THE REAL AFGHANISTAN FROM A MARINE RECON’S VIEW

I was sent this piece from an author wishing to remain anonymous. From knowing soldiers who served in Afghanistan and hearing first-hand of their experiences with that country and its people, I think it’s a very realistic look at a destitute situation.

Af1I’m a Reconnaissance Marine in Afghanistan writing from the Sand Pit. I’m freezing my balls off here – sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains, along the Dar’yoi Pamir River, and watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I’ve actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but the scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid, but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

Af2The one ugly truth the Taliban cannot escape is that, believe it or not, they are human beings, which means they have to eat food and drink water. That requires couriers and that’s where a bounty hunter like me comes in handy.

I track the couriers, locate the tunnel entrances and storage facilities, type the info into the handheld, and shoot the coordinates up to the satellite link that tells the air commanders where to drop the hardware. We bash some heads for a while, and then I track and record the new movement. It’s all about intelligence.

Af3AWe haven’t even brought in the snipers yet. These scurrying rats have no idea what they’re in for. We are but days away from cutting off supply lines and allowing the eradication to begin. But you know – I’m a romantic. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This country blows, man. It’s not even a country.

There are no roads, there’s no infrastructure, there’s no government. This is an inhospitable, rock pit shit hole ruled by eleventh century warring tribes. There are no jobs here like we know jobs. Afghanistan offers only two ways for a man to support his family; join the opium trade or join the army. That’s it. Those are your options.

Af4Oh, I forgot, you can also live in a refugee camp and eat plum-sweetened, crushed beetle paste and squirt mud like a goose with stomach flu, if that’s your idea of a party. But the smell alone of those ‘tent cities of the walking dead‘ is enough to hurl you into the poppy fields to cheerfully scrape bulbs for eighteen hours a day.

I’ve been living with these Tajiks and Uzbeks, and Turkmen and even a couple of Pashtus for over a month-and-a-half now, and this much I can say for sure: These guys, are Huns….actual, living Huns. They LIVE to fight. It’s what they do. It’s ALL they do. They have no respect for anything, not for their families, nor for each other, nor for themselves.

Af5They claw at one another as a way of life. They play polo with dead calves and force their five-year-old sons into human cockfights to defend the family honor. Huns, roaming packs of savage, heartless beasts who feed on each other’s barbarism. Cavemen with AK-47’s. Then again, maybe I’m just a cranky bastard.

I’m freezing my ass off on this stupid hill because my lap warmer is running out of juice, and I can’t recharge it until the sun comes up in a few hours.

Oh yeah! You like writing, Garry. Do me a favor. Write a letter to CNN and tell Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper and that awful, sneering, pompous Aaron Brown to stop calling the Taliban ‘smart’.

They are not smart.

Af6I suggest CNN invest in a dictionary because the word they are looking for is “cunning.” The Taliban are cunning, like jackals and hyenas and wolverines. They are sneaky and ruthless, and when confronted, cowardly. They are hateful, malevolent parasites who create nothing and destroy everything else.

Smart! Bullshit! Yeah, they’re real smart, they’ve spent their entire lives reading only one book (and not a very good one, as books go) and consider hygiene and indoor plumbing to be products of the devil! They’re still figuring out how to work a Bic lighter.

Af7Talking to a Taliban warrior about improving his quality of life is like trying to teach an ape how to hold a pen. Eventually, he just gets frustrated and sticks you in the eye with it.

OK, enough. Snuffle will be up soon, so I have to get back to my hole. Covering my tracks in the snow takes a lot of practice, but I’m good at it.

Please, I ask you to tell my fellow Americans, and the rest of the civilized world, to turn off the TV sets and move on with your lives. The story line you’re getting from CNN and other news agencies is utter bullshit and designed not to deliver truth, but rather to keep you glued to the screen so you will watch the commercials.

Af8CThe worst thing you guys can do right now is sit around analyzing what we’re doing over here, because you have no fucking idea what we’re doing and, really, you don’t want to know. We are your military, and we are only doing what you sent us here to do.

“Semper Fi” – Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share.

THE BOOK THAT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE

I recently connected with British BestSelling crime-writer, Mel Sherratt, after reading some of her superbly crafted work. Mel generously shares on DyingWords how her about-to-be released new book, Follow The Leader, came to be.

Mel1When I wrote Taunting The Dead back in 2010, I had no idea that I was going to write a police procedural. My character, Allie Shenton, started off as a police family liaison officer, but as the plot evolved and she needed to be out of the suspect’s house more than I had originally planned, it made sense to make her a detective sergeant – plus the book benefited from being in multiple viewpoints.

