't know my AK (above knee) from my BK (below knee), a symes (an amputation at the ankle or through the foot) from a neuroma (the end of a nerve left after amputation.) Now I'm becoming fluent in amp-speak.

I learnt today that I'm a BK or "trans-tibial" amputee and, like a new washing machine, I come with my own instruction manual. It seems that more than 50% of amputations are below the knee. I'm as common as muck.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Please don't think I'm turning into Michael Moore. My sense of humour is still intact and the usual light-hearted dispatches on life as an amputee landmine victim will return soon enough. However, as part as my "Stu gets up to speed on landmine issues" crusade I've been reading up on the Ottawa Treaty, the "convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines and on their destruction." It became part of international law on March 1st 1999.

Some facts:
* It is estimated that more than 110 million active mines are scattered in 68 countries with an equal number stockpiled around the world waiting to be planted.
* Landmines maim or kill one person every 22 minutes. That's more than 20,000 people a year.
* 30 to 40% of landmine victims are children.
* For every mine cleared, 20 are laid.
* Anti-personnel mines are priced at $3 to $30 each. The cost to the international community of neutralizing them ranges from $300 to $1000.

(source United Nations.)

Article 1 of the Ottawa Treaty commits countries never under any circumstances:
* To use anti-personnel mines.
* To develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, anti-personnel mines
and
* To destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines.

As of April 1st 2003, 146 countries had signed the Ottawa Treaty (source Landmine Survivors Network)

Countries which have not signed the Ottawa Treaty include Russia, China, India, Pakistan.....oh yes, and the United States (source United Nations.)

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Can you believe this T-shirt?!

It's this Spring's essential fashion item.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Especially for the ice hockey crowd, I think I may have found what I'm looking for here and here!

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Doing some research into landmine producers I came across a delightful American company called Alliant Techsystems, based in Minnesota.

Alliant Techsystems (ATK) says it is "a $2.1 billion aerospace and defense company with leading positions in propulsion, composite structures, munitions, and precision capabilities."

On its website, ATK publishes its values statement, "developed," it says, " by employees across the company to help capture the essence of the spirit that drives our work performance."

The values are:

Always Ethical
We are committed to conducting business in an ethically and socially responsible manner. Our constituents — customers, shareholders, colleagues, and communities — can depend on us to deliver what we forecast, what we predict, and what we promise.

Target Excellence
We are dedicated to excellence and continuous improvement in ourselves and our products, processes, technologies, and systems — quality in everything we do.

Customer Satisfaction
We provide value to our customers by helping them achieve 100-percent mission success.

Shareholder Value
We make ATK our business by acting, thinking, and making decisions as owners. We pursue efficiencies to be competitive and promote financial growth for employees and shareholders.

Key on Employees
Employee performance is the driving force behind our business success. As the most valuable of company assets, employees are recognized and rewarded for their intellect, creativity, and contributions to our success.

Safety
Our first consideration is the safety of our employees. We are committed to ensuring that our facilities are in order, procedures are accurate, employees are trained, and attitudes are solid for safety.

Diversity
We value and respect all people for who they are, for their differing opinions and viewpoints, for the way they think, and for the way they do things. Our goal is to build on the strengths of our differences.

Corporate Citizenship
It is our duty and privilege to invest and volunteer in the communities in which we live and do business. We are committed to protecting the environment in all of our business activities.

One of the products produced by ATK is the Volcano, a "modular mine delivery system for dispensing of antitank mines from a variety of five-ton dump and cargo trucks, the UH-60 helicopter, and the M548A1 tracked cargo carrier."

According to the Minnesota Medical Association, ATK is the major producer of landmines in the United States.

In a Human Rights Watch Report, ATK was identified as a "recalcitrant producer," one of 30 US companies which rejected HRW's humanitarian appeal to forego any future production of antipersonnel mine components. HRW says that "Alliant was awarded DoD antipersonnel and antitank landmine production contracts worth $336 million in 1985-95; its Wisconsin subsidiary Accudyne Corp. was awarded similar contracts worth $150 million in 1985-95; and its New Jersey subsidiary Ferrulmatic was awarded a $72,000 contract in 1985 for the M128 Volcano landmine dispenser."

The CEO of ATK insisted some years ago that "It is irresponsible to imply in any way that companies such as Alliant Techsystems have contributed to the world's landmine problems. To do so wrongly maligns responsible U.S. citizens, and diverts resources that could be applied toward stigmatizing the governments that violate international law."

On April 2nd, Kaveh Golestan was killed in Northern Iraq by an anti-tank mine of unknown origin. On the same day, shares in ATK closed at $53.08.

Read more at Minnesota Alliant Action.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

I'm boycotting the Personal Exercise Program put together by my physiotherapist due to its blatant foot-ist bias.

Take the following examples:

"Lift the upper leg straight up with ankle flexed and the heel leading the movement." What ankle? What heel?

"Lift lower leg 10-20cm from the floor keeping toes pointed forward." If I had toes to point, they'd be facing forward but unfortunately they were cut off a fortnight ago.

"Bend your ankles and push your knees down firmly against the bed." Surely that should read ankle SINGULAR?!

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

News of another landmine victim from Iraq here.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Some unexpected benefits of only having one foot:
1) My feet only smell half as much.
2) I don't have to wash my socks as often.
3) Half price pedicures.
4) Less fluff collects between my toes.
5) I'll no longer trip people up in cinemas by blocking the aisles with my lanky right leg.
6) Less need for legroom on aircraft = more room for bags of duty free.
7) Wearing two left shoes won't feel uncomfortable.
8) Bottles of L'Oreal Leg Firming Gel will last a third longer.
9) Significant tactical advantages when playing hopscotch.
10) Fewer toes to stub.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

BREAKING NEWS. American special forces locate Iraqi President in Las Vegas cabaret lounge. Exclusive pictures here.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Physical vulnerability.

That’s what’s affecting me at the moment.

During my teens and twenties I’d consider an action, send it to my brain and my body would react enthusiastically. Suddenly, that’s no longer the case. I can no longer rely on my body to carry out the wishes of my brain. The two are now frosty neighbours rather than the close friends they once were.

