[Newspoetry] Dispatch from Madrid--Danger in Afghanistan

[Robert Porter]

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/18/international/asia/18MINE.html

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=461019
 
DANGER IN AFGHANISTAN, AND IN WASHINGTON

By NEWTON BIGELOW

DATELINE MADRID-- 

Operations to clear hidden explosives from the soil and roads of northern
Afghanistan, one of the world's most heavily mined areas, are scheduled to
resume on Wednesday with the arrival of more than 400 demolition specialists
in several provinces.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., President Bush, for the second time in four
months, has had small, benign skin lesions caused by sun exposure removed
from his face, the White House disclosed on Monday.

"This is quite a massive job," said Thomas P. McMullen, a coordinator for
the Halo Trust, the British organization that has been destroying mines and
ammunition in Afghanistan since 1988. "No matter how you do it, it's going
to take years." 

The announcement that four lesions were treated and removed with liquid
nitrogen came only after reporters asked about what looked like scabs on the
president's face during a White House event.

The lesions, found on Bush's cheeks, forehead and temple, were removed with
liquid nitrogen on Friday in the White House physician's office, White House
spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

"We are getting several new mine victims every week," said Dr. Abdulhadi
Jawid, a physician at the Spinzer Hospital in Kunduz, where on a single day
last week five patients ‹ two children, two teenagers and a farmer ‹ were
being treated for wounds caused by mines or loose ammunition. Two of the
victims lost limbs that had to be amputated.

Two of the lesions, found on his cheeks, were "very early actinic
keratoses," Fleischer said. A small percentage of actinic keratoses develop
into invasive squamous cell carcinoma.

The problem was also in evidence in the south on Sunday, when an American
marine stepped on a mine at the Kandahar airport. The blast severed one of
his legs below the knee and wounded two of his peers.

The two other growths, on  Bush's forehead and temple, were "seborrheic
keratoses," which are harmless, common skin growths.

"America is the most powerful fighter in the world, and has been in
Afghanistan for a long time," said Merzakhan, 48, whose 9-year-old son was
wounded by a mine four months ago in Bangi. "Why do they say it's never
their fault?

The treatment was described as a follow-up to Bush's physical examination in
August when three small actinic keratoses were removed from his face.

As the effort begins, the Halo trust is turning up problems peculiar to this
war. For instance, its officials said, a common and ordinarily innocuous
type of unexpended ammunition ‹ airburst rounds for 23-millimeter
antiaircraft guns ‹ seems to have become volatile here. In a few recent
cases, they have burst with the slightest handling.

"I thought it was a normal bullet, and when I touched it, it exploded," said
Abdul Ghany, 16, who was treated last week in the Kunduz hospital.

His face was pocked with tiny shrapnel holes, with here and there a larger
gash. What remained of his hands were bound in gauze. "His right hand was
eliminated," said his brother, Abdul Ghafor, 27.

A Texan, Bush enjoys spending time outdoors in the sun, particularly working
on his ranch. 

"As is recommended for all individuals with a history of, or anticipating,
significant sun exposure, the president routinely uses sunscreen and
receives periodic evaluations," Fleischer said.

Demolition teams also hope to destroy unexploded American cluster bombs as
quickly as possible. The bomblets, yellow and shaped like a can of spray
paint, are the same color and roughly the same size as the plastic food
packets American planes have dropped for civilians. There have been reports
of children picking them up, with fatal results.

"It does make you wonder who at the ministry of incompetence is responsible
for that one," Mr. McMullen said.

Mr. Bush refused to comment, claiming his face felt  "Owwie".