How much do you really know about the conflict in Afghanistan?

Good Read

History is our story written from a distance in time. The writers of history depend upon official records and, in modern times, film and photographs, as well as letters and diaries to study historical eras. Christian Hill's record of his service in Afghanistan, Combat Camera, should help them as well as it helps us in understanding what is happening there.

Christian served four months of 2011 as a Combat Camera Team leader with the British Army's Media Operations Group in Afghanistan. He shares with us a unique vantage point from which to view that conflict. Every soldier has a different perspective. Infantrymen see little beyond a fifteen degree swath a few to a couple hundred meters in depth depending upon the terrain. At the other extreme, pilots see the war from the vantage point of altitude, but miss many details. Christian's view of the war was far more comprehensive than first-hand experience. He gathered it second hand, collating soldiers' stories, as well as intelligence reports. 

Christian's mission was to weave together a tale that suited the political purposes of those who had committed their nation to the war. He was not allowed to provide fodder for its opposition. Indeed, much of his time was spent scanning interviews and reports and expunging anything which might contradict the official narrative. His book is largely built from material that didn't fit official purposes.

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Combat Camera is neither a novel nor a news report. It reads more like a journalist's notebook, filled with the grist from which a story or a commentary may be ground. It's organized chronologically and infused with just enough narrative to give it a beginning, middle, and end, and make it readable. Thus, readers have the freedom to draw their own conclusions. Indeed, hawks and doves alike may make good use of its content.

Trust me, after reading Combat Camera, you will know just how ignorant you are of the war in Afghanistan. It won't resolve your conflict over the purpose of it, but it will help you better understand its cost. More importantly, it will broaden your appreciation for the scope of the potential tragedy yet to come. Even now, I am looking more closely at news reports, as well as official government statements, and seeing the voids in them.

On a more practical note, Combat Camera is competently written and published without the sorts of flaws that fill too many books these days. You will be able to follow Christian's journey from cover to cover without distraction from speed bumps such as grammatical and spelling errors. I find it sad that I must include that observation inasmuch as too many books published these days are so badly flawed by these things. Although my fellow Americans may find a few challenges with the British idiom and slang, these are more endearing than annoying. A few hours watching BBC America programming should prepare them for the experience.