My body feels older somehow, like a battered and slightly unreliable car. When you put your key in the ignition you’re never quite sure whether it’s going to start first time and rev contentedly or sputter, give off a plume of acrid black smoke and then fall silent.

Mentally, I’m still the same person as before. Physically, though, I’ve changed and I’m just starting to realise how much.

SE says on the discussion board that “usually we’re so symmetrical.” That’s exactly it. Where once the two halves of my body felt identical, now I’m lop-sided. On one side my leg slips effortlessly down into an ankle and foot, which hugs the ground. On the other side it halts abruptly in mid-air.

Since the accident I’ve felt fallible, damaged, dare I say it……mortal.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Aileen's arrived for the weekend and she deserves a little attention after everything that's happened.

She's sitting next to me, reading BBC Wildlife magazine and has an answer to the pressing question -- why do catfish wink?

According to scientists, drawing the iris down helps the catfish to hide. The iris has a camoflagued surface and by winking the stark black outline is replaced with colouration that matches the catfish's body and the riverbed on which it lives. So now you know. Also, did you know that 100,000 hedgehogs are killed every year on the roads of Britain. The majority of roadkills in the mating season are of males seeking females. Male hedgehogs are known to become more reckless when seeking a mate, which will come as no surprise to female readers.

Here's something I've been meaning to post for a couple of days. It's Jim's tribute to Kaveh, written for an Iranian magazine. It made me laugh and cry -- it's just a wonderful, wonderful portrait of the man.

Jim Muir -- My Kaveh Golestan

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

In preparation for the interview I'm doing this morning for the Sunday Express, I read over the fact sheets I've been sent by the Mines Advisory Group (of whom much, much more to come.) I was drawn to one paragraph:

Following the PUK advance on Government of Iraq territory in the Kirkuk region, MAG sent Emergency Survey teams into the area to evaluate the mine situation. They found that:
* Extremely large and densely-laid minefields have been placed by Iraqi forces along and between main routes, and around their now abandoned military positions
* Limited clearance has been undertaken by Kurdish forces to enable them to advance on Iraqi positions. However this clearance has not reduced the level of threat to civilian populations and relief agencies as it was aimed at facilitating the military advance.
* MAG has identified the following mines: Valmara 69 (anti-personnel bounding fragmentation mine), PMN (anti-personnel blast mine) and VS 1.6 (anti-tank mine). These have been laid extensively to protect Iraqi front lines, across nearly all roads and access routes, and around key strategic points including many buildings and villages.

....to which the voice in my head screamed "that'll teach you! Don't say you weren't warned." Yes, little voice, but I didn't read that a fortnight ago, did I?

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

The cast came off today -- but the elation at having the itchy plaster shell removed was soon replaced by a stomach-wrenching reality check.

Wrapped in his swaddling bands, it was somehow easier to pretend that Mr Stumpy wasn't really there. He was part of me but somehow detached. Once he'd broken free of his shackles though, standing there as naked as the day he was born, the truth was harder to deny. For the first time since the accident my brain clocked the fact: "YOU HAVE LOST YOUR FOOT. IT WILL NOT COME BACK. EVER." My gut reaction wasn't disgust or revulsion. I didn't feel the urge to run out of the room screaming "I'm a freak, I'm a freak" (not that I could have done much running if I'd wanted to.) It was just sheer, deep shock, pure as vodka. Where for the past 31 years there has been an unattractive, bony but functional foot and ankle, now there's nothing. I couldn't have prepared myself for the feeling if I'd tried.

Maybe it's voyeuristic, maybe tasteless, but I've tried to be honest since the day I started this blog. If people complain, I'll take it off without hestitation but for my own therapeutic purposes if nothing else, here's where I'm at. Please don't open the link if you're easily upset. If you're a regular reader you should know that I'm not out to shock but seeing as I make a living telling other peoples real-life stories it's only fair that I take the same approach with my own.

The nurse soon put Mr S back in his place (same health warning as before) but I still spent most of the afternoon shaking. Today's been a thousand times harder to cope with than the accident.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Maybe I've got a sick sense of humour but I find the following article absolutely hilarious:

BBC News Online -- Playboy son Uday's life of luxury

I've got visions of these US marines going back to their CO:
CO: "So, did ya get the enriched plutonium and the chemical weapons?"
Marine: "No Sir, but we got ourselves a humvee full of cuban cigars, heroin and pictures of prostitutes downloaded off the internet."
CO: "Yeah, but what about the evidence of a link with al Qaeda?"
Marine: "Never mind that, Sir. Major Rideout's got all the liquor you can drink -- and a whole bunch of Lladro porcelain. We're sorted for gifts to take home to the wife and the gold-plated Kalashnikovs are WAY cool."

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Wise words in an e-mail from Mary Wareham, Landmine Monitor with Human Rights Watch. She writes:

"You were quite fortunate in a number of ways. Someone was there to take you to the nearest emergency clinic; we still believe that half of the people who fall casualty to this weapon die within the first five minutes, usually from loss of blood and often because they are alone at the time of the incident (herding cattle, fetching water, etc). The town actually had a medical clinic and there was a real ambulance that took you to a hospital that I presume was able to treat your injuries; a lot of casualties don't have access to adequate transportation or medical facilities, especially if they are civilian.

I have several friends who have received terrible injuries to their feet as result of mine explosions, only to then undergo dozens more surgeries and a lifetime of difficulties. And then, after years, they have given up and opted for amputation, as it is really is often the best solution available. I understand that using a prosthetic limb can take some getting used to, but even with that you are lucky you’ll get one and probably a very nice one! I’ve seen some incredible makeshift limbs that survivors have made themselves since there was nothing available to them."

As Mary rightly points out, things could have been much, much worse. You can read more about Human Rights Watch's campaign to ban landmines here. The specific landmine situation in Iraq is covered here.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

My first session at the hideously named Artificial Limb and Appliance Centre, which sounds like a cross between a hospital and branch of Currys. Frankly, what they don't know about false limbs ain't worth knowing -- and by the time they're done with me I'll probably know it too.

Did you know, for example, that Dame Heather Mills-McCartney or whatever she calls herself nowadays buys her bespoke nail-varnished tootsies from Dorset Orthopaedic who are, it would seem, the Rigby and Peller of the amputee scene. Neither did I. Their website's bizarre -- a mixture of Sir Hardy Amies, Douglas Bader and Ann Summers.

