Outside the Wire Documentary Series
The one that started it all.
Former Marine and television news producer JD Johannes traveled to Iraq in 2005 with his old Marine Corps unit to produce syndicated TV news reports for local stations.
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JD went back to Iraq in March of 2007. His first week back, Al Qaida in Iraq attacked O.P. Omar, a small outpost in Al Anbar province manned by Army paratroopers from Blackfoot Company, 1-501st.
Nothing says welcome back like a couple suicide truck bombs.
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The Al Anbar province in Iraq went from being lost in 2006 to an effective counter insurgency model in 2007.
JD returned to his old stomping grounds of 2005 to see what brought about the change.
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The surge is working. The surge has failed. Do the people who make those claims actually know what the surge is?
Documentary filmmaker JD Johannes spent a month in some of Baghdad's toughest neighborhoods--Doura, Bayya, Rashid--seeing the surge firsthand.
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Jul
27
2009
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Written by JD Johannes
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Monday, 27 July 2009 |
Afghan visa, approval letter, plane tickets, video tapes, batteries, body armor, couple changes of clothes.
I take off for Afghanistan in a few days.
It had been my intent to be there a few months ago, but God a had a different plan. Everytime there was a delay, something happened that made realize it was a good thing I was in the United States.
A close friend and business partner passed away suddenly in early June and it was a good thing I was here to manage some of his ongoing business affairs.
During that time other opportunities arose that, if I had not been here, would not have worked out.
And then my father had a massive heart attack in late June. He is still recovering in the hospital. I spent the last month working on his cattle ranch, tending to more than 300 head of cattle and bringing them to market only a few days ago.
It was a very good thing I was in the United States to be with my parents.
And now, just days away from arriving in Afghanistan part of me is asking, "God, got anymore surprises in store?"
Since 2005, when I started living the life fantastic running around war zones with a camera, I have had to place my trust in God and accept his sovereignty. There are too many variables in war to account for let alone attempt to control. Worrying about them is a waste.
I am not sure how long this expedition will last...three weeks, three months...I am just happy to be getting back to telling the stories of Soldiers and Marines and providing some of the information needed for people to understand the war.
These expeditions are not cheap. As my friend Michael Yon pointed out in the tag to his last dispatch, he is not sure if he can keep operating after September.
I finance the majority of the costs of these trips through DVD sales .
If you can afford to buy a DVD, please do.
As long as the DVDs keep selling , I'll keep going to the wars.
Until my next post....Non Timebo Mala.
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May
27
2009
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Written by JD Johannes
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Wednesday, 27 May 2009 |
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I am beginning to feel a bit like Captain Willard in the opening scenes of the movie Apocalypse Now.
No, I'm not getting stoned, doing shots and practicing kung fu in my underwear, but I am ready for the next mission. This one is to Afghanistan.
I just got my transit date for mid-July and am making all the logistical arrangements.
This trip is significantly more expensive than Iraq. It is almost double the cost of an Iraq expedition.
I finance these trips with DVD sales .
The important work is not so much the final filmed product but the on the ground reporting.
To fully finance this trip I need to sell another 143 DVDs this month and 250 in June.
The coming months will be a critical time in Afghanistan as General Petraeus and Lt. Gen. McChrystal begin implementing what could be the final push to wrest the Taliban from their strongholds.
It will be important to have as many eyes, ears and camera lenses on the ground as possible.
Another 393 DVDs sold will put me there.
You can also purchase them through Amazon.com .
This is not my first trip to the rodeo. I've covered the wars since 2005. I know the risks and accept them because the work is important.
The news is too important to be left solely to the MSM.
If you can afford to please purchase a DVD, or you can also make a contribution via paypal.
I will go wherever the story is and have no compunction against putting myself in harms way. I just would like a little help with the airfare.
JD
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Mar
30
2009
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Written by JD Johannes
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Monday, 30 March 2009 |
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I'll be on Sound off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich on WTIC AM 1080 at 9:35 10:35 eastern Tuesday March 31st. Updated.
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Feb
16
2009
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Written by JD Johannes
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Monday, 16 February 2009 |
On March 5th of 1809, the the British diplomat Mountstuart Elphinstone met with Shah Suja in Peshawar.
Shah Suja was the King of the Pathan tribes and Elphinstone's mission was the first official diplomatic meeting between the British and the Pathans.
After reading Elphinstone's vast survey of the Pathan tribes and the Shah's kingdom, one will be amazed at how little has changed.
Swords, pikes and matchlocks have been replaced with AK-47's and RPG's. Camels and horses have been replaced with pickup trucks and rickity buses.
But very little else has changed.
The nature of how little things have changed became starkly apparant to me a few months ago when young man from Peshawar, via Qatar, bought the corner gas station near where I live.
At first I chatted him up in Arabic, after seeing some script on a jacket he was wearing. I could tell he was not an Arab. And he confirmed that he was from Pakistan.
But, he went further. He was an Afghan, a Peshawar Pathan.
At the time Elphinstone met with Shah Suja, the Afghan/Pathan kingdom ran roughly from the Indus river in the east to the the plains south and west of Kabul.
This has historically been the domain of the Pathan peoples, the real Afghanistan. On a modern map it would cover the western parts of Pakistan, the tribal areas, the rugged mountains and west across most of modern Afghanistan.
The residents of those areas, even those living in the midwest of the United States, still think of themselves as the real Afghans. Historically, an Afghan was a member of the Pathan people.
As we move toward the official 200-year mark of western involvement in the region, it would behoove the Obama administration to read Elphinstone and understand that compared to the deeply ingrained identity and traits of the Pathans, the 200 years of varying adventures by British, Russians, Soviets and now the U.S. are just another in a long series of attempts that have usually failed and at best marginally succeeded.
The Kyhber is almost a rite of passage for the great empires. The only great empire that didn't make it to the Kyber was the Roman.
And most just passed through, very few stayed for long and none, none controlled the mountains. Not even the greatest of the Afghan kings really controlled the mountains.
The acknowledged truth is that but for a handful of brigands living in the mountains who harbor visions of being the vanguard of a new, unique Koranic generation bent on global jihad, no one would care about what happens in those mountains. The tribes would go about life as they have since before the time of Alexander.
The essential element of that life is the Pashtoonwali, the code of the Pathans, which all but mandates an eye for an eye type of fueding and defense of guests seeking asylum.
The code preceeded Islam and has withstood every attempt at modern corruption.
Understanding the code is how a few British officers were able to temporarily tame parts of the frontier and is the best hope for success in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yes, Pakistan. Because the terrain is human, Pathan, and not demarcated by an imaginary line.
And that is what Elphinstone understood 200 years ago that we need to understand today.
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Dec
16
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Tuesday, 16 December 2008 |
Are you a libertarian/conservative millionaire frustrated by the bias of the media?
Are you looking for a business opportunity that may or may not make money?
Then I have a deal for you. How would you like to buy your own ABC affiliate?
That's right. You can be the proud owner your own TV station in Topeka, KS. Forget Twitter Tweets, and blogs, and streaming video, you can have your own broadcast signal and have a direct impact on North East Kansas.
More importantly, you can have a larger impact nation-wide.
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