When I published Taunting The Dead, it was my debut novel, although it was the fifth book I had actually written. I had no idea of its reach. I mean, how does anyone know when they publish a book? The most you hope for when you start out is that someone might like it enough to recommend it to someone else… and then some.

Mel4Step back a little to the four books I had already written. Three of these are the books that currently make up The Estate Series. Feeling passionate about these books after two of them had been rejected by several mainstream publishers, I decided to re-edit them and publish them off the back of Taunting The Dead and when they did well, I thought perhaps Taunting The Dead had been a fluke.

At that time, I had written 10,000 words of a follow-on from Taunting The Dead, but then decided to write a psychological thriller and take the fast pacing and twisting of Taunting The Dead and the emotion and fear of The Estate Series and combine the two. That ended up as Watching Over You. 

Mel2When I got a two book deal with Thomas & Mercer, I chatted to my editor about the 10,000 words I’d written and so I concentrated on writing Follow The Leader. I’m now putting the finishing touches to the third in the series, Only The Brave. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed writing about Allie Shenton again.

What I learned from all this – despite thinking that I didn’t enjoy writing police procedurals, and instead concentrating on one or two main characters in Watching Over You, I actually like writing books with multiple viewpoints and sub-plots. Follow The Leader was a challenge because I had to get rid of the baggage but once I’d done this, the words began to add up.

Mel5I learned such a lot from my editor at Thomas & Mercer. She made me into a better writer, I’m sure. And now I’m happy with the direction my writing is heading. I am a gritty writer, not afraid to write about touchy subjects, no matter how harsh the reviews are sometimes. But I enjoy what I do – and hopefully a lot of readers do too. I have over 1700 reviews across my books on Amazon – with 85% of those 4 and 5 stars – that ain’t too bad.  So, for anyone who has read one of my books and left a review to say so, or contacted me to say so, THANK YOU so much.

The book that was never meant to be, Follow The Leader, will be published 10 February 2015, followed by Only The Brave, penned in for 26 May 2015.

Mel8The three books tie up a sub-plot that runs through them all. In Only The Brave, you’ll get re-acquainted with the Ryder family… oh, how I’ve enjoyed that! I’ve mirrored a lot of things from Taunting The Dead and in Only The Brave, but all three books can be read as stand-alones – there is a crime to be solved in each book.

I’m writing more books in The Estate Series at the moment too. But, funnily enough, now that I’ve written three books with Allie Shenton as my main character, I’ve found myself planning two more… 

*   *   * 

Mel7Mel Sherratt has been a self-described ‘meddler of words’ ever since she can remember. Since successfully self-publishing Taunting The Dead and seeing it soar to the rank of number one best-selling police procedurals in the Amazon Kindle store in 2012, Mel has gone on to publish three more books in the critically acclaimed The Estate Series. 

Her new book, Watching Over You, came out on 14 January 2014 and went to #1 in psychological thrillers in the UK, US, German and Australian Kindle charts.

Since its re-release in December 2013, Taunting The Dead has also gone to #1 in police procedurals in the UK, US and Australian Kindle charts.

Mel4The three books in The Estate Series also hit spots #1, #2 and #3 in the overall top 100 Australian charts and recently all three entered the top 100 in the UK. They have all been #1 in the UK psychological thrillers category.

Mel2Watch for Mel’s next book Follow The Leader which is set for release on February 10th, 2015, and shortly followed by Only The Brave on May 26, 2015. Mel has also generously agreed to a Q&A interview here on DyingWords and we’ll post that in time for the launch of Follow The Leader.

Here’s Mel Sherratt’s website http://melsherratt.co.uk/

Follow Mel on Twitter  @writermels

Her Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mel-Sherratt/218120504951096

Thanks so much for doing this, Mel!

BREAKTHROUGHS IN FORENSIC TECHNOLOGY

tech1Technology has made huge breakthroughs over the past thirty-five years that I’ve been around criminal and forensic investigation (CSI). Without question, the next thirty-five are going to bring mind-blowing advances. I’ve looked into my forensic crystal ball to come up with five things I think will be real by 2050.

But first… let’s look at the top five since 1980.

1. Computers

When I started policing, the PC was unheard of.

tech2The only computing system we had was a mammoth of a beast that filled-up many rooms at headquarters. CPIC, or the Canadian Police Information System, was in its infancy as was its American counterpart, NCIC or National Criminal Intelligence Center. Both systems are still around but, instead of having to phone to book appointments to use the system, the information now comes straight to the patrol cars or to a detective’s smart device.

Computers have affected every facet of forensic investigation.