According to another company, "amputation can be very stressful for the amputee as well as family and friends." No shit. I'm glad you warned me.

It's a whole different world, one I couldn't even have dreamt of being part of just a fortnight ago. But here I am. I was never one for sports cars or state of the art titanium golf clubs but I'm finding myself spending hours looking at brochures for Carbon X prostheses with Truly Active Heel, Active Tibial Progression and Proportional Response. I really REALLY want one -- all my friends have got one.

My hero du jour is Van Phillips, inventor of the magnificent Flex Foot. He's a revolutionary in the field of lower limb prosthetics, don't you know. Sorry, am I boring you?

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Lest We Forget -- Journalists Killed In Iraq
Jose Couso, Tele Cinco cameraman
Taras Protsyuk, Reuters cameraman
Tareq Ayyoub, Al-Jazeera cameraman
Julio Anguita Parrado, reporter for Spanish newspaper El Mundo
Christian Liebig, journalist for German Focus magazine
Terry Lloyd, ITN correspondent
Paul Moran, freelance Australian cameraman
Kaveh Golestan, BBC cameraman
Michael Kelly American journalist and Washington Post columnist
Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed, BBC translator
Gaby Rado, Channel 4 News foreign affairs correspondent
David Bloom, NBC TV correspondent

"From time to time, God causes men to be born - and thou art one of them - who have a lust to go abroad at the risk of their lives and discover news - today it may be far-off things, tomorrow of some hidden mountain, and the next day of some near-by men who have done a foolishness against the state. These souls are very few; and of these few, not more than ten are of the best." -- Rudyard Kipling

Please consider helping:
The Rory Peck Trust
7 Southwick Mews
London
W2 1JG
www.rorypecktrust.org

"The Rory Peck Trust is the only charity in the world dedicated to promoting the work, safety and security of freelance media workers in news and current affairs broadcasting worldwide. The Trust subsidises training in hostile environments for freelancers, advises them on insurance and provides financial support to the families of those killed or seriously injured during the course of their work."

There, I'll stop rattling my collecting tin now.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

Many thanks to Xeni Jardin, Jason Goldman, Jason Shellen and the lovely human beings at Blogger, who -- I'm assured -- have upgraded my account after I threw my toys out of the pram yesterday. I send you warm greetings from the bottom of my residual limb!

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

I was in hospital when it was printed so thanks to Vicky for cutting out Jim's beautiful tribute to Kaveh in the Independent:

Kaveh Golestan -- Independent Obituary

Amid the tragedy, Kaveh's quote shines out. "I am a war photographer. It is in situations like this that I am truly me."

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

I'd Better Get Well Soon. Looks like the Axis of Evil roadshow could be heading towards Damascus soon. Can't we have a rest from touring? You guys are worse than the Grateful Dead.

CNN.com -- White House steps up criticism of Syria

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

The accident. Oh yes, the accident. I knew there was something I'd forgotten.

Taking a quick look at the site it dawned at me that one day I was farting about in Sulaymaniyah and the next I was lying in a hospital bed bemoaning my fate sans pied. Not much of a story teller, am I?

I should fill in the gaps, but the story's quite straightforward. Welshman wakes up, goes to work, steps on landmine, makes a mess, goes home and feels sorry for himself, to be continued.

I'll refrain from giving you my version, not because I'm too traumatised but because Jim's already told it exactly like it was in this article. I've got little to add except to the piece I wrote in hospital last week, which is here. If you need to know more, follow the links below. What am I -- your researcher?!

Media Guardian -- BBC producer has foot amputated
BBC -- Iraq journalist's leg amputated
Press Association -- Welsh Iraq journalist has leg amputated
Western Mail feature
Reuters -- BBC Cameraman Killed by Land mine in Iraq
BBC -- BBC cameraman dies in Iraq

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

The Spring blossom’s out in Cardiff.

Vicky came over from Bristol with a gift of fine Cuban cigars (US readers please note – I’m not supporting their economy, I’m burning their fields) and took me for a spin in Bute Park – my first outing beyond four hospital walls or the back garden. Very adventurous! It quickly became clear I need to trade in my wheelchair for a 4x4 model – mine’s hopeless off-road. Typical NHS – when’s New Labour going to start issuing SUV wheelchairs etc. etc. etc.

I also need to do something urgently about my sparrow-like biceps to enable to me wheel myself more than 50 yards without taking a rest. Hopeless.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

A new name for the blog?

The Northern Iraq bit is just part of the story and hopefully, in time, the "beyond" bit will become more relevant. Happier too, I hope.

I'll give the whole site a fresh lick of paint with a new template when I get time -- not this week, I suspect.

Which reminds me....I've been e-mailing Blogger for days to try and get my subscription upgraded to a bigger, faster server but they haven't replied. Is there anyone out there with enough clout who can shame them into sorting out my upgrade to Blog*Spot 100??!!

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

A disturbing thought from nowhere.

Am I now disabled?

It hadn’t occured to me for a second before. I had a bad accident, I’m recovering, and one day I’ll be well again. Except for one thing – that length of skin and bone that once stretched from midway down my right leg before taking a 90 degree turn and terminating in five stubby, hairy toes. It’s gone, never to return.

I never liked those toes very much anyway….but will they now define who I am? In the short term, almost certainly yes. For a while I’ll be a “wheelchair user” and am fully expecting to shout, in a loud voice “I’M NOT MENTALLY RETARDED. I JUST HAD BY FOOT BLOWN OFF BY AN IRAQI LAND MINE. I HAVE A DEGREE AND EVERYTHING AND I’M LEARNING ARABIC” at people on more than one occasion in the coming weeks.

But what about after that? If I were to enter the London Marathon (the chances of which were remote even BEFORE the accident) would I be labelled a disabled runner? My car will have an orange badge – a considerable perk in and around London for sure but another obvious label. I’ll be entitled to some sort of disability benefit from the state so I MUST be disabled, right? Maybe, but I’m not going to accept it. Anyone who calls me disabled gets struck off my Christmas card list ---- for life.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

This e-mail from Marcelo in Brazil:

"Your case is very, very similar to one that occurred in the Vietnam war with Brazilian journalist José Hamílton Ribeiro, who by then worked at Realidade magazine. He is still active, and now he walks well with a prosthesis.

