CBS Reporters Bring War Stories Home

CBS News Producers and Reporters Give Battlefield Accounts of the War in Afghanistan

(CBS)  It's our job here at CBS News to report on the troops while they're in harm's way - to give clarity to the fog of war. But it too is dangerous work. We bring you battlefield accounts from our colleagues who have been covering this story.

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Byron Pitts: I've been to a lot of bad neighborhoods for CBS News - there is no neighborhood worse than Afghanistan.

I'm Byron Pitts, Chief National Correspondent for CBS News and contributing correspondent to 60 minutes. I've been to Afghanistan twice - spent about a month and a half there.

I was there November 2001 -- just a few months after 9/11 and I was travelling with a team of folks from CBS News - and we catch up with a warlord who we hang up with for a couple of days. And he tells us with a big smile on his face he just killed about 12 to 20 Taliban.

And I said how can you be so certain of the exact number you killed? He says, "Oh I know because they were laying in a ditch. And I ran them over and I counted them when I ran them over.

Video: CBS News Reporters' Reflections on the War

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Lara Logan: In 2003 on the Pakistan border our convoy hit a double tank mine and the soldier next to me lost his leg.

I'm Lara Logan. I'm the Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for the CBS Evening News and a correspondent for 60 minutes.

I remember everything going completely white and slowing down - and hearing my cameraman producer Jeff Newton who had landed right on top of me and actually was this far from my face screaming my name.

And he was looking at me and my eyes were wide open and blood was pouring out of my mouth and the Sergeant turned to him and said "Is she alright?"

And he said, "No I think she is dead."

And I remember thinking Oh my God they are going to leave me here to die because they think I am already dead.

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Scott Pelley: I'm Scott Pelley a Correspondent on 60 Minutes and I've been to Afghanistan five times now.

Henry Schuster I'm Henry Schuster. I'm a producer for 60 Minutes. I've been to Afghanistan a number of times, most recently last month for three weeks.

Pelley: Just a few weeks ago we were in a field expedient battlefield memorial for seven Marines in one company who had been killed since the assault began in July.

And arrayed in front of the Marines there are seven battlefield crosses- .which is a pair of boots -- a rifle, and a helmet on top with the dog tags of the deceased Marines.

Schuster: And then at the end the first Sergeant does a roll call. He calls a couple of names - they answer present.

Then he starts calling the names of the dead marines. He calls the name first in a normal tone of voice. No answer.

He calls it again - louder this time. No answer.

The third time he call it there is a great deal of urgency and he is practically shouting as you would expect a Marine sergeant to do. And the silence is overwhelming.

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Tom Anderson: We were in a convoy for two days -- it was terrifying.

My name is Tom Anderson. I'm a producer on 60 Minutes.

You find yourself looking out the side windows from time to time because the bombs -- which are the primary weapon in this war -- go off on the side of the road so you are always looking out the side of the road rather that the front of the road.

And it would happen once - then a second time - a third time - boom.boom - four times..five times.

I'm not sure I would ever want to do it again.

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Cami McCormick: There is always that sense that something could be around the corner.

The enemy seems to be moving around a lot. And each time I go to Afghanistan it seems more dangerous.

In August McCormick was severely injured by a road side bomb. She is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

McCormick: There was a governor in the eastern part of the country who survived three assassination attempts. And I got a chance to meet him and talk to him and I asked why do you do what you do? You have a family. And he said, "If I wouldn't do it. Who would?"

I would definitely go back to Afghanistan. I'm very eager to go back to Afghanistan. And I'm very anxious to see how the military is planning on winning this war. I do think that it is a story that will continue to unfold and continue to be a top story for years."

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David Martin: I'm David Martin. I'm the CBS News National Security Correspondent.

Mary Walsh: I'm Mary Walsh. I am the Pentagon producer for CBS News.

We went in to a small village called Yagu Kala with American troops. They had bought with them backpacks for the children.

Martin: It immediately turned into a fight because there were more kids than book bags to go around and the village elders were literally beating the kids away

Walsh: And sure enough all the backpacks were going to the boys until the very last backpack was handed out and one little girl grabbed it and went running as hard she could.

It was just one of those very, very sad eye-opening experiences of seeing how even good intentions sometimes don't go far enough.