Despite complex computerized analysis being fast and accurate, the routine is much easier. Report writing is far simpler – no more carbon paper to make multiple copies, no more white-out, and thank God for spell-check. Communications are instant with internet email and gone are the days of waiting for a report to show up in snail mail. Training is done through computerized simulation, sketching is replaced by computer-aided drawing, and administration is now done by the keyboard. Computers are what allowed the next four advances to occur.

2. AFIS – Automated Fingerprint Identification System

tech3The science of fingerprinting has been around nearly one hundred and fifty years, but the mechanism of storage and matching prints was cumbersome. Known prints from criminals used to be rolled in ink and stored on paper and the latent prints from crime scenes were lifted in powder were stored in plastic sheets. There was no effective system to easily match the two. Today, suspect prints are digitally scanned and stored in data bases. Latent prints are still lifted in conventional manners, but they’re then scanned and put into a search engine where they can be matched right from the crime scene.

3. Photography

tech4Today’s digital photography is a tremendous time-saver compared to the days of negative and image development. It’s instantaneous to share over the internet, even allowing an investigator to snap a digital photo in the field and email it to the other side of the world. Another facet of crime fighting is the incredible amount of mobile and stationary cameras that are out and about in society which capture movements of criminals before, during, and after events. Many crooks have gone down because they failed to realize they were on camera.

4. Education

tech5Today’s forensic investigators are far better educated than in the 1980’s. Much of that is due to the ease of which information can be shared. Where it used to take great blocks of time and huge resources to assemble courses and conferences, many agencies now use webinars and on-line presence to create ‘virtual’ classrooms. Education and sharing information are the jewels in crime-fighting.

5. DNA

tech13Deoxyribonucleic acid or genetic fingerprinting is probably the best crime-fighting tool ever developed. Today, thanks to the computer, the sophistication and expediency of DNA testing has led to it being commonly – and accurately – used in the majority of serious crime investigations. Many convictions have been secured on DNA evidence alone. Conversely, many innocent people have been cleared of suspicion due to elimination by DNA typing.

So that’s what happened over the past third century. Ever wonder what’s going to happen over the next third?

Well, I’m gazing into the crystal ball and predict five things.

1. Holograms

tech73-D technology is commonplace in movies and on TV. Many criminal prosecutions are already presented through computer-aided reconstruction to lay out the scene, bullet paths, vehicle motions, and blood-spatter patterns.

I see a day when virtual-reality holograms are imaged in the middle of the courtroom so the jurors can watch a total recreation of how the crime went down.

2. Brain-Scan Polygraphs

tech8Conventional polygraphs have only slightly evolved in three decades and that was by the replacement of the old ink-needle charts with laptop technology. The basics of polygraphy still depends on the ability of a skilled operator to formulate key questions and then interpret the subject’s involuntary body reactions – pulse, respiration, blood pressure, galvanic skin responses, and perspiration.

I see a day when brain mapping and analysis of how a subject responds under electroencephalography (EEG) and function magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) will replace the current polygraph. The technology is already here and research is underway towards its forensic application.

2. Laser Devices

tech9I think lasers have phenomenal potential in forensics. Currently, laser lighting is used to amplify fingerprint and tool marking evidence. It’s also used in ballistic matching where the old electron-scanning comparison microscopes are being replaced by laser/laptop examiners like the Bullettrax 3D which makes the peaks and valleys of a ballistic engraving show up like satellite ground mapping radar images.

I see a day when forensic investigators will map out a crime scene with hand-held laser devices to perfectly record information which will be transformed into hologram reproductions.

4. Ion-Sniffers

tech10Detection of ions through gas chromatography mass spectrometers has been around fifty plus years and is still used daily in crime labs. What’s missing are portable devices to assist in field searches of buildings, vehicles, boats, planes, and the great outdoors. Often investigators know exactly what they’re looking for – a firearm, explosives, contraband, or even a dead body – but the parameters of the search area turn it into the needle-in-a-haystack scenario.

I see a day when the ionic signature of the article(s) being searched for are dialled into the device and it zooms right into the location.

5. Satellite Tracking of Dangerous Criminals

tech11Over the past few decades we’ve got a better handle on controlling violent and prolific offenders through DNA profile banks and ankle bracelets of parolees. We’ve also had tremendous advances in satellite technology where smart-bombs are delivered down terrorist’s chimneys and GPS aps tell you exactly where you are on the planet. We have microchips in everything from our bank cards to our pet Schnauzers and there are more cell phones in Africa than people. What we don’t know is where the dangerous .001 percent of the population are and have been.

AB23479I see a day that we’ll ditch these guy’s rights. We need to protect the 99.999 percent of the population that’s at risk. Common sense will prevail and there’ll be court orders mandating satellite tracking chips being surgically implanted into dangerous offenders.

I’ll check back with you in 2050. It’ll be interesting to see what I’ve missed.