Once a dumb reporter asked him how was it like to keep working without a leg, and he said, spirituously: 'Not as easy as with both, but far easier than with four!'"

Jose sounds like the sort of guy I should find out more about.

Discuss Northern Iraq -- and Beyond

I'd like you all to meet my new friend, Mr Stumpy. He looks a little scary at first but once you get to know him you'll see that he's actually real friendly. He prefers being calls a "residual limb" but I don't go in for all that PC crap.



Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

There are some deeply moving photos of Kaveh's funeral online here, which give some sense of how loved he was and how much he'll be missed. I strongly urge you to take a look.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

A bad night. As soon as my head hit the pillow the ants came out to play, setting up a five-a-side soccer tournament inside my plaster cast.

The itching became unbearable despite my frantic efforts to ease the pain while avoiding stabbing myself in the leg with a foot-long shoe horn. How those Egyptian Mummies managed, encased in the stuff for thousands of years in hot sarcophagi I just don't know.

Finally, I was forced to take a sleeping tablet in an attempt to stop myself from going completely insane. Thankfully, it worked. Roll on Wednesday -- cast removal day.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Home at last -- of which, more tomorrow I'm sure. Right now I hope you'll understand if I spend 24 hours with my family rather than chained to the computer. You'll hear the whole story soon enough.

Before leaving hospital I took a sneaky peek at my medical records. For the past week I’ve been unable to face the thought of looking at my x-rays. They just seemed too gruesome to contemplate. When I did finally flick through them I was struck by just how much of my foot was still intact after the accident; the toes, metatarsals, all those other bones I should have learned about during biology GCSE.

Everything was still there except for the triangle of bone where my heel once was. For the first time I asked myself “did the surgeon really HAVE to take the foot off?” It seems like such a brutal procedure for such a small injured area. Such thinking will get me nowhere, though. Like the electrical items you get for Christmas, stuffed with cables, leads, bags, warranties and cardboard – once you’ve unpacked them all, they’ll never go back in the box again.

My patient notes made fascinating reading. I felt like a school pupil getting my end of term report. One recurring sentence is “patient has passed good volumes of urine,” which is nurse-speak for “patient has a hamster bladder and cannot sit through so much as an ad break without needing to take a piss.” Which is why I always ask for an aisle seat when I go to the cinema. I’m not sure why they had to write this down as they only had to ask Aileen and she would have told them. If they’re going to mention my propsensity for frequent whizzing they might as well go the whole hog and draw attention to my not altogether healthy fondness for Kate Winslet.

My other favourite entries:

6th April: “Mr O’Doherty and patient told about the decision to have lower leg amputated, as reconstructive surgery not in patient’s best interests…..patient very upset.” And the Pulitzer Prize for Stating the Bleedin’ Obvious Goes To…..

11th April “Satisfactiory PM. Spent 4 hours in pub this afternoon.” I’d say that 4 hours spent in a pub could safely be regarded as satisfactory, regardless of one’s medical condition. Thank you Professor Jeremy Cooke of Jerusalem and Dr William Guinness of Dublin for your part in my recuperation.

One ominous entry, though.

11th April. “Mood a little falsely bright.” I’m hoping this is nurse-speak for “Patient returned from pub pissed on only 1½ pints and then fell out of wheelchair,” which is my recollection of the event.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

That long awaited drink finally came on Thursday. It was postponed from Wednesday due to a heavy intake of antibiotics.

We cracked open a bottle of Bollinger (thanks Derek!) and raised a glass in Kaveh’s memory – the first time I’ve been able to do something to mark and mourn his passing.

Then I swigged back the champers and gave thought about all the fantastic things that I’ve still got; my family, Aileen, most of my health and a set of friends who have come through in the past week in a way I never thought possible.

Life could be worse, eh?

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

1830
It seems so strange lying here watching the jubliant masses running amok on the streets of Kirkuk.

Just over a week ago I was crouching on a ridge a few kms away, watching the gas burn-off and the shimmer of the city through binoculars. Now, it looks as though anyone with a four wheel drive and a half decent sense of direction can stroll straight in.

In the past week my life, and those of millions of Iraqis, have changed beyond recognition. But the story I lived and breathed for two months doesn’t seem so important now.


0940
Well yesterday’s entry was a bit self-pitying, wasn’t it?!

Yesterday the enormity of what’s happened and what’s still ahead came crashing down on me like a bronze statue of Saddam Hussein in the middle of Baghdad.

What’s got me through this far and what will continue to help me through are the cards, flowers, e-mails and discussion board entries from old friends and people I’ve never met. I’ve been so pumped full of drugs (see – there ARE some benefits to being in hospital) these last few days that I’ve only just begun to work my way through the good wishes. But every single one is very, very special. I don’t want to get slushy but I feel loved up – and it’s a wonderful feeling.

You’ll have to bear with me for a couple of days before I can start writing at any length and replying to the questions that are piling up. The absence of an internet connection is probably good for my recuperation but it’s driving me crazier than the itchy plaster cast at the end of my right leg. As soon as I get back to my parents (hopefully within the next couple of days), I’ll start work in earnest. I’m particularly keen to start exploring the various forms of anti-landmine activism I could get involved with, details of which will follow in due course.

Sadly the black dog that was snapping at my one remaining heel yesterday came back for a second bite this morning. He didn’t stay around for long, though. I think my brain just doesn’t know how to process all that’s been thrown at it this last week. From accident in Iraq to amputation in Wales in eight days is a lot for a tiny mind like mine to deal with. From time to time it flails out in a strange direction. I’m just trying to let it do its thing at the moment.

My boss from London came down from London this morning with presents, cards and – perhaps most importantly – words of reassurance. My job is there for me if I want to return to it…..and at the moment I do, although in what form it’s a little early to say. I think I may have had my fill of wars for a while.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

In the early hours of this morning the strength that had kept me going for the past week evaporated.

Until now, the sheer fact of being home, alive, kept my morale high and my spirit strong. Now, for the first time, I’m faltering.

