AFGHANISTAN. Waigul Valley, Nuristan. 2007. An Afghan security guard in his quarters at the Ranch House in Nuristan. The Americans
had created an Afghan unit to serve alongside them. They had several reasons. They were
overstretched, they wanted an Afghan face on their presence in this remote and wary region, and
they hoped to build a security force that could eventually replace them.
Several months after this picture was taken, sixty to eighty insurgents launched an attack on the
base using knowledge of its defenses allegedly provided by a disgruntled former security guard.
In the brutal fight that ensued, the insurgents and Americans fought just feet from each other.
Matthew Ferrara, the platoon commander, called in a gun run from a circling American plane.
Thirteen insurgents were killed and the rest retreated. A few months later, the same American
platoon was ambushed nearby and every soldier was killed or wounded.