[mary-miami]

If it weren't for the brave people who decide to devote their lives to Journalism, nobody would have a clue as to what is happening in the world or even in your own town. Freedom of Speech and Press is the base of a free society. The job of a reporter is to inform the public of whatever is happening, not to make opinions. If you don't like the "news" it has nothing to do with the "messenger". I found a wonderful website on journalism...you should check it out. It is....
www.newskitten.wordpress.com

[babooph]

How about contasting the German video of Walkers capture[IN TOTAL],with the US news hatchet job-CLEARLY demonstrating the PURE propaganda system the "news" is?

[geminispyder-2009]

"CBS Reporters Bring War Stories Home"

I'm pretty sure the soldiers that are actually fighting this war also bring war stories home.

Hey CBS, why don't you do more reporting on them?
Even more, why don't you do more stories about how the government practically leaves them out on the street when they do return home?

[frogbutt1979]

I starting watching last night in the middle of the interview with Lara Logan. I thought she must have been the ambasador to Afghanistan.
She was very insightful about the war in Afghanistan and also well spoken and pleasant to listen to. Her interview with Charlie Rose should be aired in prime time. Hopefully someone in the white house will be watching.

[longtree-2009]

doubt too many people care anymore about either iraq or afghanistan. it has been almost 9 years and still no victory. it's a miracle that the military branches get any volunteers at all. lets not forget that it's not about the bush administration anymore, it's about obama and his administration. obama is now the commander-in-chief of all military forces. what would they do, if people stopped volunteering to be cannon fodder?

[prajaowain]

The hell with your war stories. We have no right to occupy Afghanistan. The only solution is to sit down with the Taliban and talk and invite them to participate in power. Stop killing poor Afghan villagers.

[hermitdave]

What a crock, so now a member of the new managed news media is telling the world what the criminal Cheney crime family wants them to hear. The bold faced lie that the innocent citizens of Afghanistan were even remotely connected to the 9/11/01 disaster in America. Only the ignorance of the American people could make possible this massive fraud called the "WAR ON TERROR". Intelligent people of the world know that every single alleged terror dude of significant importance can be traced to a western country intelligence agency. Most popular of course is the guy the American CIA used to help run the Afghan resistance against those evil commie Russians who wanted to take over the country of Afghanistan. The Russians lost the war and unfortunately the citizens of Afghanistan did not win. Thousands of innocent Afghan women and children became pawns in the most massive example of human greed in world history.

The super rich in the world faced a dire situation in beginning of the twenty first century. The world was in peace as far as world wars were concerned. The super rich made a few billion in the private contractor wars Korea--Vietnam, but the 8 years of Bill Clinton, in spite of valiant efforts by the crazy conservative right wing, the most progressive country on earth showed signs of very anti status quo. The economy looked as good as a country with a congress of con artists and just plane crooks could look. Extra money that politicians had not had time to steal. Surplus money to make everyone in the country a better life. It is possible America could move into a era even more progressive than the 60's until the greedy rich decided to kill JFK.

Back to the real world of today we must ask why the media continues to treat a obvious sham as a legit event in history. Whenever I hear a major news person say the new president must deal with the Afghan war problem as if it was legit, I can't help but SCREAM what the hell is legit about it. Those poor people had nothing to do with 9/11/01. The United States of America had untold ways to apprehend the person they claimed was responsible for 9/11/01. Thousands of Afghan women and children did not need to die or be maimed to satisfy the revenge of the American people. The Cheney crime family should be charged with WAR CRIMES.

[mamag1938]

This was the most vivid, heartfelt view of the war. What courage it took for the reporters to tell the stories of our magnificent troops. We cannot continue to squander our precious blood and financial resources for a country that will never be able to stand on its own in our lifetime. Thank you for this excellent report. In my opinion, this deserves an award.

[John_Merritt]

First, thank you to each correspondent who has risked so much to bring us the stories from the frontlines. It must be awful, and I thought a Friday night in S. Central LA was scary. The one lesson I have learned from many of these hot spots throughout the landcape of this earth is there is one fundamental common denominator that exists in each 'war zone'.

Illiteracy and lack of education by the masses lends to breed a herd mentality where the strong will prey on the weak and lead them down avenues they otherwise would not venture. The well educated are usually in positions of power in one form or another. We are fighting an ideology of belief's that transcends thousands of years and various cultures. What are we fighting, an enemy or a mindset?