Last night as I slept I dreamed everyday dreams – I can’t even remember now what they were. But in all of them I was walking around with my full complement of limbs. When I woke up it was the reality of my situation – in hospital, drips in each arm, with a plaster cast around the stump that used to be my right foot, that seemed more dream like.

As dawn broke, so did the realisation that the road to full recovery will be long and tough, starting with two months in a wheelchair. I won’t be going back to work on crutches in a week and I’ll be reliant on those around me for a long time to come. And, as far as I’m aware, feet aren’t like tree branches. They don’t grow back.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Today I said goodbye to an old friend, who’s supported me and been around me for the past 31 years. He never did get me into the Welsh football squad but even so I hadn’t planned for our parting to be so sudden. Sometimes, though, life takes an unexpected course.

For the past 24 hours I’ve jumped (well, hopped really) at every form of sedation and medication available to try to make the hours pass as hazily as possible. Yesterday felt like waiting for an exam; that sick foreboding feeling in the pit of the stomach. Now, at least, it’s over and tomorrow – when I’m assured I’ll be allowed alcohol – I’ll open a bottle of champagne and celebrate life.

I’ve been avoiding using one word until now because it scares me but I think now’s the time to say it. Amputation. It’s such a brutal word, conjuring up images of below-deck surgery in blood-spattered operating theatres on navy tallships. But that’s what’s happened to me and now it’s over it doesn’t seem so bad. Rather than months of hobbling around on crutches and scores of slow and painful operations, hopefully it means a swift return to normality. So I’ll say it – a little gingerly for now but with increasing confidence. Amputation.






Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

0815
Just woken and had breakfast and the first moment of bleakness since the accident has descended.

Until now the thought of getting home, seeing friends and family and hugging my girlfriend was enough to tide me over. Now, the real prospect of what lies ahead is beginning to dawn. It still doesn’t feel like all this has happened to me. It’s as though I’m in a dream that I’ll soon wake up from. Deep down, though, I know that’s not the case.

The value of the support I’ve received from family and colleagues has been immeasurable. I’ve felt buoyed up on a cushion of good wishes. Reading the cards, e-mails and messages has given me great strength.

Ultimately, though, I know there’ll be dark days ahead. At the moment it looks as though I’ll lose the foot and part of the leg. It could be worse, but it’s not great. I’m steeling myself for what’s to come and hoping I have the inner strength to deal with it. Then there’s the issue of learning to walk again, drive a car, stupid bureaucratic things like compensation. Just writing this helps.

Kaveh’s funeral is taking place today in Tehran. He’s foremost in my mind. He’ll be missed terribly. There could quite easily have been two funerals taking place and I thank whoever’s looking after me up there that I made it through. I was lucky. Very lucky.


1835
Saw the surgeon this afternoon and the die has been cast; the foot goes tomorrow. He said when he opened up the wound yesterday he knew he had no options. There’s no soft tissue left to connect any new vessels onto, so the decision’s been made for him. Obviously it’s a heart-breaking thing to come to terms with but in a way it’s been made easier by the fact that there are no options to consider. The saddest thing is that I have five perfectly perky toes held in place with a meccano set of pins and bolts but, in medical terms, that’s not enough to save my ballrooom dancing career. Like a killer virus, the landmine has done what it’s designed to do with perfect precision. I feel no bitterness but I hope whoever manufactures the things is pleased with their handiwork.

And today, more devastating news; a “friendly fire” incident involving my BBC colleagues near Arbil, in which one of our translators was killed and a driver seriously wounded.) Just in case the Iraqis weren’t adept enough at killing innocent civilians, the Americans are helping them along (having said that, I’m enormously grateful for the wonderful treatment I received from US Special Forces at their field hospital in Sulaymaniyah.) This war becomes more ghastly by the day.

So, a tough day ahead tomorrow. How I’ll feel afterwards, I just don’t know but I hope that soon afterwards the rebuilding can begin. I urge you all to read Jim’s accurate and unvarnished account of what happened.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Here is a link to an article written by Jim Muir after the tragic death of Kaveh Golestan.
Link to article by Jim Muir on the last moments of Kaveh Golestan

As the conflict enters its second week it's beginning to take its toll on the personal lives of some of the journalists based here in Sulaymaniyah.

Over dinner, two members of the press pack tell me they've split up with their girlfriends by phone or e-mail in recent days. With no end to the assignment in sight and no return date, some loved ones have had enough.

It's dawning on some us that even if we wanted to go home, we couldn't. The borders with Turkey, Iran and Syria are sealed, making movement in and out difficult if not impossible. One colleague chose the most drastic option -- being Med-Evac'd out. Although he didn't tell his managers, the death of the Autralian cameraman Paul Moran hit him hard and he wanted out. Other colleagues are pondering possible escape routes, either because they've had enough or because the Northern Front is shaping up to be a mere shadow of what we originally expected.

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Yesterday's problems in downloading pictures should have been fixed but if anyone's still having problems please let me know via the discussion board.

I'm also thinking of changing the template for the weblog but am a complete HTML dunce. If anyone is able to design a suitable template, e-mail it to me and you'll be forever in my debt.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

With Ansar Al Islam flushed out of their strongholds and pushed into the mountains of the Iranian border, families who fled their homes because of the fighting are coming back home.

Tractors, trucks and cars loaded with possessions are rolling along the road to the town of Khormal.

This family left ten days ago when the operation to “liquidate” (the word used by the Special Forces) Ansar began. Now, they feel it’s safe to return.

While filming I passed the checkpoint where the Australian cameraman Paul Moran was killed in an Ansar suicide bombing a couple of weeks ago. The burnt out and twisted remains of the car that blew up still lies there. I chose not to linger.

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The American propaganda machine has arrived in Northern Iraq.

We were summoned this morning to a press conference in Halabja in which members of the US Special Forces, who refused to give us their names, patted themselves on the back over the success of their operation to rout Ansar Al Islam.

It was a classic exercise in Army Speak, in which lots of words come out of someone’s mouth but nothing is actually said. Efforts to ascertain concrete information are met with bland replies and you come away none the wiser. Now I know how my colleagues stuck at the As Saliyah base in Qatar must feel every day, trooping in and out of CENTCOM briefings to hear Tommy Franks and Co say absolutely nothing.

