Afghans give Marines a hand

Associated Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Three Afghans, all veteran mujahadeen fighters, walked into Kandahar airport Monday to offer badly needed help to U.S. Marines: finding water and identifying minefields.

The Afghans know the airport well. They fought here for years, first against the Soviets, then against the Taliban, who made Kandahar their base during a five-year rule.

They see their mission now as repaying a favor to the Americans for ridding Afghanistan of the harsh Taliban regime.

“There is bitter hatred for the Taliban,” Mahmad Sadek said. “They caused all kinds of problems here. They killed women.”

The Marines and the U.S. Navy Seabees began shifting most of their operations to the airport on Friday from their desolate desert base, Camp Rhino.

The area surrounding the derelict airport is littered by unmarked land mines. Three Marines were wounded Sunday when one tripped a mine; Cpl. Chris Chandler lost a foot.

The bearded Afghans – Sadek, Ghul Alay and Ruzee Kahn – toured the base with Navy Lt. Cmdr. Len Cooke of Orange, Conn. Hamed J. Aziz, an Afghan-American Marine corporal from Roswell, Ga., served as interpreter.

A huge explosion punched the air from experts disposing of missiles and other munitions. No one flinched.

Cooke said the airport was apparently built by a U.S. firm in the 1970s. There is no running water, and probably hasn’t been for years. The only electricity comes from portable generators, now scattered around abandoned buildings, battered from airstrikes.

Incongruously, a rose garden with huge red, pink, yellow and white flowers was in full bloom. Kahn picked one and walked through the devastation savoring the flower’s scent.

“The people are very happy” about the U.S. presence, said Kahn, who was trying to reactivate the water wells. “They want the city rebuilt. They don’t care how long the Americans stay.” It’s an unexpected sentiment from a man who fought for decades to rid his city of foreigners.

Sadek and Cooke shared an unspoken language of machinery and improvisation. In an airport terminal power room, they scratched diagrams in the thick dust on top of an electrical generator.

Cooke asked Sadek to buy generators and other supplies needed to get the wells pumping, then wanted to know if payment in U.S. dollars was OK.

Sadek waved off talk of money. The interpreter said Sadek only wanted to help.

“If you feel someone was a big part in liberating your country, then you might not want pay,” Cooke said later. “We will make sure they are fairly compensated.”

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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