The people in these places want change but they have no direction. We can lead but when we turn around, someone subverts the very things we tried to change in the first place. What is the answer? Leadership in the vital arena's for the betterment of the society as a whole has to prevail. It appears 'they' in foreign governments are actually happy with the status quo and they are essentially offering us the opportunity to do something they either don't want to do, or they don't want to spend their resources doing it.

I know I am preaching to the choir, but we need to enlist the neighboring countries to participate and or the spiritual/political organizations in those areas to facilitate and assist us instead of standing by, laughing, pointing fingers and looking the other way. There has to be a global mindset of well respected leaders that help in this cause. President Obama and Hilary can only do so much.

[VaProud]

Thank you to the reporter who was there for Golf Company 2/8's Memorial Service, held to honor its 7 fallen heroes- from the tone in your voice, and the catch in your throat, I believe you truly "got it". As the mother of a Golf Company Marine, I appreciate that you presented that piece with the reverence due those 7 brave men. They don't ask for anything. They sleep in the dirt, walk for miles, getting shot at on a daily basis. They have little, if no, contact with "home". They go without showers for months, wading in hip-high irrigation ditches on patrol- discarding socks because it is so hard to keep things washed. They patrol through fields because the roads are mined. They are ambushed in the fields. They went in with a mission of protecting the Afghan people- living among them and not behind protective walls. They expose themselves daily but feel they are making a difference in the lives of the Afghan people. Semper Fi heroes, alway faithful. Always.

[InAfghanistan]

My heroes! Thank you for bravely coming along on our convoys. Reporters on the battlefield are awesome! Thank you for always reporting the news fairly and unbiased. You've always gotten it right.

[newskitten]

InAfghanistan...I couldn't agree more with you! If it weren't for the devoted members of the press who bravely risk their lives alongside the army for the sake of keeping the public informed, we of the general public would be absolutely clueless as to what's going on over there. Thank you to all those intrepid journalists!

www.newskitten.wordpress.com

[bubbadubba]

How many American troops have died protecting those ego maniacs and how much of my tax money has been spent transporting, housing, and feeding them?
Now that would be an interesting story.

[stuart-johns2]

Helpless and frustrated. That's about how I feel. I am also angry that we are even in this mess. The quality of leadership in this nation is poor. We have some very real problems in this country other than these wars and the economy.

I am being deliberately vague, I know. I am fed-up. This is an extremely dangerous nightmare unfolding before our eyes. Very scary.

[indypretzel]

Terrific three night special on the Afghan war. Although I didn't really learn anything new, it was good to see all the info pulled together in one place. I'm even more depressed about the situation after watching. It has led to tears of concern which leaves me feeling helpless and frustrated. Thank you.

[Omni-Present101]

General McChrystal to President Obama...

"I Guarantee Failure Without the 50,000 Additional Troops, But I can't Guarantee Success with the 50,000 Additional Troops"

What kind of Il-Logic is that ? !!!

If I'm President Obama, I would say...

McChrystal, You and Patraeus send me a Clear, Concise & Concrete Winning Strategy, that you can Guarantee, along with a Sound Exit Strategy, We've been in Afghanistan for 8 Years now and it just Dawned on You and Patraeus, that we Need More Troops ?


I want Guarantees, Not Assumptions or Presumptions, Concrete Winning Strategies.
_________

Why wasn't the Surge Used after it's Success in Iraq ?

Would be another Question, that I would ask McChrystal & Patraeus.

8 Years at a Cost of 10 Billion $$ Per Month for the Past 8 Years and Counting with Interest to Communist-Socialist China.

Note: It's Generational Theft & Generational Debt and we as a Nation can't afford either.


This term is used by Republican Radio and Television, who Never Labeled President Bush with such a term , but have no Problem in Branding President Obama & the Democratic Party with such a term !!

Bush left this Nation with Generational Debt and it is Generational Theft, for the Past 8 years and the Bush Supporters, Never used such a Term as Generational Theft Or Debt to Define Bush.

Think about that ?

Talk about Slanting the Truth !!

Most News Media will not say this, but it's True...

These 2 Wars along with Wall Street, AIG, the Mortgage Crisis and Bank Bailouts have Destroyed this Economy.

No One has said this, but it's True, Someone like [Me] has to say it.

I'm Glad I did.

I Feel Much Better now.