Here’s the audio headline clip from the press conference:


“There were things that we found on site that presented themselves and at least in my mind and to my opinion confirmed many of the reports that you’ve seen over the last eight months that this site was indeed being used for some type of chem or bio production. BUT THAT IS NOT CONFIRMED.”

The capitals are mine. Let me just check I’ve got this straight. He’s certain Ansar were preparing chemical and biological weapons but he has no proof. Hmmm. I’m not sure that would stand up in a court of law. But hey – they’re just terrorist towelheads and we’re honest Americans so no one’s going to question whether we’re telling the truth, right?

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Monday's links:
Herald Sun -- Kurd fighters advance
Charlotte Observer -- Kurds dance at bare bunkers
The Guardian -- Halabja: Scenic and Deadly
MSNBC -- Alleged Iraqi terror group ‘finished’
Washington Post -- Kurds Revel in Rout of Extremist Group
Time -- Gone without a trace
Toronto Star -- Iraqi army focuses on the defence of Kirkuk
Guardian -- Kurds Get Glimpse of Seized Iraqi Lands

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Dave Riley asks whether ordinary Iraqis view the war as one of liberation or invasion. It’s a question we’ve been discussing every day.

We haven’t been able to speak to many Iraqis from Saddam’s side of the line for obvious reasons except for a few defectors – and their views were predictably anti-Saddam. The Kurds here in the north though are, almost to a man, supporters of the war. They’ve suffered for years from Saddam’s forced expulsions, chemical attacks and persecution. The day he’s toppled will be a day of celebration in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The most direct answer to the liberation vs invasion question I’ve had came from a 20 year old woman I interviewed in Sulaymaniyah a few days ago.

I asked her what she thought of the hundreds of thousands of people who’ve taken to the streets of London and elsewhere to oppose the war. “They don’t live in Iraq,” was her blunt reply. “If I was them I’d probably demonstrate too,” she said, “but they don’t know what Saddam is like. All our problems come from him. War is the only answer.”

This was a woman who, as a child, was forced to flee to Iran with her family because of Saddam’s persecution of the Kurds. For several months she lived in a refugee camp until it was safe to return home. On the day I spoke to her she was preparing to leave the city to stay with relatives in the country because she was afraid Saddam might drop chemical weapons on Sulaymaniyah.

My driver, Dana, says the Kurds’ alliance with the US is born of the philosophy that my enemy’s enemy is my friend. The Kurds have a single-minded, almost naïve, belief that America is their staunchest supporter and has their long-term interests at heart. I hope they’re not disappointed.


Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

This article’s worth a look if you’re a gadgets geek:

Hold the Videophone -- Why the combat coverage from Iraq isn't live.

We’re using both the Talking Head and the Swe-dish (kindly loaned to us by our friends at ABC) here in the field.

Brendan Koener is right to draw attention to the limitations, although I think he’s a bit off-hand about just how far we’ve come in terms of the technology over the past decade. It wasn’t that long ago that I was editing radio reports with a piece of tape and a razor blade!

Given all the factors involved, sometimes I think it’s a miracle that we manage to get on air at all.

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A day spent behind the former Chamchamal front line towards Kirkuk, of which more tomorrow because it’s still a work in progress and we’re going back again tomorrow to take another look.

Over dinner with a senior PUK commander, Omar Fatah, we looked at the latest maps of Iraqi government positions in the north. They show that after abandoning their front line above Chamchamal, the Iraqis have peeled back to form a tight ring of troops around Kirkuk. The city would appear to be surrounded now by a single defensive line, although its strength and motivation to fight remains unclear.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Thanks to Adrian Weckler from Ireland's Sunday Business Post, who described this weblog as "brilliant" in this article. Stop it now -- you're making me blush!

While I'm on the subject of links, you can get an overview of what I've been up to from my partner in crime, Jim Muir, in the following article.

Jim Muir -- Tracking the Kurdish advance

Jim is a journalist of unrivalled integrity with an unsurpassed knowledge of the region, and I'm not just saying that because I've eaten, worked and slept (in separate beds, you understand) with him for the past six weeks. If you want an unbiased view of what's happening here -- he's the daddy.

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My thoughts are with the family and friends of my Channel 4 colleague Gaby Rado, who died this morning here in Sulaymaniyah in what appears to have been a tragic accident. He is the second ITN correspondent to die in the current conflict. I only knew Gaby through his work but all of us working here in Northern Iraq have been shocked by his death.

ITV News -- Second correspondent dies
Channel 4 reporter dies in Iraq

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Here's roughly where we're at in terms of the overall picture, courtesy of BBC News Online.



The main developments in the Northern Front, my main focus:

* Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, supported by American special forces and air strikes, have overrun the main headquarters of the Islamic radical group, Ansar al-Islam. Elsewhere, the Kurdish-controlled town of Chamchamal has come under shellfire.

* Kurdish militiamen have crossed the front-line into Iraqi government-controlled territory, seizing a hilltop position guarding the advance to the city of Kirkuk, after Iraqi forces withdrew.

* The UN says up to 300,000 people in northern Iraq have fled their homes. The office of the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Iraq says the people left northern Iraqi towns of Kirkuk, Irbil, Dahuk and Sulaymaniyah to seek refuge in the mountains.

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An audioblog and, for those unable to download it, a transcript:

It’s about quarter past one in the afternoon and if I sound a bit shaken up it’s because I am.

We drove about 15 to 20km with an escort of journalists inside what was until a few days ago Iraqi territory. We crossed the ridge at Chamchamal where a few days ago Iraqi troops peeled back towards Kirkuk. Just as we stopped to take some pictures we heard a whistle and a zooming sound and a large artillery shell came down about 50 yards from us, forcing us to dive for cover. It was extremely close and extremely loud.

As soon it was clear it was just the one shell coming in we all jumped into the vehicles and drove back the way we came.

We’ve come back about 3km from where the shell went off and it seems quieter here.

As we were driving down through former Iraqi territory we saw a number of deserted villages – ghost towns really. One of them’s just in front of me; the walls are painted with anti-American slogans in Arabic. There’s a few murals of Saddam Hussein like the ones seen on TV, holding a gun aloft in a triumphant pose. It’s rather eerie to see these villages completely deserted.

One journalist told me that the Iraqi troops who peeled back from their frontline positions left the place in a spotless condition. They even swept out their barracks before they left and moved back towards Kirkuk….

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Jim's written version of the story we worked on yesterday is online here. Needless to say, it's essential reading! The TV version is running on BBC World all day.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Today's related links:
Worldnews.com -- Impending Inter-Ethnic Violence in Kirkuk

The Times -- Two Kurds shuffle across border and into history
Australian Sunday Times -- Iraqi Kurds move towards Kirkuk
Asia Times -- Iran slams door on Ansar al-Islam
The Guardian -- Eager Kurds link up with US paratroopers

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

The choice of TV channels on offer in the Sulaymaniyah Palace Hotel is appalling (apart from Fashion TV of course) but the Iranian News Network has to be the worst. Their English news bulletins are broadcast in a language similar to English yet somehow rendered incomprehensible. Take this excerpt from Thursday. What language is this? Dutch?

Iranian TV News Bulletin

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Thanks to everyone who’s posted on the discussion board so far and for the kind words of encouragement from such diverse locations as El Salvador, Canada, Korea and the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport (alright Simon!)

I was particularly struck by Jo Deane’s request:

“I would like to ask a silly(?) favour and wonder if you could take a picture of a real live flower or flowering plant. Not the paper/plastic stuff we see children wave on tv, but something real and pretty, even a wildflower growing somewhere.”

Jo, I don’t know where you’re writing from but it’s not a silly favour at all. In fact, the hills of Kurdistan are full of spring flowers at the moment. The mountains which mark the Iranian border are still dusted with fresh snow. This afternoon I watched them turn from white to orange to deep red as the sun set. The fields are ablaze with colour, the air is cold and clean and the light is sharp and rich. Whatever your politics, you can understand why the Peshmerga think this is a land worth fighting for.

When we were filming in Halabja a few days ago I took some photos of the flowers growing alongside the mass graveyard where many of the victims of the chemical weapons attack in 1988 are buried. Since you ask, here’s some pictures of them. I’ve no idea what they are – maybe you can enlighten me.

Halabja Flower 1
Halabja Flower 2

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

A few words of thanks are in order.
Yesterday's piece in the Guardian seems to have sparked interest elsewhere.
So, many thanks to:
The Washington Post
Journalism.co.uk
Panorama, Italy (by the way if anyone can do me a translation I'd love to read it)
Yahoo News
IALWeb.It
The Hockey Forum (Go Knights!)
for drawing attention to the blog. I'd encourage as many people as possible to spread the word about the site -- to friends, other bloggers and anyone who may be interested. For obvious reasons I can only check in once or twice a day but I'm really keen for the Discussion Board in particular to take off. I'll be following the debate avidly -- and contributing as often as possible.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

1130: Our first sighting of US Special Forces. We've come across a convoy of 8 heavily armed Humvees near the village of Sayyid Sadiq. Villagers are waving at them and smiling as they speed along the road. The Specials seem to be heading towards the moutains above Halabja we visited earlier this week to spearhead the offensive against Ansar Al-Islam, the militant group allegedly linked to Al Qaeda. We’ve overtaken and are a few clicks ahead of them. We tried to stop and film them but were prevented from doing so by a Land Cruiser full of PUK Peshmerga.

1215: We’re creeping up a switchback near the Ansar Al Islam front line. Peshmerga on either side of the road are packing heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft rockets and mortars. The Thuraya satphone rings. It’s London, asking whether Jim can go live. I explain that our position is somewhat hairy. Stopping two jeeps with “TV” written on them in bright orange letters might not be such a good idea. I’ll call in when it’s safer. London’s tone suggests they’re put out, as though we’re being deliberately awkward. Welcome to the 24 hour news age.

1600: I’m sitting in the jeep in the village of Ahmed Awa, next to what remains of a former military headquarters for the Islamic group Komola. The Komola forces left yesterday and this morning PUK Peshmerga moved in. The Australian cameraman Paul Moran was killed at a checkpoint just a few hundred yards away, although when he was here the area was under Islamist control. Now, the Ansar and Komola fighters have moved further back into the hills behind me. They’re being pounded from the air and from the ground by PUK mortars. The valley is echoing with a steady boom. Every once in a while, Land Cruisers full of Peshmerga come down the mountain road, carrying their wounded. The Peshmerga are in celebratory mood, though. With the support of US planes and special forces they believe Ansar is doomed.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Thursday was a momentous day for us. After almost two months in the region, the Northern Front – albeit a scaled down version of what was originally intended -- is finally open for business. For the moment at least we’re the centre of the story.

We were woken by the News Desk at 0730 and for the next 8 hours we barely drew breath. The Rolling News Monster had us in its grip and wasn’t going to let us go. Each hour was filled with lives for World TV, News 24, World Service, Radio 4, Five Live, you name it, interspersed with the odd rushed phone call to find out what was actually happening.

By about 4 o’clock I was suffering from Non Stop News Narcosis and needed to get out for an hour. Our translator, Rebeen, took us to the bazaar to buy some army surplus souvenirs, heartless War Tourists that we are. I came away with a rather natty Iraqi Army beret – perfect for those “Dress as your favourite despot” theme parties. Cameraman Kaveh bought a balaclava, which makes him look like an ETA terrorist. Jim was not impressed.



The mood in the bazaar was, ahem, bizarre. Since dawn the TV had been filled with images of paratroops jumping out of planes into the Bashur airfield (they could have quite easily landed on the runway but that wouldn’t look as good on TV, would it?) but in the market it as though the war was in another, distant country. Traders were shouting their wares, fruit and veg was piled high on stalls and chickens condemned to death pondered their fate. The only evidence of the war was on the TVs tuned to Al Jazeera in the tea shops and kebab joints, but most people didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the screens. It seemed strange that people were going about their business, seemingly oblivious to the conflict on their doorstep but I actually think it’s rather healthy. While war rages in their midst , many ordinary Kurds are going about their daily lives, buying fruit and veg, baking bread, drinking tea.

Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and having taken a look at Kevin Sites' weblog I saw he had a discussion option. I want one of those, I thought -- so here it is. Why didn't I know about this sooner?


Discuss Northern Iraq Weblog

Welcome new readers!

I checked the stats on the weblog this evening and nearly fell off my chair. They'd exploded twenty-fold! Something was definitely afoot.
Sure enough, no less an authority than The Guardian has dubbed this site "one of the best of the warblogs" and among "the sites you need to see" in this article:

Conflict of interest: the sites you need to see

Well if the Guardian says it, it MUST be true! Many thanks to Jane Perrone for taking notice and if you're visiting for the first time, you're most welcome and tell your friends.

I was interested to read that CNN's Kevin Sites had been asked to suspend his blog. I must admit the thought of a conflict of interest hadn't really occurred to me since I set this site up primarily to keep in touch with family and friends. Lest there be the slightest whiff of a breach of producer guidelines, though, I guess I should steal Kevin's disclaimer:

Stuart Hughes is a BBC journalist, but this is a personal website not affiliated with, endorsed by, or funded by the BBC. Archives of Stuart's work are available here, and at BBC News Online. Will that do?

Just as I was lamenting the absence of a Northern Front, hundreds of American troops parachute into the region to open up a new offensive. They dropped into an airfield near Arbil overnight, but troops are also coming into another airbase near here in Sulamaniyah. It means things are likely to get very busy for us as the Northern Front takes shape. Here's the latest map of who's where:

Day 7 of the war and “Operation Iraqi Freedom” doesn’t seem to be going too well. Not that the coalition would ever admit it. Just a few weeks ago, Pentagon sources were claiming the whole thing would be over in a week but sandstorms and what the Allies insist on calling “stiff resistance” have got in the way. As for the Northern Front – the part of the war we’re supposed to be covering – well, Turkey’s intrasigence has brought that to a standstill.

Meanwhile, Jim’s unswerving commitment to the journalistic “real thing” knows no bounds. While in theory that’s an admirable trait, in practice it’s damned uncomfortable. Jim’s pursuit of a story involves driving to the top of rugged snow-dusted mountains in the dark and sleeping on the cold stone floors of guard houses “just in case something happens.” My pursuit of a story involves sleeping underneath duvets in warm hotel rooms just in case something DOESN’T happen.

Mercifully, this evening’s planned excursion to the front line has been cancelled due to poor weather. Whenever anyone rings from London they assume we’re in the middle of a desert. In fact, it’s pissing down with rain. Even if we had gone to the mountains we wouldn’t have been able to see anything and we’d probably have died of pneumonia. It’s on days like this that I pity those poor peshmerga camped out on their hilltop positions. They must be having a desperate time.

This is a very useful map from the New York Times which illustrates exactly the areas and stories we're concentrating on.

A nice quiet day today with no sleeping on floors....just the thing I need to try to shake off the heavy cold I'm suffering from, and to catch up with some reading:
USA Today -- U.S. troops arrive in northern Iraq, but plan isn't to fight.
NY Times -- U.S. Opens Command in Northern Iraq
Guardian -- Bombing raids signal start of mountain offensive
Star Ledger -- Trembling earth heralds the second front
Newsday -- A Battle in Northern Iraq
CS Monitor -- Kurdish fighters dig in to battle Iraqi troops
The Times -- Kurds clap as coalition bombards enemy lines
The Times -- Unlikely comrades are eager to enter fray

Here's the report on the ABC cameraman who was staying here in the Sulaymaniyah Palace Hotel and who died in the suicide bombing on the weekend and here's the picture. Not good at all.

This assignment gets more Apocalypse Now-like by the day. We’re deep down the river and it can only be a matter of time before we come face to face with Colonel Kurtz.

After two days sleeping on the floor in Chamchamal, waiting for bombing raids that never materialised, we moved across to the mountains above Halabja, near the Iranian border, where Peshmerga fighters are battling with Ansar Al-Islam, the “terrorist” group allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda. It was a rather hairy trip. The day before Ansar carried out a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint, in which an Australian cameraman was killed. Not surprisingly, most journalists moved away from Halabja after that. The hotel is very sombre and there are remembrance pictures of the dead guy pinned up in the lobby. Jim, though, has impeccable military contacts and arranged for an armed escort to take us in.

The Americans have begun bombing raids against Ansar positions in attempt to wipe out the group and we wanted to be there when they happened. At 2am we drove way up into the mountains overlooking Ansar territory and bedded down with the Peshmerga in one of their guard houses. We were woken at 4am by US planes coming over then the sky lit up with orange flashes as they dropped their payloads. The noise was deafening.

Unlike the night before, when the Americans dropped about a hundred missiles, the night we were there they only dropped a handful in quick succession. By the time we realised the raid had begun it was all over. To get the best vantage point we drove right to the top of the mountain – the Peshmerga front line. It was dark, unspeakably bleak and incredibly cold. The Peshmergas took us into their shelter and made us all hot, sweet tea.

I must have dozed off because by the time I came round it was light. As the sun rose, the mountains came to life and we all began to thaw out. The scene was just unreal.

The Peshmergas live in virtually medieval conditions – like St Kilda 200 years ago. They spend weeks or even months in huts and bunkers on the hilltops with no electricity, no hot water, nothing. Just cold water in a tank and a single kerosene stove. Their resilience is unbelievable, their belief in their cause unshakable. The hardships of their lives are plain to see – soldiers in their early 30s look 20 years older.

Here’s a selection of photos taken up there:

Two Peshmerga
Down The Barrel Of A Gun
Poised Peshmerga
Peshmerga With Radio
Peshmerga Smoking

One thing that always strikes me about the Peshmerga is their footwear. They’re all armed to the hilt, pledging to die for the liberation of Kurdistan, and yet they’re wearing trainers, hush puppies and dress shoes. One soldier, with a thick band of ammunition slung around his waist, was wearing a pair of pink sneakers with “My Little Pony” written on them.

Ansar sent a few mortars over as we did a succession of lives on the videophone – without doubt the most remote place I’ve ever done a broadcast from. The generator has earned its keep already.

The Peshmergas were – as always – great hosts; curious, polite and welcoming. Several of them spoke warmly about Tony Blair, asking us to thank him for taking a firm stand against Saddam Hussein. After posing for a group photo I gave them cigarettes and BBC stickers before heading back down the mountain, wondering what would become of them.